beech

open main page for all woods open page 2 for articles

NOTE: there is rarely any "standard" or "typical" look for a wood so take what's in this table with a grain of salt
the REST of the pictures on this page will give you a better overall feel for this wood

beech / Fagus spp. and Nothofagus spp.
(see discussion below this table regarding names)
3" x 3" flat cut, 3" x 3" quartersawn, 1" wide end grain, and a 1/4" x 1/4" end grain closeup.

Semi diffuse porous with small pores gradually becoming less frequent from earlywood to latewood and this combined with a darkening of the tissue towards the end of the latewood make the growth ring boundaries quite evident. There are pore multiples but they are generally too small to see even at 10X.

In the Fagus species rays vary considerably in size and are easily visible at 10X with the larger ones (I've seen ones that are 20 cells across) being visible to the naked eye. In the Nothofagus species the rays are uniformly small (one or two cells wide). No parenchyma is visible at 10X. Flat cut face grain shows little elongated dots, as shown in the illustration below this table and quartersawn pieces show nice ray flake.

Beech veneer is often steamed and this enriches the color

Fagus spp. of the family Fagaceae and Nothofagus spp. of the family Nothofagaceae including at least the following, with a few of the associated common names for each. The Nothofagus species used to included in the Fagus species but they have been broken out (due to genetic differences) into not only their own genera (Nothofagus) but have also been give their own family name (Nothofagaceae). This set of species has many "beech" common names because of the former association. Several Nothofagus species, listed below, are sold as "Chilean beech" and/or "Antarctic beech" and have been broken out to their own page on this site under then name Chilean beech

Fagus crenata (syn. Fagus sieboldii) --- Japanese, siebold's)
Fagus engleriana --- Chinese
Fagus grandifolia (synonyms include Fagus purpurea, Fagus alba, Fagus americana, Fagus atropunicea, Fagus ferruginea, Fagus heterophylla, Fagus nigra, Fagus purpurea, Fagus rotundifolia, and Fagus virginiana) --- American, Carolina, purple, red, stone, white, winter
Fagus hayatae --- Twaiwan
Fagus japonica (syn. Fagus multinervis) --- Japanese blue
Fagus longipetiolata --- Chinese
(Yugoslavian)
Fagus orientalis --- Eastern, oriental
Fagus sylvatica --- aisatic, carpathian, copper, English, European, Japanese, Turkish, and MANY other country names
Fagus taurica --- Crimean

Nothofagus carrii (New Guinea)
Nothofagus cliffortioides (New Zealand mountain)
Nothofagus fusca (New Zealand)
Nothofagus grandis (New Guinea)
Nothofagus gunnii (deciduous)
Nothofagus menziesii (New Zealand, silver)
Nothofagus papuanum (New Guinea)
Nothofagus perryi (New Guinea)
Nothofagus pumilio (South American)
Nothofagus solandri (Australian black, mountain)
Nothofagus truncata (grey, hard)

NOTE: The following Nothofagus species are sold as "Chilean beech" and/or "Antarctic beech" and have been broken out to their own page on this site under the name Chilean beech
Nothofagus alpina (Chilean)
Nothofagus antarctica (Antarctic, Southern)
Nothofagus betuloides (Chilean, guindo)
Nothofagus cunninghamii (Antarctic, mountain, silver)
Nothofagus dombeyi (South American, Chilean)
Nothofagus moorei (Antarctic, Australian black, southern)
Nothofagus obliqua (Antarctic)
Nothofagus procera (Antarctic, Chilean)

According to wikipedia, there are only 10 Fagus species of beech, so I may have them all but there are very many more species in the genus Nothofagus than what I have listed

NOTE: In addition to the species of the genera Fagus and Nothofagus, there are ANOTHER 80 or so species of a large number of other genera that have the word beech as all or part of one or more of their common names, SO ... "beech" is not always a very helpful designation, but I do believe that most of the pics on this page are from the genus Fagus just because that's what North American vendors have.

With beech, the wide light-colored sapwood is often, but not always, hard to distinguish from the heartwood (which is sometimes significantly darker, sometimes not. Because the sapwood is fairly wide, a lot of veneer is from the sapwood. The primary way to ID beech is that it pretty much always has lots of fairly evenly spaced small, short, elongated "dots" shown on flat cut or rift cut (not quartersawn) surfaces, like this:

these are the narrow rays typical of beech and of course on quartersawn surfaces, they show up as ray flakes --- often moderately long, but always very narrow.

Quartersawn surfaces often show nice ray flakes that sometimes seem surprisingly large, given the small size of what shows on the flat cut surfaces.

my samples:
NOTE: these pics were all taken in very bright incandescent lighting ("soft white" at 2700K)
colors will vary under other lighting conditions

beech tree branch, end grain. First two are freshly cut by a chain saw, 3rd has been exposed to sun and rain for 4 days after having been cut by a commercial outfit.

both sides of a rift cut sample plank of American beech / Fagus grandifolia

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of rift cut American beech / Fagus grandifolia --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank sold to me as American beech / Fagus grandifolia --- HUGE enlargements are present.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

since the sample directly above has a nicely quartersawn edge, I've got a shot here of the ray flakes on that edge

both sides of a sample plank of flat cut American beech / Fagus grandifolia --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Mexican beech / Fagus grandifolia subsp mexicana --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

first face and the end grain of a sample of beech / Fagus atropunicea. This part of a collection which is discussed here: COLLECTION A. Fagus atropunicea is now considered as just a synonym of Fagus grandifolia.

the second face, before and after slicing off 1/8" showing how the patina from aging is only surface deep, although in this case there wasn't much difference.

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above.

both sides of a sample plank of quartersawn European purple leaved beech / Fagus sylvatica var purpurea

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- the closeup is too red

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of European purple leaved beech / Fagus sylvatica var purpurea --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of steamed European beech / Fagus sylvatica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

as you can see from the end grain pic of the piece directly above, one edge is perfectly quartersawn. This is a closeup of that surface.

both sides of a flat cut sample plank of steamed European beech / Fagus sylvatica. It is interesting to note the pink color of this steamed European beech vs the tan color in the UNsteamed sample directly below this one.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above --- the closeup is too red

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of European beech / Fagus sylvatica --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. The vendor has this listed as "curly" but it is not. This kind of dishonesty happens a lot with this particular sample vendor. It is interesting to note the tan color of this UNsteamed European beech vs the pink color in the steamed sample two samples up above this one.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of rift cut European beech / Fagus sylvatica --- HUGE enlargements are present.

HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of European beech / Fagus sylvatica --- HUGE enlargements are present.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

two sides of a small cutoff of European beech --- HUGE enlargements are present.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above and a face grain closeup showing ray flakes

both sides of a sample plank of quartersawn Japanese beech / Fagus crenata --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Note that this piece is perfectly quartersawn which means that the ray flakes on the face are quite large (for beech).

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above --- it's interesting to note the occasional very strong, and fairly long, rays mixed in with the more plentiful thinner and shorter ones. It is these rays that are causing the flakes that are very visible in the enlargements of the face pics

both sides of a sample plank of Japanese beech / Fagus crenata --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Siebold's beech / Fagus sieboldii --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. Note that Fagus sieboldii is a synonym of Fagus crenata, so Siebold's beech is the same thing as the Japanese beech in the two samples directly above this one

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of hard beech / Northofague truncata --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a sample plank of Oriental beech / Fagus orientalis --- HUGE enlargements are present. This sample was loaned to me by Mark Peet whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

both sides of a sample piece of beech (no species specified) --- HUGE enlargements are present

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

since the sample directly above has nicely quartersawn edges, I've got a shot here of the ray flakes on one edge

both sides of a small piece --- HUGE enlargements are present

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATEfrom directly above

small beech plank (European beech I think)

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

small quartersawn beech plank (European beech I think). I cut a smaller sample from this piece to show the end grain and it is directly below.

both sides of a sample plank of European beech (I think) / Fagus spp. --- HUGE enlargements are present. This was cut from the longer piece directly above.

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

small beech plank (European beech I think)

end grain and HIGH GRIT END GRAIN CLOSEUP of the piece directly above

some small pieces of beech (no species specified) from different trees (as you can see by the differences in ring counts in the end grain pics --- big enlargements are present for this pic and the ones below. The particularly rich color on these is correctly shown.

face grain closeups of some of the pieces directly above

end grain closeups of some of the pieces directly above

European beech plank and end grain

end grain closeup and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

European beech plank and end grain

both sides of a small plank of European beech. Huge enlargements are present for both this and all of the pics below of this piece.

end grain of the piece directly above and an END GRAIN UPDATE of the OTHER end of the piece

end grain closeups of the piece directly above

face grain closeups of the piece directly above

flat cut side grain closeup and rift cut side grain closeup of the piece directly above

this is a quartersawn edge surface at a natural split line before I cleaned up the piece directly above and it nicely shows the way quartersawn pieces will split on the rays.

both sides of a piece of European beech with white rot. Huge enlargements are present for both this and all of the pics below of these pieces.

both end grains of the piece directly above

end grain closeups of the piece directly above

flat cut surface closeups of the piece directly above

quartersawn edge closeup of the piece directly above

two quartersawn edge surfaces at a natural split line before I cleaned up the piece directly above and they nicely show the way quartersawn pieces will split on the rays.

a couple of small pieces from the white rot section as the larger piece directly above. The visible surfaces are quartersawn for the upper piece and rift cut for the lower piece Huge enlargements are present for both this and all of the pics below of these pieces.

quartersawn surface closeups from the upper piece directly above

rift cut surface closeups of the lower piece directly above

several views of some beech that Gerry Fey salvaged from an old building. He worked the wood and sent me these excellent pics of the results. I have confidence that the colors are quite accurate, as they are identical to some of the beech veneer that I have.

both sides and both ends of a sample piece of very lightly spalted beech HUGE enlargements are present.

end grain and end grain closeup of the piece directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

The next several spalted beech planks were donated to the site by Rich Kopitsch whom I thank for this and other contributions. This is very pure black-line spalting with no hint of white rot. For white rot spalting in beech, go down the page a bit.

spalted beech plank

spalted beech planks

spalted beech plank

both sides of a pair of spalted beech planks cut from the larger ones above and sanded down for the pics.

end grain of the two planks directly above

end grain closeups of the two planks directly above

END GRAIN UPDATE from directly above

both sides of a pair of spalted beech planks cut from the larger ones above and sanded down for the pics.
spalted plank --- extreme enlargements are present. This pic, and the enlargments below, were provided by John Fuher, whom I thank for this and many other contributions to the site. These pics were taken in direct sunlight. The spalting on this piece is black-line spalting; for example of white rot spalting in beech, see the samples directly below this one.

face grain closeups of the plank directly above --- extreme enlargements are present

end grain closeups of the plank directly above --- extreme enlargements are present

both sides of a pair of spalted beech planks cut from the larger ones above and sanded down for the pics.
two contiguous surfaces of a piece of spalted beech --- the spalting is white rot spalting with only a tiny bit of black-line spalting. This piece was contributed to the site by Charles Hurley, whom I thank.

end grain, end grain closeup, and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

both sides of a pair of spalted beech planks cut from the larger ones above and sanded down for the pics.
two contiguous surfaces of a piece of spalted beech --- the spalting is mostly white rot but there is some black-line spalting defining the edges of some of the white rot areas. This piece was contributed to the site by Charles Hurley, whom I thank.

end grain, end grain closeup, and END GRAIN UPDATE of the piece directly above

both sides of a pair of spalted beech planks cut from the larger ones above and sanded down for the pics.
really beautiful piece of black-line spalted beech. HUGE enlargements are present. The first side is sanded to 400 grit but the second side is still rough cut.

end grain and a face grain closeup of the piece directly above

spalted end grain beech scales loaned to me by David Clark whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

flat cut veneer

flat cut veneer and closeup

veneer, rift cut

quartersawn flaky veneer

quartersawn flaky veneer --- this one goes all the way up to a second enlargement so you can really see these heavy flakes up close

quartersawn flaky veneer with a knothole, showing some interesting curly figure

steamed european veneer

steamed european flakey beech veneer --- the wood isn't quite as shiny as this picture makes it look

European veneer with brown streaks

European beech cluster burl veneer

herringbone beech veneer pics contributed by Danny Tjan, whom I thank for these and other contributions to the site.

taken from the set directly above, on this one I used perspective correction to get a face-on image that shows the wavy grain very nicely. This is an unusually strong wave, to show up in a flat cut surface like this.

The Wood Book pics

flat cut, quartersawn, end grain
beech (Fagus ferruginea) from The Wood Book --- both levels of enlargement are available for each of the 3 views

web pics:

it seems unlikely that all of the colors are accurate

end grain listed as European beech / Fagus sylvatica

log end of American beech / Fagus grandifolia

planks with wet and dry sections; the first one is rift cut and was listed as Fagus sylvatica and the other two are flat cut

planks

plank listed as lenga / Nothofagus pumilio (= South American beech)

planks listed as lenga (= South American beech)

plank showing some rot in the pith area

plank listed as haya / Fagus sylvatica

quartersawn planks with ray flakes

European "lace" planks. "Lace" appears to be a designation meaning quartersawn flaky with stong ray flakes

AH ... WELL ... no, actually what it means is that I'm careless --- this is not beech at all. As correspondent Jean Turner pointed out, it is actually sycamore.

I've left it here as a reminder to myself be more careful.

flaky veneer --- the color on these is way off --- the wood is tan, not green. See my own sample of flaky veneer for a better representation of the color.

turning blocks

bowl turning blank

bowl blank listed as American beech

veneer

quartersawn veneer

steamed veneer

rotary cut veneer --- grain shows up better on enlargement

white beech

American beech --- color seems totally unlikely

"unsteamed" veneer

curly veneer

veneer pictures with hilarious color !!! Every now and then I just HAVE to include one of these silly shots to show what you sometimes find on the Internet.

steamed European planks

end grain listed as European beech / Fagus sylvatica

European beech planks

European beech planks, flat cut and quartersawn

two views of a plank listed as European beech. I don't know what the white spots are but assume they are either spalting or white rot. I have some very similar pieces up the in own samples (in fact I think they came from the owner of this plank) and they show great detail. LATER NOTE: they are white rot.

closeups of the European beech plank directly above

planks listed as European beech / Fagus sylvatica

European rift cut veneer

curly European beech

European beech veneer

European beech flat cut veneer

quartersawn veneer listed as fireland cherry / Nothofagus pumilio (= South American beech)

quartersawn veneer listed as fireland cherry (which, if correctly identified, is South American beech / Nothofagus pumilio)

European beech flat cut curly veneer

European beech curly veneer

European beech figured veneer

European beech quartersawn figured veneer

European beech quartersawn veneer

European beech quartersawn mottled veneer

European beech quartersawn veneer, not listed as mottled but clearly is

"European beech steamed quartersawn" beech

European beech steamed veneer and a closeup of the same sheet --- clearly one of the colors is wrong, possibly both.

steamed European beech veneer --- both levels of enlargement are available; I doubt the pinkish color --- the actual wood is probably more tan

European beech steamed veneer, all from the same vendor

European beech steamed veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement. These are from the same vendor as the set directly above.

steamed European beech veneer

unsteamed European beech veneer, all from the same vendor

unsteamed European beech veneer sheet closeups with both levels of enlargement. These are from the same vendor as the set directly above.

"European white" beech

wormy beech veneer

bowl

8" diameter bowl by Steve Earis

spalted beech & products

spalted beech

spalted English beech

both sides of each of 4 sets of spalted turning blanks, all moistened for the pics

bowl made from spalted English beech

spalted beech bowls with light finish

spalted beech bowls (raw)

spalted beech bowls ... not sure if it's raw and polished or has a finish

spalted beech bowl ... not sure if it's raw or finished

spalted beech bowl by Steve Earis, whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site.

spalted beech bowl with finish

spalted beech hollow forms

spalted beech vase

two views of a spalted vase listed as European beech

spalted beech bowl by John Fuher, whom I thank for this and other contributions to the site. John tells me the spalting process (which IS a form of rot after all) noticibly reduced the density of the wood compared to non-spalted planks, and since he did not use a stabilizer on the wood before turning, he had some trouble with the black-line spores discoloring the surrounding wood on his first attempt at turning this wood. Thanks to John's excellent photography, HUGE enlargements are present for all 3 pics and it is particularly instructive to look at the largest enlargment on these pics because this wood is an outstanding example of double black-line spalting.

spalted urn

end spalted section

pen made from European beech with white rot by Harry Mathew, whom I thank for the pic. This wood is from the same plank as the pieces up in my own samples towards the top of the page. Huge enlargements are present, thanks to Harry's excellent photography.

bowl

bowl listed as cooper beech (which would be Fagus sylvatica) --- this is a spalted piece and both levels of enlargement are present; the blackline spalting shows up particularly well in the 2nd enlargement

beech bowl with both spalt (the dark areas) and white rot (the white and missing areas)

3 sets of pics, each of a bowl and a closeup. I shot these indoors at a craft store and the color came out too orange. I've corrected it as much as I could but it is still a little too orange in each of them (the closeups are somewhat better). Another one that I shot with the flash on came out much better for true color, and it's directly below

bowl and closeup, with correct color (unlike the ones directly above, which are too orange)

another bowl, also shot with the flash and with correct color

oval-shaped spalted beech bowl created and photograhed by John Fuher. John hollowed out the inside with Forstner bits, cut the outside on a bandsaw with the table at an angle, and then spent LOTS of time sanding it to the final shape. Nicely done, John, and thanks for the pics.

spalted beech bowls

fern-leaf beech bowls turned and photographed by Tom Pleatman, whom I thank for these pics and other contributions to the site. Big enlargements are present.

purple European beech bowls turned and photographed by Tom Pleatman, whom I thank for these pics and other contributions to the site. Big enlargements are present.