Bach Flower No.3 - Beech

Beech, the Bach flower for tolerance

Beech or Fagus sylvatica is a tree in the Fagaceae family. Its distinctive feature is that it lives apart from many other plants, as only a few can grow at its foot. Underneath its rather dominant appearance, it is vulnerable to strong winds due to the shallowness of its roots. The common beech is a tree frequently found in isolation, in beech forests or close to Scots pine and spruce. Benefiting from the protection of other trees, it can reach a height of forty meters and live between two and three hundred years.

Botanically, the beech has smooth, thin, blackish-grey bark, frequently covered with epiphytic plants. Its deciduous foliage consists of alternate light-green, crenellated, oval-shaped leaves that take on coppery hues in autumn. This monoecious tree bears male and female flowers - catkins - which bloom in spring, just after leafing out. Its fruits, called fairies, are achenes that resemble small chestnuts. The common beech begins to bear fruit when it reaches around sixty years of age.