The Beechnut trees, Fagus sp., are evergreen nut bearing trees encountered in temperate zones across Europe and North America. This nut trees flourish in cool climates at high summits and tolerate shade. The beechnut trees are of the Fagaceae family the genus Fagus.


Leaves of beech trees are sparsely or completely serrated, ranging from 5-15 cm in length and 4-10 cm in width. The flowers are small monoecious; male and female flowers on the same tree. Female flowers are borne in pairs, male flowers; catkins, produced in springtime not long after the new foliage appears.

The fruit is a small, sharply three-angled nut, 10-15 mm long, borne individually or in couples in a soft-spined cup 1.5-2.5 cm long, known as cupules which change from green to brown as it matures. The beechnuts also known as beechmast are edible nuts, although somewhat bitter.

The cupules are shed in late summertime and the nuts fall to the ground over a period of a few weeks and they degenerate inside two weeks unless harvested and dried out. The kernels within the shells make up less than 50% by weight of the nut. This implies over half the nut is shell

As nuts go, beechnuts are not terribly intoxicating, since they are sort of small and hard to harvest, but they have been utilized historically as a food source by a number of native peoples. Beechnuts can be consumed out of hand as well as being ground up and added to breads, or included in sweets such as biscuits.

Roasting makes them easier to uncase after which they are chafed and sifted to eliminate the small hairs. After salting and drying out, the beechnuts are consumed whole or ground into a meal to be added up to breads. The nuts have a good flavour.

American beechnut – fagus grandifolia

This is one of approximately ten kinds of beech found in the northerly temperate zones. It is thriving particularly in the Allegheny Mountains. Because the meat inside the nut clings to the nut shell, making it difficult to remove and difficulty of harvesting, because of the short period of time, Fagus grandifolia is not largely harvested and soon after the fresh nuts fall will commence to spoil unless quickly gathered up and dried. However, nuts of the American beech are sweet and have a protein content of about 20 percent.

There is a Black Beech grown in Kentucky that has nuts that are black and about double the size of the average beechnut. When these are oil roasted or dry roasted, have a first-class flavor and with numerous ways to eat them.

European beechnut, fagus sylvatica

The European beechnut also produces edible nuts but have never been a popular food item for human consumption and were only eaten when driven by extreme hunger. It is used primarily for their useful oil. In France, the nuts are roasted, ground, and served up as a coffee substitute. More frequent of the beechnut is the gathering and the extraction of oil from them by a pressing serve. Beechnut oil is employed in cooking and also as a salad oil. Occasionally it is used as a butter replacement. This is more popular in France.

However, the beechnut is generally grown for the beauty of the tree and for the plentiful supply of the nut for wild animals and farmed raised pigs. Propagation of the tree is by seeds.

Beechnut, Beechmast, Beechnut Tree, Fagus sp., Fagus sylvatica, Fagus grandifolia

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