Range: Eastern Canada and United States.

Soil and location: Prefers a rich, well-drained soil, but will grow in
any good soil.

Enemies: _Aphides_ or plant lice that suck the sap from the leaves in
spring and early summer are the chief enemies of the tree.

Value for planting: The pleasing color of its bark, its fine spread of
branches, which gracefully droop down to the ground, and its
autumnal coloring, make the beech a favorite for lawn and park
planting. The several European species of beech are equally
charming.

[Illustration: FIG. 56.--Bark of the Hackberry.]

Commercial value: The wood is strong, close-grained, and tough. It is
used mainly for cooperage, tool handles, shoe lasts, chairs, etc.,
and for fuel.

Other characters: The _fruit_ is a prickly burr encasing a sharply
triangular nut which is sweet and edible.

Comparisons: The _European beech_ (_Fagus sylvatica_), and its weeping,
purple-leaved, and fern-leaved varieties, are frequently met with in
parks and may be told from the native species by its darker bark.
The weeping form may, of course, be told readily by its drooping
branches. The leaves of the European beeches are broader and less
serrated than those of the American beech.