Beech

Ojibwe Name:

azhaawemish

Scientific Name:

Fagus grandifolia

Significance in Ojibwe Cultures:

Azhaawemish means tattoo tree, it can handle you carving tattoos into it without it dying.

How to Identify the Leaves:

"American beech trees have broad crowns with bark that is smooth and a light bluish-grey that darkens with age. Its large oval leaves (six to 14 centimetres long) are dark bluish-green on top and lighter beneath.

American beech nuts are edible and popular with many birds and mammals. They grow in pairs in bristly reddish-brown husks. Beech bark disease is currently threatening the species across its entire range."