Tree of Merit: Copper Beech
(Fagus sylvatica Atropurpurea Group)
By Jean Zimmerman, Commercial & Consulting Arborist
for SavATree and MFI Graduate
When I was growing up we gathered
beneath "The Elephant Tree," which stood on the over-
grown lawn of an abandoned mansion. The massive
local landmark, its knob-kneed trunk resembling
nothing so much as the columnar legs of its name-
sake animal, offered a self-contained world. From
the outside, long branches twisted sinuously from
the crown to the ground, spreading outward like the
spokes of an umbrella. Inside this protected space
we found ethereal cathedral light and branches that
were perfect for climbing. Kids hid there, gossiped
there, made out there. The trunk was hashed with ini-
tials and hearts. We gave the tree its nickname, but
the world of dendrology had a more scientific label,
now known as Fagus sylvatica Atropurpurea Group.
The copper beech. Tree guru Michael Dirr chooses
it as "one of my great plant loves," and from
childhood it has been one of mine, too.
Having been brought to America in the 1600s, the
towering, always impressive European beech (Fagus
sylvatica) tops out at a full 70 feet (21 m). The copper
beech (Atropurpurea Group) shares the character-
istics of the species but with distinct foliage color.
While not a street tree, copper beech takes its place
among landmarked gardens and properties that
are part of the urban landscape around them.
The grand homes of Newport, Rhode Island are known
for their beeches. Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York,
the former estate of robber baron Jay Gould, boasts
an imposing collection. Wave Hill, the public garden
in New York City's Riverdale section of the Bronx, dis-
plays two copper beeches that sit across a park lane
from each other like kissing cousins. Their dense, broad
crowns are clearly visible, even from a distance.
"We don't know much about the beeches except that
they were probably planted after 1890, when the prop-
erty came under the same ownership," says Louis
Bauer, Director of Horticulture at Wave Hill. With >>
urban-forestry.com 39
Atropurpurea Group Particulars
From Missouri Botanical Garden: Atropurpurea
Group trees, commonly called copper beech and
purple beech, basically include a variety of dif-
ferent purple-leaved European beech trees ranging
in leaf color from pale purple with a hint of green
to bronze purple to dark purple approaching
black. Atropurpurea Group foliage usually turns
copper-red in fall. Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea',
Fagus sylvatica f. purpurea and Fagus sylvatica
'Atropunicea' are basically synonyms which are
included in the Atropurpurea Group designation.
One of the Wave Hill "cousins"; this one escaped
graffiti, while the other (on the next page) was
not so fortunate. Photo by Jean Zimmerman
