Fagus grandifolia this is not considered distinct in the Flora of North America. The Mexican beech ("Fagus mexicana"), native to the mountains of central Mexico, is closely related, and is sometimes treated as a subspecies of American beech, but more often as a distinct species. The only "Fagus" species found in the Western Hemisphere (assuming "F. mexicana" is treated as a subspecies), "F. grandifolia" is believed to have spanned the width of the North American continent all the way to the Pacific coast before the last ice age. It is a deciduous tree growing to tall, with smooth, silver-gray bark. The leaves
Fagus sylvatica depends on the location: in forest areas, "F. sylvatica" grows to over , with branches being high up on the trunk. In open locations, it will become much shorter (typically ) and more massive. The leaves are alternate, simple, and entire or with a slightly crenate margin, 5–10 cm long and 3–7 cm broad, with 6–7 veins on each side of the leaf (7–10 veins in "Fagus orientalis"). When crenate, there is one point at each vein tip, never any points between the veins. The buds are long and slender, long and thick, but thicker (to ) where the buds