Dwarf Beech and Italy ("Alberi serpente", nel Monte Pollino). A similar form is the Weeping Beech ("Fagus sylvatica" Pendula Group), which has more pendulous branching. Dwarf Beech The Dwarf Beech, "Fagus sylvatica" Tortuosa Group, is a rare Cultivar Group of the European Beech with less than 1500 older specimens in Europe. It is also known as Twisted Beech or Parasol Beech. It is a wide-spreading tree with distinctive twisted and contorted branches that are quite pendulous at their ends. With its short and twisted trunk the Dwarf Beech grows more in width than height, only seldom reaching a height of more than
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