Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests hickories ("Carya" spp.), red maple ("Acer rubrum"), sugar maple ("Acer saccharum"), white ash ("Fraxinus americana"), tulip tree ("Liriodendron tulipifera"), American beech ("Fagus grandifolia"), black cherry ("Prunus serotina"), black birch ("Betula lenta"), black tupelo ("Nyssa sylvatica"), and American elm ("Ulmus americana"). Flowering dogwood ("Cornus florida") is a common understory tree. Central Appalachian pine-oak rocky woodlands occur on lower-elevation hilltops, outcrops, and rocky slopes and have a patchy or open aspect. Pitch pine ("Pinus rigida") and Virginia pine ("Pinus virginiana") are common within their respective ranges. These pines are often mixed with dry-site oaks such as chestnut oak ("Quercus prinus"), bear oak
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