Fagus grandifolia Fagus grandifolia Fagus grandifolia, the American beech or North American beech, is the species of beech tree native to the eastern United States and extreme southeast Canada. The genus name "Fagus" is Latin for "beech", and the specific epithet "grandifolia" comes from "grandis" "large" and "folium" "leaf". The American beech is native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Ontario in southeastern Canada, west to Wisconsin and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida in the United States. Trees in the southern half of the range are sometimes distinguished as a variety, "F. grandifolia" var. "caroliniana", but
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