Forest of Compiègne residence on the city's western edge. Stretching forward from the château, the "Avenue de Beaux Monts" scales the heights of the same name, providing a scenic promenade into the woods. The forest of Compiègne is famous for its picturesque natural attractions, with its arrays of oak and beech trees projecting a "noble and ordered beauty". The most prominent tree species are oak ("Quercus robur"), beech ("Fagus sylvatica") and hornbeam ("Carpinus betulus"). Much of the oak was heavily harvested over the centuries but was replanted aggressively in the nineteenth century when fears of deforestation began to be addressed. Since the late
Nyssa sylvatica in the Northeast is "pepperidge." On Martha's Vineyard, in Massachusetts, this species is called "beetlebung", perhaps for its use in making the mallet known as a beetle, used for hammering bungs (stoppers) into barrels. "Nyssa sylvatica" grows to tall, rarely to , with a trunk diameter of , rarely up to . These trees typically have a straight trunk with the branches extending outward at right angles. The bark is dark gray and flaky when young, but it becomes furrowed with age, resembling alligator hide on very old stems. The twigs of this tree are reddish-brown, usually hidden by a