Beech leaves in Queenswood

During a lunch time wander through Queenswood, the afternoon light streamed through the woodland to light up last season's persistent beech leaves.  Marcescence is the term used to describe the retention of autumn leaves.  

  

The juvenile Beeches provide a welcome sprinkling of colour to the shrub layer of the bare woodland.

Autumn Beech Leaves on Beckett Park

More rich autumn leaf colour, this time courtesy of the Common Beech (Fagus sylvatica). On my way into work each morning I pass by these trees on Beckett Park, Headingley, where today the leaves vary from green to yellow to gold to fiery orange.

Here's how these trees looked in January and April last year, and some previous posts about the emerging spring leaves and resilient winter leaves of the Beech.

Beckett Park Beech leaves

On my route into work I pass by a number of mature Beech trees (Fagus sylvatica) and for the past few weeks I've marvelled at the newly emerging leaves. From the slender, pointed, zig-zagged brown buds the leaves burst forth, folded like fans, alternately arranged on the stem, emerald green, strongly veined their slightly crenate margins edged with silky hairs.

The flowers are small single-sex (monoecious), the female flowers rise upright in pairs near the growing end of the stem with the long stalked drooping clusters of male catkins.

Here you can just make out the female flower above and to the rear of the leaves while the five male catkins hang below.

Not very exciting this one, carpets of husky Beech bud scales scattered on the ground beneath the canopy.

The emerald green, strongly veined leaves catch the light beautifully.

Pictured here are two of the Beech trees, the first pictured this week and the following example back in January.

Take a look at Jessica's Nature Blog where she has captured some great pics of a Copper Beech.

Some of my previous posts on Beech leaves Beckett Park Beech leaves and Beech Leaves.

Beckett Park Beech leaves

Following on from last week's pics of near translucent Beech leaves in wintery afternoon light, this week Ive enjoyed contrasting views of the foliage as sunshine streams through the woodland margin, bathing the Beech leaves in a glorious golden glow. What an incredible difference a little light makes to the look and feel of a woodland.

The new shoots are visible alongside last year's leaves.

Here's the area of woodland that they're from, the Beech saplings flank the path extending an autumnal feel to the woodland way into the early days of March.

Beech leaves

The Beech (Fagus sylvatica) leaves in Beckett Park woodland are becoming more translucent as the time approaches for new leaves to appear. These ones caught my eye again this afternoon. The term for these persistent leaves is marcescence which is "the retention of dead plant organs that normally are shed. It is most obvious in deciduous trees that retain leaves through the winter. " The reason for the retention of the leaves is that Beech (and Oak) doesn't form a complete cork-like abscission layer which seperates the tree from its old leaves.