Tricolor Beech Tree: Ask and Ye Shall Receive

It’s always fun to see how folks find their way to Arboreality. Some are googling tree blog or tree blogging, but most are looking for specific tree species. One of the most popular searches year-round is for the tri-color beech tree (Fagus sylvatica, ‘Purpurea Tricolor’, formerly ‘Roseomarginata’).

The Tricolor beech tree in today’s images is a young specimen planted here at the farm. It’s having a bit of a tough time, possibly owing to the Black walnuts (Juglans nigra) towering overhead. (Black walnuts are well-known for their allelopathic qualities, and are toxic to many neighboring plants).

Tricolor beech trees usually include green, white, and pink variegation on their leaves. Other variegated beeches include the cultivars ‘Albovariegata’ and ‘Luteovariegata’. While not specific to the Tricolor beech, The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees says Fagus sylvatica “tolerates most soils, best in calcareous or deep sandy loam; hardy in cool, moist temperate regions.”

The Audubon Field Guide also mentions that “the words beech and book come from the same root, because ancient Saxons and Germans wrote on pieces of beech board.”

If you have questions, suggestions, or other thoughts on growing the Tricolor beech, be sure to share with us in the comments!

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Source information:

Little, Elbert L. 1980. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

More, David and John White. 2002. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees. Portland: Timber Press. p. 341.

Tri-Color Beech Tree

Talk about an amazing tree! Allow me to introduce you to the tri-color beech (tricolor, tricolour, tri-colour), or tri-color European beech, scientifically referred to as Fagus sylvatica Roseomarginata.

Tri-color beeches can come in shades of red, pink, purple, white, and green, depending upon the specimen. Compare that with the final image of a solid green leaf from an American beech that we explored earlier. I love the delicate fuzzy hairs on these leaves!

The tri-color beech tree you see in today’s post has a dark red/purple, a lighter red/brown, and a white shade which isn’t visible in these images. According to my reading, the best way to ensure that all the colors show up on your tri-color beech tree is not to baby it. This tree needs stress and hardship in order to show its truest and most beautiful colors. If a tri-color beech tree is overfed and given too much care and attention, it will lose the variegation in the leaves, and fade into a single reddish color.

I like this tree as an analogy for our own lives. If all we ever did was sit happily sucking up life and water and nourishment that was carefully fed to us each day, never wanting for anything, we would fade into a monochromatic life. Sure, we might be healthy and alive, but until we face hardships, until we overcome the insurmountable, take on life’s challenges, and reach for what we need, the world will not see our true colors and beauty in their complete and total rainbow.