Scientific Name
Fagus sylvatica ‘Roseo-marginata’
The European beech is one of the most common deciduous forest trees of temperate continental Europe and the cooler mountainous regions of the adjacent Mediterranean countries. Over many years, horticulturists in Europe have discovered and propagated many beech cultivars that differ from the norm in terms of foliage color, leaf shape and overall growth habit. One of these variations is the 'Tricolor' beech, and it has become a favorite because of the brilliant rose red (or sometimes pink and white) margins of the leaves. Although the leaf centers have a dark green color, the overall impression of the tree from a distance during the first months of foliage growth is a magenta rose color. However, by late July, a few weeks of our hottest summer weather sap the intensity of the rose color, which then fades to tan, and the tree recedes into the background. Even so, the spring foliage display which can last for two full months has more eye-catching impact than many other ornamental trees can provide.
Aside from the spectacular foliage, the tricolor beech doesn't differ materially from the common European beech found in its native habitats. The leaves are oval with a pointed tip and have edges that are slightly scalloped. The dry, dead leaves sometimes remain attached to the tree well into the winter months, especially on the lower branches and on the younger specimens; this is a trait it shares with some oak trees (oaks and beeches are close relatives). The dormant season buds are distinctive in being unusually long, slender and pointed, and this is a reliable key to identifying beech trees during the winter. The thin bark of beech trees is a very attractive smooth gray, even on very old trunks, and it is often compared to elephant hide because it shows fine concentric wrinkles where branches and trunks meet. The fruit of beech trees is a small, triangular-shaped nut (a beechnut) that is edible for humans and animals, although the trees usually need to be upwards of 30 years old before they begin producing them.
European beech trees cultivated here generally don't exceed 70 feet in height with a comparable canopy spread, though the tricolor cultivar may not reach a comparable stature to the plain species. However, in their native habitat, trees well over 100 feet tall can be found, along with trunks measuring 5 feet in diameter. If not in competition with other trees, beech trees generally produce branches that sweep the ground, and the canopy casts a very dense summer shade that makes it quite difficult to garden beneath it. Further complicating the picture is the beech's habit, over time, of growing many large, shallow roots that radiate in all directions. A life span of 300 years for a carefully tended beech tree is not uncommon, and some have been determined to reach 500 years of age. Although this species prefers a more humid atmosphere than ours, it still grows here with no obvious trouble and has good tolerance of our winter climate. It does tend to have a slower rate of growth than many other trees in our urban forest.
Regis has two tricolor beech trees on the Colorado champion list. The specimen to the south of the Jesuit House is tied for second place with another tree in Denver. Almost as large is the specimen on the south side of Carroll Hall, which is tied for third place with a tree in Wheat Ridge. Even the largest tricolor beech on the list, another Denver tree, is only about 10% larger in the relevant measurements, which are in the vicinity of 14-inch trunk diameters, around 35 feet in height and crown spreads of around 30 feet.