be expected, in this variety are considerably larger than those of the ordinary form.
Var. rotundifolia, Round-leaved Beech.[1]—The leaves are very small, round, and bright green, and are set close on the twigs. This variety has an upright habit of growth, and was introduced in 1894 by Jackman of Woking.
Var. grandidentata.—A form with conspicuously toothed leaves.
Var. pendula, Loddiges, Weeping Beech.—Several forms of this variety occur, but in all the smaller branches hang down. The main branches are irregularly disposed, so that the tree often has a very rugged outline. This variety should be grafted at a good height, as otherwise many of the pendulous branches will lie upon the ground; and the main branches, if they show a tendency to droop too much, should be supported. Weeping beeches may be tall and slender, or low and broad, or quite irregular, depending upon the direction of the larger branches, which may grow outwards or upwards, or in almost any direction; the smaller branches only are uniformly pendulous.
The weeping beech has been observed wild in the forest of Brotonne, in Seine-Inférieure, France.
A good example of a tall, slender, weeping beech may be seen near Wimbledon Common, on the estate lately owned by Sir W. Peek. A fine specimen occurs at Barton, which in 1904 was 77 feet high and 5 feet 2 inches in girth. Elwes has noted a very picturesque and well-shaped one at Endsleigh, near Tavistock, the Devonshire seat of the Duke of Bedford. Several have been figured in the Gardeners' Chronicle, e.g. a group of three trees[2] at Ashwick Hall, Gloucestershire, which were planted about 1860. In the Knap Hill Nursery[3] at Woking, and in the nursery[4] of R. Smith and Co. at Worcester, there are fine specimens. Another good specimen,[5] occurring in Dickson's nursery at Chester, is figured in the Garden.
Many forms of weeping beech have been described as sub-varieties, as purpurea pendula, mentioned above; var. miltonensis, with branches less pendulous, found wild in Milton Park, Northamptonshire; var. borneyensis, found wild in the forest of Borney, near Metz, and described as having an erect stem and distinctly pendulous branches; var. pagnyensis, discovered in the forest of Pagny in the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle in France; var. remillyensis, found in the forest of Remilly, near Metz.
Var. tortuosa, Parasol Beech.[6]—In this curious form, the branches, both large and small, and the branchlets are all directed towards the ground. It is not to be confounded with the preceding variety, in which only the slender branches are pendulous; and is analogous rather to the weeping ash. Beeches of this form have, even in old age, a very short and twisted stem, with a hemispherical crown, which sometimes touches the ground; and it scarcely ever grows higher than 10 feet. This variety has been found wild in France, in the forest of Verzy, near Rheims, and also
- ↑ Gard. Mag. 1894, p. 339, with figure.
- ↑ Gard. Chron. June 20, 1903, fig. 155.
- ↑ Ibid. Dec. 24, 1870, p. 70.
- ↑ Ibid. Dec. 29, 1900, suppl.
- ↑ Garden, Dec. 5, 1903, p. 167.
- ↑ For a complete account of the occurrence of this curious form in the forests of the east of France, see Godron, Les Hetres tortillards des environs de Nancy, Mém. de l'Acad. de Stanislas, Nancy, 1869. Godron says that their growth is infinitely slower than that of normal beech. See also Rev. Hort., 1861, p. 84, and 1864, p. 127.
