I ask because I volunteer with a local woodland conservation group,
and amongst the trees of several species (birch, beech, oak, chestnut
etc) is a solitary copper beech, probably about twenty or thirty years
old. We were wondering how it got there, as it's not in an easily
accessible place and unlikely to have been deliberately planted. There
is a mature copper beech about two hundred yards away in a local
garden. Could a bird or possibly a squirrel have carried a mast and
dropped or buried it?

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

On 13/05/2022 12:33, Chris Hogg wrote:
> I ask because I volunteer with a local woodland conservation group,
> and amongst the trees of several species (birch, beech, oak, chestnut
> etc) is a solitary copper beech, probably about twenty or thirty years
> old. We were wondering how it got there, as it's not in an easily
> accessible place and unlikely to have been deliberately planted. There
> is a mature copper beech about two hundred yards away in a local
> garden. Could a bird or possibly a squirrel have carried a mast and
> dropped or buried it?
>

"Do copper beech trees come true from beech mast?" Yes and no - the
offspring of a copper beech are likely to have some degree of purple
colouration (that's how we ended up with 'Dawyck Purple') but they can't
be relied on to be the same shade.

An alternative to bird or squirrel transport is pollen being carried on
the wind.

--
SRH

On 13/05/2022 12:33, Chris Hogg wrote:
> I ask because I volunteer with a local woodland conservation group,
> and amongst the trees of several species (birch, beech, oak, chestnut
> etc) is a solitary copper beech, probably about twenty or thirty years
> old. We were wondering how it got there, as it's not in an easily
> accessible place and unlikely to have been deliberately planted. There
> is a mature copper beech about two hundred yards away in a local
> garden. Could a bird or possibly a squirrel have carried a mast and
> dropped or buried it?

It could just be a novel seed off a "standard" beech. After all, that's
how nearly all these varieties start. How it got there is anybody's
guess. Do squirrels bury beech mast? I'd have thought it was hardly
worth their while as they are pretty small. A very old friend, however,
is convinced that squirrels purposely bury acorns well away from the
parent tree so that they contribute to the propagation of the species.
So if they do bury beech mast, perhaps they do bury those seeds well
away from the tree they came from.

--

Jeff

On 13/05/2022 12:59, Jeff Layman wrote:
> On 13/05/2022 12:33, Chris Hogg wrote:
>> I ask because I volunteer with a local woodland conservation group,
>> and amongst the trees of several species (birch, beech, oak, chestnut
>> etc) is a solitary copper beech, probably about twenty or thirty years
>> old. We were wondering how it got there, as it's not in an easily
>> accessible place and unlikely to have been deliberately planted. There
>> is a mature copper beech about two hundred yards away in a local
>> garden. Could a bird or possibly a squirrel have carried a mast and
>> dropped  or buried it?
>
> It could just be a novel seed off a "standard" beech. After all, that's
> how nearly all these varieties start. How it got there is anybody's
> guess. Do squirrels bury beech mast? I'd have thought it was hardly
> worth their while as they are pretty small. A very old friend, however,
> is convinced that squirrels purposely bury acorns well away from the
> parent tree so that they contribute to the propagation of the species.
> So if they do bury beech mast, perhaps they do bury those seeds well
> away from the tree they came from.
>
I find oak seedlings everywhere. I have one mature oak tree (probably
several hundred years old) and one I have nurtured for the last 30 years
which is probably a youthful 40-50 years old. They are 200 yards apart.

So however it happens, it happens alright. Squirrels? - maybe. Plenty of
those around.

--
Any fool can believe in principles - and most of them do!

On Fri, 13 May 2022 12:58:05 +0100, Stewart Robert Hinsley
<{$news$}@meden.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>On 13/05/2022 12:33, Chris Hogg wrote:
>> I ask because I volunteer with a local woodland conservation group,
>> and amongst the trees of several species (birch, beech, oak, chestnut
>> etc) is a solitary copper beech, probably about twenty or thirty years
>> old. We were wondering how it got there, as it's not in an easily
>> accessible place and unlikely to have been deliberately planted. There
>> is a mature copper beech about two hundred yards away in a local
>> garden. Could a bird or possibly a squirrel have carried a mast and
>> dropped or buried it?
>>
>
>"Do copper beech trees come true from beech mast?" Yes and no - the
>offspring of a copper beech are likely to have some degree of purple
>colouration (that's how we ended up with 'Dawyck Purple') but they can't
>be relied on to be the same shade.
>
>An alternative to bird or squirrel transport is pollen being carried on
>the wind.

Thanks Stewart - pollen on the wind sounds the most likely answer,
because the leaf colour is rather pale and washed-out for a 'good'
copper beech.

--
Chris

Gardening in West Cornwall, very mild, sheltered
from the West, but open to the North and East.

In article <1sfs7h5ol8lngbsboc6jc9e1po2dufi18p@4ax.com>,
Chris Hogg <me@privacy.net> wrote:
>I ask because I volunteer with a local woodland conservation group,
>and amongst the trees of several species (birch, beech, oak, chestnut
>etc) is a solitary copper beech, probably about twenty or thirty years
>old. We were wondering how it got there, as it's not in an easily
>accessible place and unlikely to have been deliberately planted. There
>is a mature copper beech about two hundred yards away in a local
>garden. Could a bird or possibly a squirrel have carried a mast and
>dropped or buried it?

I have seen that a few times. I don't know the reason that some
beeches are copper, but seems to be a fairly common variation in
'wild' beeches. Remember that many woodlands are based around a
core of planted trees - we have almost no virgin woodland in the
UK. Actually, I think that relatively few beeches are self-seeded,
even now, because they were planted so extensively.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 13/05/2022 16:43, Chris Hogg wrote:
> On Fri, 13 May 2022 12:58:05 +0100, Stewart Robert Hinsley
> <{$news$}@meden.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> On 13/05/2022 12:33, Chris Hogg wrote:
>>> I ask because I volunteer with a local woodland conservation group,
>>> and amongst the trees of several species (birch, beech, oak, chestnut
>>> etc) is a solitary copper beech, probably about twenty or thirty years
>>> old. We were wondering how it got there, as it's not in an easily
>>> accessible place and unlikely to have been deliberately planted. There
>>> is a mature copper beech about two hundred yards away in a local
>>> garden. Could a bird or possibly a squirrel have carried a mast and
>>> dropped or buried it?
>>>
>>
>> "Do copper beech trees come true from beech mast?" Yes and no - the
>> offspring of a copper beech are likely to have some degree of purple
>> colouration (that's how we ended up with 'Dawyck Purple') but they can't
>> be relied on to be the same shade.
>>
>> An alternative to bird or squirrel transport is pollen being carried on
>> the wind.
>
> Thanks Stewart - pollen on the wind sounds the most likely answer,
> because the leaf colour is rather pale and washed-out for a 'good'
> copper beech.
>

According to my Nurseryman's stock manual you sow thousands and pick out
the good coloured ones chucking the rest away!

--
Charlie Pridham
Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk