American Beech And Its Marcescent Leaves

An American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) showing off its marcescent leaves. These Beech trees create patches through the woods of pale brown areas of leaves hanging on, waiting for spring to fall to the ground.

Marcescence occurs when deciduous trees, mainly Beech or Oak trees, let their leaves wither in the late fall but they fail to let them drop to the ground until spring.

I love to see Beech trees in winter, just after a snow. Their leaves create little pockets of what look to me like little shave ice cones.

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Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.