Fagus sylvatica Purpurea Pendula - Beech

Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea Pendula' is a magnificent purple form of weeping beech. It has fairly slow growth and moderate development, which can easily be contained by pruning, allowing it to be adopted in a medium-sized garden and even cultivated in a large container for several years. Like all beech trees, its foliage takes on a beautiful colour in autumn, and it remains attached to the branches until the end of winter. Decorative throughout the year, even in winter when it reveals its beautiful architecture, this beech tree is usually planted as a specimen.

Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea Pendula' can reach a height of 4 m to 6 m (13.1 ft to 19.7 ft) with a spread of 3 m to 4 m (9.8 ft to 13.1 ft) and can live for a very long time. Its cylindrical trunk is covered with a smooth bark of light grey colour. Its ancestor is native to central Europe to the Caucasus, and is one of the most abundant species in European forests. Its reddish wood is used in cabinet-making and for the production of wooden tools and toys as well as firewood.

'Purpurea Pendula' was selected in Germany around 1865. It is a very popular tree, often planted in parks and small gardens. Its growth is quite slow in the early years, and accelerates a bit later on. It is often grafted on a predetermined stem height. The main branches are drooping, while the young flexible and long branches sometimes hang down to the ground. Its foliage is very dense, composed of shiny, oval-shaped leaves arranged alternately on the branches, measuring 4 cm to 10 cm (1.6 in to 3.9 in) long. They emerge red, gradually turn reddish-brown then purple, and take on a dazzling red-orange colour in autumn. These leaves are marcescent, meaning they dry out while remaining on the tree and only fall to the ground in late winter, just before the arrival of new leaves.

The flowers appear almost at the same time as the leaves. From April to May, monoecious flowers bloom. The male yellow flowers are grouped in pendulous catkins of 40 mm to 60 mm (1.6 in to 2.4 in). The green female flowers appear in groups of 2 to 4 in an involucre at the end of the branches. Fagus sylvatica 'Purpurea Pendula' produces shiny brown fruits called beechnuts, covered with prickles. These fruits, 12 mm to 18 mm (0.5 in to 0.7 in) long, are edible in small quantities. In the past, mountain dwellers used them to make flour.

A magnificent specimen, the weeping purple beech is more suitable for small spaces than usual varieties. It grows particularly well in cool but not too wet, well-drained and humus-rich soils. It can be integrated into a hedge or a large shrub bed. It can also be trained as topiary, grown in a large container or made into a bonsai. Fans of unique small trees will also appreciate the purple hazel, the twisted hazel or the weeping birch Crispa.