Thick woundwood ribs began to close the wound. The wound was closed in four years. The tree was cut about a week after new tracheids began to form. It was cut the third week of May, and therefore the wound was six years and about four weeks old. Beech has diffuse-porous wood.
All vessels are about the same size and arranged evenly throughout the growth increment.
Beech will tolerate low light and often it will grow very slowly, as shown here, as an understory tree. When it is released into light, it grows rapidly. A small wound with decay was compartmentalized in the center of the tree. The tree lost branches at this time and a core of protection wood formed. This type of protection wood is called false heartwood, because the death of branches triggers the process.