Fall coloring is golden yellow or copper. The tiny flowers , appearing in spring after the leaves, are without petals and wind-pollinated. The fruit is a triangular, edible nut. Two to three nuts are enclosed in a woody, four-part bur covered with short, weak spines. Nuts mature in about 1 year.
Buds are long, lance-shaped, with numerous brown scales.
The thin bark is a light gray and often mottled, remaining smooth throughout the life of the tree. Of the 10 species that exist, only this species is native to North America. The American beech is a common forest tree in most of the eastern US to Wisconsin, extreme eastern and southern Illinois, and southeast Missouri. Sensitive to heat and dryness, it does not do well in Iowa, but if planted in moist, well-drained soil in a cool, sheltered position, it will grow in the eastern and central parts of the state. Most tree deaths are caused by drought.