query: taxon_rank weeping beech
supports: Fagus orientalis, commonly known as the Oriental beech, is a deciduous tree in the beech family Fagaceae. It is native to Eurasia, in Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The Weeping Beech , Fagus sylvatica ' Pendula ' , is a cultured variety of the deciduous European Beech . The weeping beech is characterized by its shape with sweeping , pendulous branches . The stem of the tree may not be visible from a distance due to the presence of the covering weeping branches . Branches may reach the ground and start new roots again . Smaller than the Common Beech , the tree can reach a height of up to 25 m and tends to be wider than high . Leaves of the weeping beech are broad , flat , simple and not lobed . They have smooth margins and alternate . They typically measure 5 -- 10 cm in length . Flowers appear in the spring and are inconspicuous . The beechnuts sit in a thin spiny husk and are less than 5 cm in diameter . Young trees need to be staked to make them grow upward ; growth tends to be slow . Weeping beeches may live for 150 to 200 years . The tree is not native to North America but grows in USDA hardiness zones 4 - 7 . It needs moisture and well drained soil and prefers sunny to semi-shaded zones . The tree does not tolerate industrial pollution including street salt . It is a spectacular tree that needs room to be fully appreciated . The green leaves become copper - toned in the fall . In winter the skeleton of the silvery stem with its branches remains attractive . The tree can be pruned for walkways . Pest that can attack the tree includes aphids , borers ( flat - headed apple tree borer , two - lined chestnut borer ) , certain caterpillars , and fungal disease . A fine example of Fagus sylvatica `` Purpurea Pendula '' can be found within the Botanical Garden at Malahide Castle Nr Dublin ROI . The purple pigment in the leaves acts like a sunscreen to protect its new leaves , which is particularly important for plants that grow at high altitudes where the sun is fierce . The triangular beech nuts are popular in autumn with Malahide 's birds , mice and squirrels . Beech ("Fagus") is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America. Recent classification systems of the genus recognize ten to thirteen species in two distinct subgenera, "Engleriana" and "Fagus". The "Engleriana" subgenus is found only in East Asia, and is notably distinct from the "Fagus" subgenus in that these beeches are low-branching trees, often made up of several major trunks with yellowish bark. Further differentiating characteristics include the whitish bloom on the underside of the leaves, the visible tertiary leaf veins, and a long, smooth cupule-peduncle. "Fagus japonica", "Fagus engleriana", and the species "F. okamotoi", proposed by the botanist Chung-Fu Shen in 1992, comprise this subgenus. The better known "Fagus" subgenus beeches are high-branching with tall, stout trunks and smooth silver-grey bark. This group includes "Fagus sylvatica", "Fagus grandifolia", "Fagus crenata", "Fagus lucida", "Fagus longipetiolata", and "Fagus hayatae". The classification of the European beech, "Fagus sylvatica" is complex, with a variety of different names proposed for different species and subspecies within this region (for example "Fagus taurica", "Fagus orientalis", and "Fagus moesica"). Research suggests that beeches in Eurasia differentiated fairly late in evolutionary history, during the Miocene. The populations in this area represent a range of often overlapping morphotypes, though genetic analysis does not clearly support separate species. Deciduous means "falling off at maturity"
  " or "tending to fall off", and it is typically used in order to refer to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally (most commonly during autumn) and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe. In a more general sense, "deciduous" means "the dropping of a part that is no longer needed" or "falling away after its purpose is finished". In plants it is the result of natural processes. "Deciduous" has a similar meaning when referring to animal parts, such as deciduous antlers in deer or deciduous teeth, also known as baby teeth, in some mammals (including humans). Fagaceae is a family of flowering plants that includes beeches and oaks, and comprises eight genera with about 927 species. The Fagaceae are deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs, characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins, and fruit in the form of cup-like (cupule) nuts. Their leaves are often lobed and both petioles and stipules are generally present. Leaf characteristics of Fagaceae can be very similar to those of Rosaceae and other rose motif families. Their fruits lack endosperm and lie in a scaly or spiny husk that may or may not enclose the entire nut, which may consist of one to seven seeds. In the oaks, genus "Quercus", the fruit is a non-valved nut (usually containing one seed) called an acorn. The husk of the acorn in most oaks only forms a cup in which the nut sits. Fagaceae is one of the most ecologically important woody plant families in the Northern Hemisphere, as oaks form the backbone of temperate forests in North America, Europe, and Asia and one of the most significant sources of wildlife fodder. In biology, a species (abbreviated sp., with the plural form species abbreviated spp.) is the basic unit of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which two individuals can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. While this definition is often adequate, looked at more closely it is often problematic. For example, in a species complex, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear or disappear altogether. Other ways of defining species include similarity of DNA, morphology, or ecological niche. The presence of locally adaptive traits may further subdivide species into infraspecific taxa such as subspecies. Fagus japonica, known as the Japanese Blue Beech or in Japanese as inubuna ("dog buna") or kurobuna ("black buna"), is a deciduous tree of the beech family Fagaceae. It is native to Japan, where it is one of the main tree species in natural deciduous forests particularly on the Pacific side of the country. Fagus crenata, known as the Japanese beech, Siebold's beech, or buna, is a deciduous tree of the beech genus, "Fagus", of the family Fagaceae. It is native to Japan, where it is widespread and often one of the dominant trees of Japan's deciduous forests. It is found from the Oshima Peninsula in Hokkaid south to the sumi Peninsula in Kysh. In north-east Honsh it grows in large stands from sea level up to but in the south-west of its range it is restricted to mountainous areas and occurs in small, isolated populations. It grows in well-drained, loamy or sandy soils. Fagus longipetiolata is a species of plant in the Fagaceae family. It is a tree up to tall found in southern and eastern China and in Vietnam. A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant and is the principal lateral appendage of the stem. The leaves and stem together form the shoot. Leaves are collectively referred to as foliage, as in "autumn foliage." Fagus hayatae, also known as Taiwan Beech, is a species of beech tree. It can grow tall. Taiwan Beech is the only beech of Taiwan. While IUCN reports it, though similar to "Fagus lucida" of China, as endemic to Taiwan, ""Flora of China"" and ""Flora of Taiwan"" also report it from China; ""Flora of China"" reports a wide but discontinuous mainland distribution between Sichuan in the southwest to Zhejiang in the east. Fagus grandifolia (American beech or North American beech) is the species of beech tree native to the eastern United States and extreme southeast Canada. The genus name "Fagus" is Latin for "beech", and the species name "grandifolia" comes from "grandis" "large" and "folium" "leaf". In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, supporting branches and leaves in most species. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are usable as lumber or plants above a specified height. Trees are not a taxonomic group but include a variety of plant species that have independently evolved a woody trunk and branches as a way to tower above other plants to compete for sunlight. In looser senses, the taller palms, the tree ferns, bananas and bamboos are also trees. Trees tend to be long-lived, some reaching several thousand years old. The tallest known tree, a coast redwood named Hyperion, stands high. Trees have been in existence for 370 million years. It is estimated that there are just over 3 trillion mature trees in the world. Fagus sylvatica, the European beech or common beech, is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae. A genus ( genera) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms in biology. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus.
candidates: family form genus group order species variety
answer: form