North Country explorer from Syracuse, New York
As a class we went to Stone Valley to do some snowshoeing. It was such a nice day, filled with beautiful views.
I took this photograph of a Fagus Grandifolia, commonly known as and American Beech or North American Beech. It is native to eastern North America. It is a deciduous tree.
American Beech is a very important tree in forestry. The wood is heavy, hard, tough and strong.
There are plenty of uses of the American Beech, it is commonly used to make paper. Plenty of animals feed on the nuts that grow on this tree: opossum, black bears, white-tailed deer, rabbit, ruffed grouse, red and gray squirrels, flying foxes, porcupines, and many others. The trees that fall off the tree can be harvested and sold for food.
Habitat: snowy winter day in the forest.
What I found interesting: these were just about the only leaves I saw the entire trip, it automatically caught my eye. I wasn't sure how the picture would turn out, but I think it turned out really neat; how the background is pure white, it makes the leaves really stick out.