The Majestic Beech of Roumare

One of the biggest beeches in the Foret de Roumare is also one of the easiest to reach: it stands at the forest edge beside the D351, a few steps off the tarmac rather than a kilometre into the trees. The register calls it un des plus gros de la foret and measures it at 128 centimetres across the foot of the trunk, which is a little over four metres round down there, on an estimated 120 to 150 years. Edge trees grow differently from forest trees. A beech in the middle of a stand is drawn straight up by its neighbours and holds its branches high; one with open sky on one side puts weight low and sideways, so its crown is lopsided and its lower limbs are heavy. That is what you get here, and it is why the tree reads as large from the road when taller beeches inside the wood do not. Beech bark stays smooth and thin its whole life, which is why every old beech near a path collects carved initials and why they matter more than they look: each cut is a hole in the tree's only defence. Please leave this one unsigned.