Keyed Out #107 — Fagus sylvatica

Question 1

Its blooms have no petals whatever, only green scraps of {sepal}, one-sexed and wind-borne, the pollen-bearing ones crowded into soft globes on long stalks and the seed-bearing ones in pairs on the same tree.

Accepted Answer

oak family

Question 2

Its blades are set singly, one to a {node} the whole length of the twig, each in one undivided piece with straight side veins running out to the edge, never two facing each other across the stem.

Accepted Answer

Fagaceae

Question 3

Its hard one-seeded fruits ride two at a time in a woody husk that splits into four leathery valves and is armed with soft, undivided bristles, and each fruit is sharply three-cornered.

Accepted Answer

Fagus

Question 4

It stands bare from late autumn until spring, shedding its thin papery blades every year rather than carrying tough leathery foliage right through the winter.

Accepted Answer

Fagus

Question 5

Count the straight side veins on a sun-lit leaf and you reach five to nine pairs, no more, under a margin that merely ripples with a tooth only where a vein meets the edge.

Accepted Answer

Fagus sylvatica

Question 6

Turn a blade over and the underside is plain green, a little paler than the top, with silky hairs only along the midrib and no waxy blue-grey bloom when you tilt it to the light.

Accepted Answer

Fagus sylvatica