Les Faux de Verzy
A Fau de Verzy is either a Dwarf Beech (Fagus sylvatica variety tortuosa), a dwarf oak tree, or a dwarf chestnut tree.
These grow in the forest of Verzy, 25 km south of Reims in France. In this forest are less than a thousand dwarf beeches, some dozen dwarf oaks and some dwarf chestnuts.
They are not more than 4 or 5 metres (13 or 16 ft) high. In summer, they spread their leaves like heavy sun umbrellas; some looking like leaf igloos. In winter, their tortuous shape can be seen naked: trunks and branches are crooked, bent, twisted and pendulous to the ground. Such dwarf beeches are also known in other places: in Germany (in the Süntel area, not far from Hanover), in Sweden (at Dalby Söderskog National Park near Malmö, not far from the northern limit for this species), in Denmark, and in another place in France (in Lorraine). Nobody knows whether these plantings have the same origin or not. But there are too few such beeches in these two places to feel confident about the future of their population. The situation is healthier around the dwarf beeches of Verzy, especially now that the construction of a pathway enables visitors to admire them without making harmful trampling on the ground over the fragile roots. A fenced reserve also enables the preservation of a part of the population. With more than 1,000 dwarf beeches, the National Forest of Verzy is the world's principal reserve of dwarf beeches. Among them, the most specific ones were given a name inspired by their peculiar shapes:
•the umbrella Fau,
•the Fau of the bride,
•the ox-head Fau,
•the Fau of the Young Lady (the legend says that Joan of Arc came and had a rest in this forest).
This area has been listed at a national level since 1932. (Wikipedia)
Les Faux de Verzy
A Fau de Verzy is either a Dwarf Beech (Fagus sylvatica variety tortuosa), a dwarf oak tree, or a dwarf chestnut tree.
These grow in the forest of Verzy, 25 km south of Reims in France. In this forest are less than a thousand dwarf beeches, some dozen dwarf oaks and some dwarf chestnuts.
They are not more than 4 or 5 metres (13 or 16 ft) high. In summer, they spread their leaves like heavy sun umbrellas; some looking like leaf igloos. In winter, their tortuous shape can be seen naked: trunks and branches are crooked, bent, twisted and pendulous to the ground. Such dwarf beeches are also known in other places: in Germany (in the Süntel area, not far from Hanover), in Sweden (at Dalby Söderskog National Park near Malmö, not far from the northern limit for this species), in Denmark, and in another place in France (in Lorraine). Nobody knows whether these plantings have the same origin or not. But there are too few such beeches in these two places to feel confident about the future of their population. The situation is healthier around the dwarf beeches of Verzy, especially now that the construction of a pathway enables visitors to admire them without making harmful trampling on the ground over the fragile roots. A fenced reserve also enables the preservation of a part of the population. With more than 1,000 dwarf beeches, the National Forest of Verzy is the world's principal reserve of dwarf beeches. Among them, the most specific ones were given a name inspired by their peculiar shapes:
•the umbrella Fau,
•the Fau of the bride,
•the ox-head Fau,
•the Fau of the Young Lady (the legend says that Joan of Arc came and had a rest in this forest).
This area has been listed at a national level since 1932. (Wikipedia)