One of the most popular pasttimes in Germany is wandern, or hiking. Germans love to take long walks outside and it helps that there is usually a forest or wooded area nearby to walk through! There is a wooded trail near me that I like to take walks down when I have free time. While I was walking with a friend the other day, I noticed that a lot of the trees around me looked different to the ones I see back home. Instead of being big and bulky, these trees were tall and very skinny. I asked my friend what kind of tree it was, but she didn't know, either. I decided I had to find out more about this mysterious tree!
After looking through lots of pictures online, I discovered that the trees near me are called beech trees, Buchen in German. Beech trees have thin trunks with smooth, light grey bark. One of the coolest things about beeches is that they don't start growing branches until about halfway up their trunks! This makes them seem even taller and thinner. Beeches grow nuts, too. In the fall, these beechnuts can be found all over the forest floor.
