Persistent Beech leaf

There's something inexplicable about young Beech trees. While the mature members of the Fagus grandifolia clan shed their foliage like proper northern hardwoodsin the fall, the beech kids tend to hold onto at least some of their leaves throughout the winter. Maybe it takes more than a few seasons—and plenty of seasoning—before the youngsters can accept the fact that it's OK to let go... that spring will indeed come again and those buds will definitely open and bring forth a new crop of leaves. Then again, maybe the spent leaves, which are, after all, incapable of useful work like photosynthesis and are forever cut off from the tree, serve some protective function, such as keeping the buds from cold damage. The Fagus hangers-on are an eye-catching natural history mystery.