Morphological and quantitative characteristics of mature beech trees (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) in two regions of Sistan in Guilan and Kheiroud in Mazandaran

Oriental Beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) is one of the most important forest tree species in the north of Iran. This study aimed to investigate the morphological and quantitative characteristics of mature beech trees (d.b.h.>1 m) in two forest regions, located at Kheiroud district in Mazandaran province and at Sistan district in Guilan province. In each region, 33 trees were selected and some morphological and quantitative characteristics were studied. Results showed that frequency of forked crown shape has significant difference (α= 0.01) in two regions and in Kheiroud was more than Sistan. Frequency of spiral growth and Chinese beard node didn’t show significant difference in two regions. The differences of crown height, tree height (α= 0.05) and trunk length (α= 0.01) were significant in the two regions. Crown height and tree height in Kheiroud were higher than in Sistan, but trunk height in Sistan was higher than in Kheiroud. Slenderness coefficient didn’t show any significant difference in two regions.