Beechnuts were collected during the fall of 1978 from six high-elevation beech forests of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Comparisons of seed viability were made between these high-elevation forests and low-elevation beech forests in middle and east Tennessee, and southwest Virginia. Viability was tested by tetrazolium, field germination, and laboratory germination tests.
High-elevation beechnuts were found to have a germinative capacity of 72.26% (284/383) and low-elevation nuts 71.12% (431/606). Naturally occurring seedlings were found growing in the high-elevation forests in the spring of 1979. The conclusion is that these forests possess the capacity to reproduce via seed.