What is the origin of the word marcescence?
Other times, these are older, taller trees that have kept their leaves on lower limbs. These trees are practicing “marcescence” (pronounced “mar-CESS-enss”). The word comes from the Latin marcescere (“to fade”). In our area, this occurs on oaks, American beech, hornbeam, Eastern hophornbeam, and witchhazels. Some common species that practice marcescence are various species of oaks (Quercus), American Beech (Fagus grandifolius), and hornbeams (Ostrya virginica and Carpinus caroliniana). Some of these species are marcescent only in their younger years, and lose this quality into adulthood.