There are several Fagus sylvatica varieties with purple foliage:
'Atropunicea' (copper beech, purple beech) alt. 'Riversii' or 'Purpurea' - 50-60 feet tall, 35-45 feet wide; good in containers
'Dawyck Purple' - columnar to 70 feet tall and 15 feet wide
'Purpurea Pendula' (weeping copper beech) - usu. no more than 10 feet tall and wide; good in containers
'Red Obelisk' - columnar
Source: Western Garden Book, Sunset Publishing Corporation, 7th edition, 2001, p.347.
And from Paghat:
F.sylvatica 'Black Swan' - swan neck growth habit
F.sylvatica 'Rohani'
Season
All Season
Date 2006-02-16
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Are there any lists of shrubs/small trees that are best viewed from below, such as Styrax or Halesia?
While there are no lists of shrubs/small trees best viewed from below, there is a list of trees with weeping habits in The Pacific Northwest Gardener's Book of Lists (Ray and Jan McNeilan, 1997). Many genera of conifers - Cedrus (cedar), Chamaecyparis (cypress), Larix (larch), Picea (spruce), Pinus (pine), and Tsuga (hemlock) - have weeping forms, often indicated by a variety name 'Pendula' or 'Pendulum'. There are weeping birches (Betula), beeches (Fagus), and cherries (Prunus), too.
You are correct about Styrax and Halesia. Additionally, I ran across a few individual species that may be of interest to you as I researched this question:
--Davidia involucrata
--Laburnum anagyroides
--flowering currants, Ribes spp.
--flowering cherry trees, particularly Prunus padus
--various plants in the Ericaceae family have bell-shaped flowers that hang on the underside of the stem.
I would add that any tree which has a naturally graceful branching pattern and/or delicately shaped foliage (such as Japanese maples) would be pleasant to view from below, as well as from other angles.
Season
All Season
Date 2007-05-21
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