Wood: Although the close-grained wood is hard and heavy, the trees are not commercially important. The wood has been used for objects that require exceptional strength: mallets, levers and tool handles. The pioneers used this wood for bowls and dishes as it is not subject to splitting or cracking.
Wildlife: Birds, squirrels and rodents eat the seeds, buds and catkins, and white-tailed deer occasionally browse the leaves and twigs.
Horticulture: The bluebeech is an excellent tree to plant under taller, towering trees and could be more widely used as an ornamental in eastern and central Iowa. The leaves keep their fresh green appearance all summer.
