American Hornbeam (Trees and Shrubs of South Mountain Reservation)

American Hornbeam

Carpinus caroliniana

Summary ⁶

Carpinus caroliniana, the American hornbeam, is a small hardwood tree in the genus Carpinus. American hornbeam is also known as blue-beech, ironwood, and musclewood. It is native to eastern North America, from Minnesota and southern Ontario east to Maine, and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida. It also grows in Canada (southwest Quebec and southeast Ontario). It occurs naturally in shaded areas with moist soil, particularly near the banks of streams or rivers, and is often a natural constituent understory species of the riverine and maritime forests of eastern temperate North America.

C caroliniana is a small tree reaching heights of 35–50 ft, rarely 65 ft, and often has a fluted and crooked trunk. The bark is smooth and greenish-grey, becoming shallowly fissured in all old trees. The leaves are alternate, 1+1⁄4–4+3⁄4 in long, with prominent veins giving a distinctive corrugated texture, and a serrated margin.

The wood is heavy and hard, and is used for tool handles, walking sticks, walking canes and golf clubs.

Sources and Credits

(c) Dwayne Estes, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Dwayne Estes
(c) alfanoar, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by alfanoar
(c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Douglas Goldman
(c) Tom Potterfield, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/tgpotterfield/27280272656/
(c) Jeff Skrentny, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Jeff Skrentny
Adapted by Tom Pollard from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpinus_caroliniana

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