Carpinus caroliniana (American hornbeam)

Carpinus caroliniana Walter

American hornbeam, ironwood, musclewood

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Rosidae	Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more
Order	Fagales	Birch, she-oak, beech, walnut, bayberry, others
Family	Betulaceae	Birch family: birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams and hop-hornbeams
Genus	Carpinus	Possibly from Latin carpentum, a horse-drawn Roman vehicle with wheels made from hornbeam
Species	caroliniana	“Of or from the Carolinas”

About plant names...

American hornbeam is native to eastern North America. Its white, very hard wood was prized for ox yokes and tool handles by American colonists, though the relatively small size of the trees limits its commercial use today.

Hornbeam and hophornbeam are unrelated and quite different in appearance:

4/23/2016 · Big Tree/Porcupine Trail, Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, MA

6/13/2011 · Great Falls State Park, Washington, DC
≈ 3½ × 2½" (9.8 × 6.6 cm)

	*Ostrya virginiana*	You are here Carpinus caroliniana
Common Name	Eastern hophornbeam	American hornbeam
Plant	*Small tree*, to 20-30' (6.1-9.1 m). Bark reddish brown to gray brown, in loose strips.	Trees reach 33-49' (10-15 m), and often have multiple stems. Bark is *smooth, dark bluish gray, furrowed near the base in older trees. The trunks are often fluted with vertical depressions that look a little like rippling muscles*.
Flowers	Male *catkins* are ¾-1¾" (2-5 cm) long; female catkins are ¼-½" (8-15 mm) long	Female flowers are white; male are green—both occur on the same tree.
Leaves	Unlobed, alternating, 1¾-5" (5-13 cm) × 1½-2" (4-6 cm), with double serrations on the edges. Tops are *yellow-green*, bottoms are pale green.	*Dark green*, alternate, 1-4½" (3-12 cm) long, with prominent parallel veins and fine serrations or double serrations.
Fruit	Brown nuts ¹/₁₆-³/₁₆" (3-5 mm) long, in *conelike drooping clusters enclosed in white papery sacs*.	A *small ribbed nut* ¼-⁵/₁₆" (7-8 mm) long, surrounded by a *three- to seven-pointed leaf group* called an involucre, ¾-1" (2-3 cm) long. The involucres occur in clusters, and remain on the tree after other leaves drop.
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 3-9	USDA Zones: 3-9
Habitats	River banks, swamp edges, flood plains, in fertile soil, both moist and dry	Rich wet soils such as floodplains, swamps, or mucks
Type	Wild	Wild

Identification: Trees reach 33-49' (10-15 m) (rarely 66' (20 m) in height, and often have multiple stems. Bark is smooth, dark bluish gray, furrowed near the base in older trees. The trunks are often fluted with vertical depressions that look a little like rippling muscles. Leaves are dark green, alternate, 1-4½" (3-12 cm) long, with prominent parallel veins and fine serrations or double serrations. Female flowers are white; male are green—both occur on the same tree. The fruit is a small ribbed nut ¼-⁵/₁₆" (7-8 mm) long, surrounded by a three- to seven-pointed leaf group called an involucre, ¾-1" (2-3 cm) long. The involucres occur in clusters, and remain on the tree after other leaves drop in the fall.

Online References:

Carpinus caroliniana on www.carolinanature.com

Carpinus caroliniana on Wikipedia

Carpinus caroliniana at the University of Connecticut Plant Database

Carpinus caroliniana at the Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation

Carpinus caroliniana at the USDA Forest Service's Silvics of North America site

Carpinus caroliniana at the Missouri Botanical Garden

Carpinus caroliniana at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Carpinus caroliniana on Wikimedia Commons

Carpinus caroliniana on Plants for a Future, a resource and information centre for edible and otherwise useful plants

Carpinus caroliniana on the USDA Forest Service's Fire Effects Information Database

Carpinus caroliniana at Illinois Wildflowers

Carpinus caroliniana on CalPhotos

6/26/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Hollis, MA
≈ 7 × 4½" (18 × 12 cm)

6/23/2017 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, MA
≈ 5 × 7" (13 × 18 cm)

1/1/2012 · Big Tree Trail • Tudor Richards Natural History and Forest Trail, Hollis, NH
≈ 12 × 17" (29 × 44 cm)

1/1/2012 · Big Tree Trail • Tudor Richards Natural History and Forest Trail, Hollis, NH
≈ 21 × 31" (52 × 78 cm)

6/13/2011 · Great Falls State Park, Washington, DC
≈ 11 × 7" (27 × 18 cm)

7/24/2013 · Beaver Brook Assn Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, NH
≈ 7 × 10" (16 × 25 cm)

11/30/2014 · James River, Midlothian, VA
≈ 19 × 28" (47 × 71 cm)

6/23/2017 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton, MA
≈ 3 × 4" (7.5 × 10 cm)

6/13/2011 · Great Falls State Park, Washington, DC
≈ 4½ × 6" (11 × 15 cm)

Carpinus caroliniana description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 25 May 2020.

1/1/2012 · Big Tree Trail • Tudor Richards Natural History and Forest Trail, Hollis, NH
≈ 12 × 17" (29 × 44 cm)

6/28/2017 · Andres Art Institute, Big Bear Mountain, Brookline, NH
≈ 4½ × 7" (12 × 16 cm)

Hornbeams don't have acorns!!! Looks like the acorns fell from another tree. · 9/14/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, MA
≈ 12 × 8" (31 × 20 cm)

7/27/2016 · State Arboretum of Virginia, Boyce, VA

11/30/2011 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton
≈ 3½ × 5" (9.2 × 13 cm)

9/14/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, MA
≈ 31 × 46" (78 × 117 cm)

6/10/2018
≈ 7 × 4" (16 × 11 cm)

6/28/2017 · Andres Art Institute, Big Bear Mountain, Brookline, NH
≈ 7 × 4" (16 × 11 cm)

11/30/2011 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton
≈ 7 × 11" (18 × 27 cm)

7/24/2013 · Beaver Brook Assn Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, NH
≈ 7 × 8" (16 × 21 cm)

6/22/2017 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, MA
≈ 8 × 5" (20 × 13 cm)

7/27/2016 · State Arboretum of Virginia, Boyce, VA

6/10/2018
≈ 7 × 4" (16 × 11 cm)

6/13/2011 · Great Falls State Park, Washington, DC
≈ 7 × 4½" (17 × 11 cm)

Range: Zones 3-9:

About this map...