American Hornbeam
American Hornbeam foliage
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fagales Family: Betulaceae Genus: Carpinus Species: C. caroliniana
Binomial name
Carpinus caroliniana Walter

The American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana) is a small hardwood tree in the genus Carpinus. American Hornbeam is also occasionally known as blue-beech or musclewood. It is native to eastern North America, from Minnesota and southern Ontario east to Maine, and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta—liverworts Anthocerotophyta—hornworts Bryophyta—mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta—rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta—zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta—clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta—trimerophytes Pteridophyta—ferns and horsetails Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta—seed ferns Pinophyta—conifers Cycadophyta—cycads Ginkgophyta—ginkgo Gnetophyta—gnetae Magnoliophyta—flowering plants... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. ... Orders See text. ... Families included in the Kew list: Fagaceae - Beech family   (including Nothofagaceae) Betulaceae - Birch family Corylaceae - Hazel family Ticodendraceae not included in the Kew list: Casuarinaceae - She-oak family Juglandaceae - Walnut family Rhoipteleaceae Myricaceae The Fagales are an order of flowering plants, including some of the best known trees. ... Genera Alnus - Alder Betula - Birch Carpinus - Hornbeam Corylus - Hazel Ostrya - Hop-hornbeam Ostryopsis - Hazel-hornbeam Betulaceae, or the Birch Family, includes six genera of deciduous nut-bearing trees and shrubs, including the birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams and hop-hornbeams, numbering about 130 species. ... Species Carpinus betulus _ European Hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana - American Hornbeam Carpinus cordata - Sawa Hornbeam Carpinus fargesii - Farges Hornbeam Carpinus laxiflora - Aka-shide Hornbeam Carpinus japonica - Japanese Hornbeam Carpinus orientalis - Oriental Hornbeam Carpinus tschonoskii - Chonowskis Hornbeam Carpinus turczaninowii - Turkzaninovs Hornbeam The hornbeams (Carpinus) are a genus of relatively small... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Thomas U. Walter; Portrait by Francisco Pausas, 1925, after a Mathew Brady photograph Thomas Ustick Walter (September 4, 1804 – October 30, 1887) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was the dean of American architecture between the death of Benjamin Latrobe and the work of H.H. Richardson. ... Beech is a typical temperate zone hardwood For the record label, see Hardwood Records. ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth. ... For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ... Species Carpinus betulus - European Hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana - American Hornbeam Carpinus cordata - Sawa Hornbeam Carpinus fargesii - Farges Hornbeam Carpinus laxiflora - Aka-shide Hornbeam Carpinus japonica - Japanese Hornbeam Carpinus orientalis - Oriental Hornbeam Carpinus tschonoskii - Chonowskis Hornbeam Carpinus turczaninowii - Turkzaninovs Hornbeam The hornbeams (Carpinus) are a genus of relatively small hardwood... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Area  Ranked 12th  - Total 87,014 sq mi (225,365 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 8. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman - Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 106 - Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area [1] Ranked... Official language(s) None (English and French de facto) Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  Ranked 39th  - Total 33,414 sq mi (86,542 km²)  - Width 210 miles (338 km)  - Length 320 miles (515 km)  - % water 13. ... Official language(s) No official language See languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Largest metro area Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 261,797 sq mi (678,051 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Largest metro area Miami Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,795[1] sq mi (170,304[1] km²)  - Width 361 miles (582 km)  - Length 447 miles (721 km)  - % water 17. ...

The bark of the American Hornbeam

It is a small tree reaching heights of 10-15 m, rarely 20 m, and often has a fluted and crooked trunk. The bark is smooth and greenish-grey, becoming shallowly fissured in old trees. The leaves are alternate, 3-12 cm long, with prominent veins giving a distinctive corrugated texture, and a serrated margin. The male and female catkins appear in spring at the same time as the leaves. The fruit is a small 7-8 mm long nut, partially surrounded by a three- to seven-pointed leafy involucre 2-3 cm long; it matures in autumn. The seeds often do not germinate till the spring of the second year after maturating. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth. ... Trunk may be: Look up trunk in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... “Foliage” redirects here. ... A male catkin on a willow a male flowering catkin on a willow Catkins, or aments, are slim, cylindrical flower clusters, wind-pollinated (anemophilous) and without petals, that can be found in many plant families, including Betulaceae, Fagaceae, Moraceae, and Salicaceae. ... For other uses, see Fruit (disambiguation). ... Hazelnuts from the Common Hazel Chestnut A nut can be either a seed or a fruit. ... A Sweet Chestnut Castanea sativa cupule, split open to reveal the nuts. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... A ripe red jalapeño cut open to show the seeds For other uses, see Seed (disambiguation). ...

There are two subspecies, which intergrade extensively where they meet: This article is about the zoological term. ...

• Carpinus caroliniana subsp. caroliniana. Atlantic coastal plain north to Delaware, and lower Mississippi Valley west to eastern Texas. Leaves mostly smaller, 3-9 cm long, and relatively broader, 3-6 cm broad.
• Carpinus caroliniana subsp. virginiana. Appalachian Mountains and west to Minnesota and south to Arkansas. Leaves mostly larger, 8-12 cm long, and relatively narrower, 3.5-6 cm broad.

It is a shade-loving tree, which prefers moderate soil fertility and moisture. It has a shallow, wide-spreading root system. The wood is heavy and hard, and is used for tool handles and golf clubs. The leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, for example the Io moth (Automeris io). The Atlantic Coastal Plain is the rather flat stretch of land that borders the Atlantic Ocean (including the Gulf of Mexico). ... Appalachians in North Carolina The Appalachian Mountains (French: les Appalaches) are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. ... Fertile soil or Soil fertility is soil that can support abundant plant life, in particular the term is used to describe agricultural and garden soil. ... Trunks A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is a solid material derived from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Golf club can mean several things: For the piece of sports equipment, see golf club (equipment) For an organization (whether non-profit or for profit) enrolling members and maintaining a golf course for their use, see country club. ... Caterpillar of the Emperor Gum Moth A caterpillar is the larval form of a member of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). ... The order Lepidoptera is the second most speciose order in the class Insecta and includes the butterflies, moths and skippers. ... Binomial name Fabricius, 1775 The Io moth (Automeris io) is a very colorful North American moth in the Saturniidae family. ...

Description

Common along the borders of streams and swamps, loves a deep moist soil. Varies from shrub to small tree, and ranges throughout the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.

• Bark: On old trees near the base, furrowed. Young trees and branches smooth, dark bluish gray, sometimes furrowed, light and dark gray. Branchlets at first pale green, changing to reddish brown, ultimately dull gray.
• Wood: Light brown, sapwood nearly white; heavy, hard, close-grained, very strong. Used for levers, handles of tools. Sp. gr., 0.7286; weight 45.41 lbs.
• Winter buds: Ovate, acute, chestnut brown, one-eighth of an inch long. Inner scales enlarge when spring growth begins. No terminal bud is formed.
• Leaves: Alternate, two to four inches long, ovate-oblong, rounded, wedge-shaped, or rarely subcordate and often unequal at base, sharply and doubly serrate, acute or acuminate. They come out of the bud pale bronze green and hairy; when full grown they are dull deep green above, paler beneath; feather-veined, midrib and veins very prominent on under side. In autumn bright red, deep scarlet and orange. Petioles short, slender, hairy. Stipules caducous.
• Flowers: April. Monœcious, apetalous, the staminate naked in pendulous aments. The staminate ament buds are axillary and form in the autumn and during the winter resemble leaf-buds, only twice as large; these aments begin to lengthen very early in the spring, when full grown are about one and one-half inches long. The staminate flower is composed of three to twenty stamens crowded on a hairy torus, adnate to the base of a broadly ovate, acute boot-shaped scale, green below the middle, bright red at apex. The pistillate aments are one-half to three-fourths of an inch long with ovate, acute, hairy, green scales and bright scarlet styles.
• Fruit: Clusters of involucres, hanging from the ends of leafy branches. Each involucre slightly incloses a small oval nut. The involucres are short stalked, usually three-lobed, though one lobe is often wanting; halberd-shaped, coarsely serrate on one margin, or entire.^[1]

References

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Carpinus caroliniana