52 



Common Trees 



HOP HORNBEAM 



Ostrya virginiana, Miller (K. Koch) 



THE Hop Hornbeam, also called Ironwood, has appro- 

 priate common names, for its fruit is hop-like and the 

 wood is "hard as iron." It is the only tree native to 

 eastern North America that produces hop-like fruit. An 

 examination of the fruit shows that it is made up of a 

 number of loose pa- 

 pery bags, in each of 

 which is found a 

 little brown nutlet. 

 The seed bags are ar- 

 ranged in clusters us- 

 ually from 1 to 2 

 inches long and at- 

 tached to the twig by 

 a hairy stem. 



The leaves arc 

 simple, alternate, 3 

 to 5 inches long, 

 ovate, long - pointed 

 finely toothed along 

 the margin. 



The flowers are 

 of two kinds. Pol- 

 len-bearing and seed- 

 producing occur on 

 the same tree. The 

 former occur in 

 drooping tassels 

 about 2 inches long, 

 and the latter are 

 produced in erect 

 clusters. During winter the partly developed pollen-bear- 

 ing flower catkins occur in clusters of 3 or 4 at the ends 

 of the twigs. 



The twigs are delicate and interlacing. The thin grayish 

 brown bark peeling off in narrow, flat scales, and the small 

 reddish-brown buds with four-ranked bud scales are dis- 

 tinctive. 



The Hop Hornbeam is widely distributed over the eastern 

 United States. It is found from Cape Breton Island to 

 Florida and west to Minnesota and Texas. It occurs 

 throughout Ohio. It is abundant in the northern and cen- 

 tral parts of the State, where it usually occurs on dry, 

 gravelly uplands. It is rarely over 30 feet high and 12 

 inches in diameter. In some Ohio woodlots it forms 

 dense thickets, to the exclusion of more valuable trees. 



HOP HORNBEAM 



One-fourth natural size. 



Twig section and seed with enclosing 



membrane, enlarged. 



