2016 ARBORETUM AND FRUYTICETUM. PART 111, 
Synonymes. Carpinus virginiana Add. Ins.; 2. p. 151., Lam. Encyc., 1. p.700., Willd. Arb., 53., 
Pluk. Alm., 7. t.156. f.1., N. Du Ham., 2. p.200.; Carpinus O’strya virginiana Micha. Fl. Bor. 
Amer., 2. p. 202.; C. O’strya Michx. N. Amer. Syl., 3. p. 30.; Iron Wood, Lever Wood, Amer. ; Bois 
dur, Zd/inois, 
Engravings. Abb. Ins., 2. t.75.; Pluk. Alm,, t. 156. f. 1.; ?.N. Amer. Syl., 3. p. 109. ; and our 
fig. 1940. 
Spec. Char., §c. Strobiles ovate-oblong, erect. Leaves ovate-oblong, acu- 
minate, Buds acute. (Willd.) A tree, from 15 ft. to 40 ft. high; a native 
of North America, Introduced in 1692.._ The Virginian hop hornbeam, or 
iron wood, generally forms a tree about 30 ft. high, growing more rapidly 
than O. vulgaris, and differing from that species, according to Willdenow . 
and Pursh, chiefly in the position of its female catkins, which are upright, 
instead of being pendulous. The tree, according 
to Michaux, is easily known, in winter, by its 
smooth greyish bark, which is finely divided, and 
detached in strips of not more than aline in breadth. 
The wood is perfectly white, compact, fine-grained, 
and very heavy. The concentrical layers are closely 
compressed, and their number, in a trunk only 
4 in. or 5in, diameter, evinces the length of time 
which it requires for the tree to attain even this 
inconsiderable size. The leaves are alternate, 
oval-acuminate, and finely and unequally denticu- 
lated. “ The small, hard, triangular seed is con- 
tained in a species of oval inflated bladder, covered, 
at the age of maturity, with a fine down, which 
causes a violent irritation of the skin if carelessly handled.” .(Michx.) The 
iron wood is distributed through all North America, from New Brunswick 
to Florida. It is, however, never found in masses, but is loosely dis- 
seminated through the forests, and only found in cool, fertile, shaded 
situations ; and Michaux adds that he never saw it more vigorous than 
in Genessee, near Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. In consequence of the 
small size of the tree, the wood is but little used; though Michaux in- 
forms us that levers are made of it, with which the trees are raised that 
have been felled in clearing the ground, and transported to the pile where 
they are to be burned. ‘ Near New York, brooms and scrubbing-brushes 
are made of it, by shredding the end of a stick of suitable dimensions,” 
It was introduced into France by the elder Michaux; and some trees of 
it, planted on the estate of Du Hamel, at Monceau, have ripened seed, 
and sown themselves; so that there is now a young wood of it growing up. 
The Virginian hop hornbeam was introduced into England by Bishop 
Compton, in 1692; and there are plants of it in some collections, as, for 
example, in the Horticultural Society’s Garden, and at Messrs. Loddiges’s. 
The tree bears so close a resemblance to the European hop hornbeam, 
that, in all probability, it is not specifically different, though it appears to 
be somewhat more tender. 
Genus VI. 
CORYLUS L. Tue Hazen. Lin. Syst. Monce‘cia Polyandria, 
Identification. Lin, Gen., No. 1074.; Reich, 1172. ; Schreb., 1450. ; Gertn., t.89.; Tourn., 347. ; 
Malp., 220, 221, 224. ; Juss,, 410. ; N. Du Ham., 4. p. 17.; Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 470. 
Synonymes. Coudrier, F’r.; Haselnuss, Ger. 
Derivation. According to some, from korus, a helmet; the fruit, with its involucre, appearing as 
if covered with a bonnet ; and, according to others, from the Greek word karuon, a nut. 
Description, §c. Deciduous shrubs or low trees, natives of Europe, Asia, 
and America; one of them, C. Coltrna, a timber tree of middle size. 
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