MASSACHUSETTS FOREST TREES 



HOP-HORNBEAM OR IRONWOOD 



(Ostrya virginiana Koch.) 



THE Hornbeam, so called because of its general 

 resemblance to the European Hornbeam, is a 

 small, slender, round-topped tree, usually not more 

 than twenty to thirty feet tall and eight to twelve 

 inches through. Its branches are long, slender and 

 somewhat drooping at the ends. It occurs commonly 

 throughout the State, growing on gravelly and rocky 

 slopes, often in 

 rather open woods. 



The bark on the 

 trunk is light brown 

 tinged with red and 

 breaks into fine 

 scales. These sepa- 

 rate easily, are nar- 

 rower than the scales 

 of any rough-barked 

 tree and become finer 

 and narrower as the 

 tree grows older. 



The leaves are 

 simple, alternate, 

 egg-shaped or nearly 

 oblong, sharply 

 toothed, two to three inches long and very similar to 

 those of the Blue Beech. 



The flowers are borne in catkins, the sterile ones 

 appearing in the fall, usually in clusters of three, and 

 the fertile ones appearing in the spring. 



The fruit, which ripens in September, very closely 

 resembles a cluster of hops. 



The wood is compact, close-grained, strong, tough, 

 durable and very heavy. It is good for levers, stakes, 

 binding poles, handles, mallets and the like. 



HORNBEAM OR IRONWOOD 



Leaves and fruit. One-third natural size. 



