BETULACEAE 



Hornbeam. Ironwood 



Osti'ya virginiana, {Mill.) Koch. 



HABIT. A small tree usually 20-30 feet high, with a trunk 

 diameter of 8-12 inches; forming a broad, rounded crown of 

 many long, slender branches and a slender, stiff spray. 



LEAVES. Alternate, simple, 3-5 inches long, about one- 

 half as broad; oblong-ovate; sharply doubly serrate; thin and 

 very tough; dull, dark green above, paler and more or less 

 pubescent beneath ; petioles short, slender, pubescent. 



FLOWERS. April-May, with the leaves ; monoecious ; the 

 staminate in drooping, cylindrical catkins from wood of the 

 previous season, usually in threes; stamens 3-14 crowded on a 

 hairy torus ; the pistillate in erect, lax catkins on the season's 

 shoots, usually in pairs, each flower inclosed in a hairy, sac-like 

 involucre. 



FRUIT. September; strobiles, resembling clusters of hops, 

 1-2 inches long, borne on slender, hairy stems; nuts small and 

 flat, inclosed by sac-like involucres. 



WINTER-BUDS. Terminal bud absent; lateral buds */&-% 

 inch long, ovoid, acute, red-brown. 



BARK. Twigs at first light green, becoming lustrous, red- 

 brown, and finally dull dark brown; thin, gray-brown on the 

 trunk, very narrowly and longitudinally ridged. 



WOO'D. Heavy, very strong and hard, tough, close-grained, 

 durable, light red-brown, with thick, whitish sapwood. 



DISTRIBUTION. Common throughout the entire state. 

 HABITAT. Prefers dry, gravelly slopes and ridges. 



NOTES. Often grows in shade of other trees. Not easily 

 transplanted. Rather slow of growth. Too small for street use. 



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