Ironwood 



243 



The leaves are alternate, ovate, obovate, or oblong- lanceolate, toothed, stalked 

 and stipulate, the stipules falling away soon after they unfold. The very small, 

 imperfect staminate and pistillate flowers are borne in separate catkins on the 

 same tree (monoecious), and open with or before the leaves. The staminate ones 

 are in dense narrow drooping catkins, like those of the Hornbeams, consisting 

 only of several stamens, each stamen 2-forked. The pistillate flowers are in 

 short, erect catkins, 2 together on the base of each scale, each subtended and 

 enclosed by a tubular hairy bract; there is a minute, toothed calyx crowning the 

 ovar)', a short style and 2 long narrow stigmas. In ripening the tubular bract 

 becomes greatly enlarged, nerved, and bladder-Hke, loosely enclosing the ovoid, 

 somewhat flattened nut, the mature catkins resembhng hops, whence the common 

 name. 



The North American species may be distinguished as follows: 



Leaves long-pointed, 6 to 15 cm. long; fruit of many hollow bracts; eastern 

 tree. i. O. virginiana. 



Leaves blunt or short-pointed, 5 cm. long or less; fruit of few^ hollow^ bracts; 

 Arizona tree. 2. O. Knowltoni. 



I. IRONWOOD Ostrya virginiana (Miller) Willdenow 

 Carpiniis virginiana Miller 



The Ironwood, or American hop hornbeam, occurs mostly in dry woods, 

 ranging from Cape Breton island to northern Florida, west to Ontario, Minnesota, 

 South Dakota, Kansas, and Texas; it is not 

 common near the Atlantic coast south of New 

 York. It attains a maximum height of about 

 20 meters, with a trunk up to 6 dm. thick. 



The bark is thin, light brown, and flakes 

 off in small plates. The branches are slender, 

 the lower ones widely spreading, perfect speci- 

 mens of the tree being round-topped and often 

 as broad as high. The young twigs are green 

 and hairy, becoming smooth, brown, and shin- 

 ing. The pointed buds are about 6 mm. long, 

 their scales ovate and finely hair}% The leaves 

 vary from ovate to ovate-oblong or oblong- 

 lanceolate, and from 6 to 15 cm. in length; 

 they are thin and tough, sharply doubly- 

 toothed, usually long-pointed, smooth and dull 

 green on the upper surface, beneath pale green, somewhat hair\' on the veins and 

 with Lufts of hairs in their axils; the leaf-stalks are 2 to 8 mm. long, the narrow 

 con ave stipules about i cm. long and hair}\ The tree flowers in April or May, 



Fig. 199. Ironwood. 



