HORNBEAM. 307 



ripe ; for if they be kept out of the ground 

 until the spring, the plants will not come up 

 till the following year. 



The foliage of the hornbeam is very 

 similar to that of the elm, strongly nerved 

 and of a bright green ; it begins to expand 

 about the end of March, and it often re- 

 mains on the branches until the spring, thus 

 forming an excellent shelter for more tender 

 trees. The flowers are in full blossom about 

 the end of April : the male flowers are dis- 

 posed in a cylindric ament, and hang like the 

 catkins of the hazel ; the female flowers or 

 ament arise from a leafy calix, but having an 

 appearance like a young hazel-nut ; and from 

 whence, and its catkins, it has been called 

 Wych-hazel : but the female flowers are also 

 disposed in a long ament, which gives them 

 a nearer resemblance to hops ; and on which 

 account, one variety is called the Hop Horn- 

 beam, Carpinus Ostrya, or Orientalis. This 

 variety was first cultivated in England, in 

 1739. It was first observed in Italy, and is 

 very common in Germany, growing with the 

 common hornbeam. 



The Virginian flowering hornbeam, C. Ame- 

 ricana, was first introduced in 1812. Lin- 

 naeus observes, that the timber of the 

 hornbeam is very white ; and tough, and 



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