278 TREES IN" WINTER 



AMERICAN HORNBEAM 

 Hornbeam, Blue Beech, Ironwood, Water Beech. 



Carpinus caroliniana Walt. 



HABIT — A low tree or shrub 10-30 ft. high with a trunk diameter 

 generally under 1 ft.; with long, slender, tough, more or less zigzag 

 branches not easily broken, which are somewhat pendulous at ends 

 forming a bushy wide spreading, flat or round-topped head; the trunk 

 is frequently zigzag above giving appearance of being forked with 

 broad, rounded crotches. 



BARK — Smooth, thin, dark bluish-gray, close-fitting, sinewy-fluted 

 with smooth, rounded, longitudinal ridges. The smooth ridges of the 

 bark are very characteristic and may be compared Ho the appearance 

 of the wrist which becomes similarly ridged by the protrusion of the 

 sinews when the hand is clenched. 



TWIGS — Slender, about 1 mm. thick or less toward apex, dark red, 

 and shining, smooth, or often somewhat hairy. LENTICLES — scattered, 

 pale, generally conspicuous. 



L.EAF-SCARS — Alternate, 2-ranked, minute, flattened, eliptical, 

 projecting. STIPULE-SCARS — narrow, triangular, rather inconspicuous. 

 BUNDLE-SCARS — generally 3, inconspicuous, up to 5 visible when 

 surface- sectioned. 



BUDS — Small, usually 2-4 mm. long, narrowly ovate to oblong, point- 

 ed, reddish-brown, more or less hairly especially the buds containing 

 staminate catkins which are larger and oval to obovate; leaf buds 

 more or less appressed, or only slightly divergent, terminal bud absent. 

 BUD-SCALES — in 4 ranks about 8-12 scales visible, increasing in size 

 from below upward, white-scarious and often downy on edges, fre- 

 quently with a woolly patch of down on tip; longitudinally striate when 

 viewed toward light. 



FRUIT — A small ribbed seed-like nutlet, enclosed by a veiny generally 

 3-lobed bract about 2.5 cm, long, which is saw-toothed on one side of 

 larger lobe and often has one of lower lobes lacking, usually falling 

 before winter. Staminate catkins entirely enclosed in the larger buds 

 therefore not visible during winter. 



COMPARISONS — The American Hornbeam is often confused with the 

 Hop Hornbeam perhaps chiefly from their unfortunate similarity in 

 common names. The smooth, close, bluish-gray bark together with 

 the habitat in which it grows has given it the name of Water Beech. 

 The sinewy-fluting to the bark is unique among our trees and readily 

 distinguishes the American Hornbeam from the Hop Hornbeam, the 

 bark of which is flaky in narrow scales. Further the American Horn- 

 beam never shows any catkins in winter while they are generally 

 abundant on the Hop Hornbeam; the buds of the American Hornbeam 

 are smaller, and have whitish down on the edges; those of the Hop 

 Hornbeam are for the most part smooth and slightly gummy. The 

 Beech which the American Hornbeam resembles in its bark has much 

 larger and relatively longer buds. 



DISTRIBUTION — Low, wet woods and margins of swamps. Province 

 of Quebec to Georgian bay; south to Florida; west to Minnesota, 

 Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. 



IN NEW ENGLAND — Rather common throughout, less frequent 

 towal'ds the coast. 



WOOD — Light brown with thick, nearly white sapwood, sometimes 

 used for levers, the handles of tools and other small articles. 



