HOP HORNBEAM 



Rays, readily visible narrow lines with an occasional broad white 

 flake. 



Tangential Section as the Radial, but the smaller rays appear as 

 minute fine lines under the microscope and the larger are just 

 visible to the unaided eye, though of considerable size: they 

 lack contrast of colour. 



The compound rays are built up into masses of considerable 

 height. Many authors speak of them as " false rays," but 

 " compound " is a much better term, as they are in no way adven- 

 titious. At the same time they differ from all ordinary large 

 rays inasmuch as there is a slight projection where they meet the 

 bark in the place of the usual invagination (tongue and groove). 

 The lines of soft-tissue behave towards these rays in precisely 

 the same way as in the Oak. 



Type specimens from commercial sources and also from trees 

 known before felling. 



No. 193. HOP HORNBEAM. Ostrya virginica r 



Willd. 



Plate XIV. Fig. 123. 



Natural Order. Cupuliferae. 



Synonyms. O. vulgaris, Wats, (not Willd.). 0. americana, 

 Michx. O. virginiana, C. Koch. Carpinus Ostrya, Linn. C. 

 virginiana, Mill (not Michx.). 



Alternative Names. Stone-wood in England. Iron-wood ; 

 Leverwood in U.S.A. (49). 



Source of Supply. United States of America. 



Physical Characters, etc. Recorded dry -weight, 47^-58 lbs. 

 per cu. ft. Hardness Grade 4, compare Hornbeam. Smell or 

 taste none. Burns well ; no smell ; embers glow brightly in still 

 air. Solution the colour of the wood. 



Grain very fine though open. Surface dull. 



Bark. " A peculiar brownish-grey, checked into long, narrow 

 oblique scales or strips loosely adhering to the trunk " (49). 

 Thin, about \ inch. 



Uses, etc. " A valuable timber for axe-helves, tool-handles, 

 levers, fence-posts, but not generally found of sufficient size to 

 make it a very important timber of commerce " (49). About 

 30-50 ft. by 1-2 ft. diam. (very durable in contact with the 

 soil " (100) 



Authorities. Hough (49), pt. ii. p. 31. Robb (95). Sargent 

 (100). Wiesner (131), L. 12, p. 890. No. 292. Nordlinger (86), 

 No. 13, p. 66. 



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