448 
DECIDUOUS TREES. 
THE AMERICAN HORNBEAM. Carpmus a77iericana. 
A small tree with wiry branches and dark-colored bark, resem- 
bling the beech somewhat in its mode of growth, but thinner in 
foliage and more irregular in form. Height fifteen to twenty-five 
feet. It has been recommended to plant for screens, but we 
have perceived no peculiar beauty or advantage it has for that 
purpose ; but it occasionally develops into a pretty isolated tree, of 
airy outline. 
The English Hornbeam, C. hetula^ is a larger tree than ours, 
with the same general character. 
The Iron-wood or Hop Hornbeam, Ostrya virgmica^ is a 
small native tree, remarkable for the extreme hardness and weight 
of its wood, but of no peculiar beauty. It grows slowly, and forms 
a compact little tree, with small dark leaves. Its bark is known at 
a glance by the extreme fineness of its furrows. Height fifteen to 
twenty-five feet. 
THE LABURNUM. Cytissus. 
In England and Scotland few small trees are more planted in 
ornamental grounds than the laburnum j but our climate does not 
seem to suit them, so that although long cultivated in the older 
parts of the country, a fine specimen is rarely seen. 
The Common Laburnum or Golden Chain, C. Iabiir7iu7n^ is 
a low tree or big bush from twenty to thirty feet high, of irregular 
outline. The flowers are in pendant racemes six inches long, of a 
bright yellow color, and appear in May. The leaves are alternate, 
and composed of three oval-acute leaflets two to three inches in 
length. Young wood green. Decaying leaves yellow. The seeds 
are contained in pendulous pods. 
The Weeping Laburnum, C. /. pe7idiila, of this species, is not 
sufficiently hardy and vigorous to be desirable. 
