( H ) 
AMERICAN HORNBEAM. 
Carpinus americana. C. foins oblongo-cwalibus, serratis, involucrorum land - 
niis acute dentatis. 
The American Hornbeam is found as far north as the provinces of 
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Lower Canada ; but it is repressed by 
the severity of the climate and is less multiplied than in New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania and the Southern States. By the Americans it is called 
Hornbeam, and by the French of Upper Louisiana, Charmer 
The Hornbeam prospers in almost every soil and exposure, except in 
places that are too long inundated, or that are absolutely sterile like the 
pine-barrens of the Southern States and of the Floridas. Its ordinary 
stature is from 12 to 15 feet, and it is sometimes 25 or 30 feet high and 6 
inches in diameter ; but as not more than one stock in a hundred attains 
these dimensions, it must be considered rather as a large shrub than as a 
tree ; I have admitted it among the .tr'èes because it is met with at every 
step in the forests. 
The leaves of the Hornbeam are oval-acuminate and finely denticulated. 
The sexes are united on the same stock, and the fertile flowers are collected 
in long, loose, pendulous, leafy aments at the extremity of the branches. 
The scales or leaves which surround them are furnished at the base with 
a hard, oval seed. The fructification is always abundant, and the aments 
remain attached to the tree long after the foliage is shed. 
The trunk of the American Hornbeam, like that of the analogous spe- 
cies in Europe, is obliquely and irregularly fluted, frequently through all 
its length. By its form and the appearance of the bark, which is smooth 
and spotted with white, it is easily distinguished when the leaves are fallen. 
The wood, like that of the European Hornbeam, is white and exceed- 
ingly compact and fine-grained. The dimensions of the tree are so small 
as to render it useless even for fuel, but it is employed for hoops in the 
District of Maine when better species cannot be procured. 
From these particulars it will readily be concluded that we have no 
interest in propagating the American Hornbeam in Europe, as our own 
species possesses equal strength and solidity, attains the height of 35 or 
40 feet, with a diameter of 15 or 18 inches, and is consequently applicable 
in the mechanical arts and useful for fuel. The only superiority of the 
American species is for trellises ; as it is naturally dwarfish, its growth is 
Vol. III.— 4 
