Carpinus caroliniana
USDA Forest Service
American Hornbeam is a
short, stubby tree that grows up to thirty feet tall. It can
have one or more trunks, each a foot wide. The leaves of this tree
grow to four inches long and two inches wide. They are
simple leaves with a pointed tip and teeth
on the edges. These leaves turn orangish-red in the
Fall. American Hornbeams are
usually an understory
tree, meaning they grow beneath larger trees, such as oaks
and maples. They also grow alongside of streams. Copyright, Will Cook Copyright, Will Cook The bark
of American Hornbeam is bluish-gray, thin, and fairly
smooth. Flowers are tiny greenish
catkins,
about one and a half inches long. They bloom in early
Spring. Fruits are oval-shaped,
hairy, and green. They are small, only 1/4 inch long, and
they hang in clusters from a shared stalk. Northern
Bobwhite, Wild Turkey, Wood Duck, and squirrels eat these
fruits. White-tailed Deer and
Eastern Cottontails munch on leaves and twigs,
and Beaver eat the bark. Red-spotted Purple and Eastern
Tiger Swallowtail butterflies use hornbeam as a
host
plant. OPLIN Copyright, Will Cook Along with other trees
and plants, American Hornbeam provides good cover
and shelter for animals. Some other trees that
hornbeams grow next to, or under, include: Red Maple,
Sweetgum, Willow Oak, American Sycamore, White Oak, Yellow
Poplar, Loblolly Pine, American Beech, Flowering Dogwood,
and American Holly. Copyright, Mark Brand, UConn Plant Database
