Hop Hornbeam

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fagales
Family: Betulaceae (birch family)
Genus species: Ostrya virginiana

Bark
Bark is scaly, rough, unlike smooth bark of Ironwood or Beech.
Young trees have reddish brown, bronze, or purplish bark; smooth with conspicuous horizontal lenticels
Older trees have grayish-brown bark; becomes loose, shredded, and distinctively flaky with age (like a cat used it as a scratching post)

Leaves
5 to 12.5 cm long
Oblong-ovate in shape
Dark green and lightly hairy above, paler and more pubescent below
Margin doubly toothed
Veins branch one to several times as they approach the margin

Flowers
Separate male and female flowers, but both on same tree (monoecious)
Male flowers are greenish, 5 to 10 cm long, hanging in narrow cylindrical clusters
Female flowers are reddish-green, 2 to 5 cm long, hanging in narrow clusters
Blooms in April before leaves are produced

Fruits
4 to 5 cm long
Cone-like hanging clusters mature in late summer
Composed of many flattened, small egg-shaped brown nutlets
Each nutlet is within a swollen egg-shaped flattened light brown cover that is papery and sack-like

Habitat
From stream banks to dry rocky slopes
Moist soil in understory of upland hardwood forests

Common Uses and Interesting Facts:
Shade-tolerant
Generally free of disease and insect problems
Very sturdy and slowly growing small to medium-sized tree
Drought-tolerant, often found on dry slopes
Tolerates urban conditions well
Resemblence to hops gives Ostrya viginiana its common name
Hophornbeam was used as a laxative and as a tonic
Thought to relieve malaria, indigestion, fever, and neck-swelling

Sources:

written by Bryan Helm; edited by Vanessa Artman

photo credits: Lauren Howard

Leapold, Donald J., William C. McComb, Robert N. Muller. 1998. Trees of the Central Hardwood Forests of North America: an Identification and Cultivation Guide. Timber Press, Portland, Oregan. 469 pages.

Preston, Richard J. 1989. North American Trees. Iowa State University Press. 407 pages.

Wood, Newt. 2001. “Eastern Hophornbeam.” Northeastern Woodworkers Association. /www.woodworker.org/woodarticles/woodofthemonth-hophornbeam/wood_of_the_month-hophornbeam1.htm