| Carpinus caroliniana (American Hornbeam) is a small hardwood tree in the genus Carpinus. American Hornbeam is also occasionally known as blue-beech, ironwood, or musclewood. It is native to eastern North America, from Minnesota and southern Ontario east to Maine, and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida.
It is a small tree reaching heights of 10-15 m, rarely 20 m, and often has a fluted and crooked trunk. The bark is smooth and greenish-grey, becoming shallowly fissured in old trees. The leaves are alternate, 3-12 cm long, with prominent veins giving a distinctive corrugated texture, and a serrated margin. The male and female catkins appear in spring at the same time as the leaves. The fruit is a small 7-8 mm long nut, partially surrounded by a three- to seven-pointed leafy involucre 2-3 cm long; it matures in autumn. The seeds often do not germinate till the spring of the second year after maturating. |
