| Hornbeam | |
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| European hornbeam foliage | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fagales |
| Family: | Betulaceae |
| Subfamily: | Coryloideae |
| Genus: | Carpinus L. (1753) |
| Synonyms [1] | |
DistegocarpusSiebold & Zucc. (1846) | |
Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus Carpinus in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
The common English name hornbeam derives from the hardness of the woods (likened to horn) and the Old English beam, "tree" (cognate with Dutch Boom and German Baum).
The American hornbeam is also occasionally known as blue-beech, ironwood, or musclewood, the first from the resemblance of the bark to that of the American beech Fagus grandifolia, the other two from the hardness of the wood and the muscled appearance of the trunk and limbs.
The botanical name for the genus, Carpinus, is the original Latin name for the European species, although some etymologists derive it from the Celtic for a yoke. [2]
Hornbeams are small, slow-growing, understory trees with a natural, rounded form growing 4.5–9 metres (15–30 feet) tall and wide; the exemplar species—the European hornbeam—reaches a maximum height of 32 m (105 ft). [3] : 296
Leaves are deciduous, dark-green, alternate and simple with a coarsely-serrated margin, varying from 3 to 10 centimetres (1 to 4 inches) in length. In autumn, leaves turn various shades of yellow, orange and red. Hornbeam saplings, stressed trees, and the lower branches of mature trees may exhibit marcescence—where leaves wither with autumn but abscission (leafdrop) is delayed until spring. [4]
The smooth, gray trunk and larger branches of a mature tree exhibit a distinctive muscle-like fluting. [5]
As with other members of the birch family, hornbeam flowers are wind-pollinated pendulous catkins, produced in spring. Male and female flowers are on separate catkins, but on the same tree (monoecious). Female flowers give way to distinctive clusters of winged seeds that somewhat resemble the hops-like seeds of ironwood. [6]
The fruit is a small nut about 3–6 millimetres (1⁄8–1⁄4 in) long, held in a leafy bract; the bract may be either trilobed or simple oval, and is slightly asymmetrical. The asymmetry of the seedwing makes it spin as it falls, improving wind dispersal. The shape of the wing is important in the identification of different hornbeam species. Typically, 10–30 seeds are on each seed catkin. [7] [8]
Formerly some taxonomists segregated them with the genera Corylus (hazels) and Ostrya (hop-hornbeams) in a separate family, Corylaceae. Modern botanists place Carpinus in the subfamily Coryloideae of the family Betulaceae. [9] [10] Species of Carpinus are often grouped into two subgenera Carpinus subgenus Carpinus and Carpinus subgenus Distegicarpus.
Phylogentic analyses have shown that Ostrya likely evolved from a Carpinus ancestor somewhere in C. subg. Distegicarpus making Carpinus paraphyletic. The fossil record of the genus extends back to the Early Eocene, Ypresian of northwestern North America, with the species Carpinus perryae described from fossil fruits found in the Klondike Mountain Formation of Republic, Washington. [9]
43 species are currently accepted. [11]
The 43 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, with the greatest number of species in east Asia, particularly China. Only three species occur in Europe, only one in eastern North America, and one in Mesoamerica. [1] [16] [17] [18] [19] Carpinus betulus can be found in Europe, Turkey and Ukraine. [12]
Hornbeams are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including autumnal moth, common emerald, feathered thorn, walnut sphinx, Svensson's copper underwing, and winter moth (recorded on European hornbeam) as well as the Coleophora case-bearers C. currucipennella and C. ostryae. [20]
Hornbeams yield a very hard timber, giving rise to the name "ironwood". [21] Dried heartwood billets are nearly white and are suitable for decorative use. For general carpentry, hornbeam is rarely used, partly due to the difficulty of working it.
The wood is used to construct carving boards, tool handles, handplane soles, coach wheels, piano actions, shoe lasts, and other products where a very tough, hard wood is required.
The wood can also be used as gear pegs in simple machines, including traditional windmills. [21] It is sometimes coppiced to provide hardwood poles. It is also used in parquet flooring and for making chess pieces.
Betulaceae, the birch family, includes six genera of deciduous nut-bearing trees and shrubs, including the birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams, hazel-hornbeam, and hop-hornbeams, numbering a total of 167 species. They are mostly natives of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with a few species reaching the Southern Hemisphere in the Andes in South America. Their typical flowers are catkins and often appear before leaves.
Hazels are plants of the genus Corylus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae. The fruit of the hazel is the hazelnut.
Ostrya is a genus of eight to 10 small deciduous trees belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. Common names include hop-hornbeam and hophornbeam. It may also be called ironwood, a name shared with a number of other plants.
Carpinus betulus, the European or common hornbeam, is a species of tree in the birch family Betulaceae, native to Western Asia and central, eastern, and southern Europe, including southern England. It requires a warm climate for good growth, and occurs only at elevations up to 1,000 metres (3,281 ft). It grows in mixed stands with oak, and in some areas beech, and is also a common tree in scree forests. Hornbeam was also known as yoke elm. Together with Carpinus orientalis and Carpinus austrobalcanica, it is one of the three hornbeams founded in Europe.
Arisaema is a large and diverse genus of the flowering plant family Araceae. The largest concentration of species is in China and Japan, with other species native to other parts of southern Asia as well as eastern and central Africa, Mexico and eastern North America. Asiatic species are often called cobra lilies, while western species are often called jack-in-the-pulpit; both names refer to the distinctive appearance of the flower, which consists of an erect central spadix rising from a spathe.
Carpinus caroliniana, the American hornbeam, is a small hardwood understory tree in the genus Carpinus. American hornbeam is also known as blue-beech, ironwood, musclewood and muscle beech. It is native to eastern North America, from Minnesota and southern Ontario east to Maine, and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida. It also grows in Canada. It occurs naturally in shaded areas with moist soil, particularly near the banks of streams or rivers, and is often a natural constituent understory species of the riverine and maritime forests of eastern temperate North America.
Phoebe is a genus of evergreen trees and shrubs belonging to the Laurel family, Lauraceae. There are 75 accepted species in the genus, distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia and New Guinea. 35 species occur in China, of which 27 are endemic. The first description of the genus was of the type species P. lanceolata made in 1836 by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck in Systema Laurinarum, p. 98.
Quercus variabilis, the Chinese cork oak, is a species of oak in the section Quercus sect. Cerris, native to a wide area of eastern Asia in southern, central, and eastern China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.
Ostrya virginiana, the American hophornbeam, is a species of Ostrya native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Manitoba and eastern Wyoming, southeast to northern Florida and southwest to eastern Texas. Populations from Mexico and Central America are also regarded as the same species, although some authors prefer to separate them as a distinct species, Ostrya guatemalensis. Other names include eastern hophornbeam, hardhack, ironwood, and leverwood.
Carpinus orientalis, known as the Oriental hornbeam, is a hornbeam native to Hungary, the Balkans, Italy, Crimea, Turkey, Iran, and the Caucasus. and occurs usually on hot dry sites at lower altitudes in comparison to Carpinus betulus. Together with C. betulus and Carpinus austrobalcanica, it is one of the three hornbeams founded in Europe.
Ostrya carpinifolia, the European hop-hornbeam, is a tree in the family Betulaceae. It is the only species of the genus Ostrya that is native to Europe.
Quercus aliena, the galcham oak or oriental white oak, is a species of oak in the family Fagaceae, in the white oak section Quercus.
Carpinus japonica, the Japanese hornbeam, is a hornbeam endemic to Japan but cultivated elsewhere as an ornamental.
Carpinus turczaninovii, the Turczaninow hornbeam or Korean hornbeam, is a species of flowering plant in the family Betulaceae, native to central China, the Korean Peninsula, and central and southern Japan. It is a large shrub or small tree typically 15 to 20 ft tall and about 75% as wide, and is hardy to USDA zone 5b. It is available from commercial suppliers, and can handle very hard pruning.
Carpinus laxiflora, the aka-shide, loose-flower hornbeam, or loose-flowered hornbeam, is a species of flowering plant in the family Betulaceae, native to the Korean Peninsula, and Japan. A deciduous tree of mountain forests, and typically 10 to 15 m tall, it is used in bonsai, and rarely as a park or street tree. It is available from commercial suppliers. In addition to the rather rustic unimproved species, a weeping form called 'Pendula', and a sport with variegated leaves called 'Variegata' are available.
Carpinus fangiana, the monkeytail hornbeam, is a species of flowering plant in the family Betulaceae. It is native to southern China; Sichuan, eastern Yunnan, northern Guangxi, and Guizhou. A tree reaching 20 m (66 ft), it is typically found in forested mountain valleys at elevations from 900 to 2,000 m. It is available from commercial suppliers.
Carpinus fargesiana, the Chinese hornbeam, is a species of flowering plant in the family Betulaceae. It is native to central and southeast China. A tree reaching 20 m (66 ft), it is found in forested mountain valleys, typically along streambanks, at elevations from 1,000 to 2,600 m. It is available from commercial suppliers.
Carpinus polyneura is a species of flowering plant in the hornbeam genus Carpinus . It is native to southern China. A tree reaching 15 m (49 ft), it is typically found in subtropical deciduous forests and in thickets at elevations from 400 to 2,300 m. It is available from commercial suppliers, and features reddish young leaves in the spring, mounted on purplish-brown twigs.
Carpinus austrobalcanica, the southern Balkan hornbeam, is a species of hardwood tree in the family Betulaceae, subfamily Coryloideae, native only to the southern Balkan Peninsula, in particular southern Albania and northwestern Greece.
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