Ostrya virginiana (Mill.) K. Koch

Eastern Hop Hornbeam; Ironwood

Tree

Perennial

Vascular

Eastern Hop Hornbeam is a native deciduous tree in the Birch family (Betulaceae). It can be found throughout Alabama. Eastern Hop Hornbeam occurs in mesic to dry hardwood forests, in rocky woods, along streams and rivers, in ravines, and in prairie woods. It is a small tree reaching heights of 30-50 feet. The bark on the trunk is brownish in color and sheds in long, narrow vertical strips. Young twigs are pubescent. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, ovate to lanceolate in outline, with doubly serrate margins. The leaves are pubescent on the lower surface, especially along the veins. The leaves turn yellow to red in the autumn before falling. Eastern Hop Hornbeam is monoecious, with separate male and female flowers on the same tree. The flowers are produced in catkins. Male catkins are pendulous and up to 2 inches in length. The female catkins are up to ½ inch in length. Individual male flowers consist of a scale subtending several stamens. The female flowers are paired and subtended by a scale and a tubular bract. The fruit is a nut enclosed in papery sack-like bracts. The fruit are consumed by a variety of birds and small mammals. The fruit are very distinctive in appearance and resemble those of Hop vines (Humulus species). Eastern Hop Hornbeam has very dense wood but its small size limits its use. It has been used primarily for tool handles. It is sometimes used as a small shade tree.--A. Diamond

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Native FACU- (NWPL)

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