Hornbeam
Common Hornbeam - text taken from Wikipedia
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.
Carpinus betulus or Common Hornbeam
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.
Description
It is a deciduous small to medium-size tree reaching heights of 15–25 metres (49–82 ft), rarely 30 m (98 ft), and often has a fluted and crooked trunk. The bark is smooth and greenish-grey, even in old trees. The buds, unlike those of the beech, are 10 mm (0.39 in) long at the most, and pressed close to the twig. The leaves are alternate, 4–9 cm (1.6–3.5 in) long, with prominent veins giving a distinctive corrugated texture, and a serrated margin. It is monoecious, and the wind-pollinated male and female catkins appear in early summer after the leaves. The fruit is a small 7–8 mm (0.28–0.31 in) long nut, partially surrounded by a three-pointed leafy involucre 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in) long; it matures in autumn.
Distribution
Hornbeam is considered native from Western Asia and throughout Europe. The species prefers a warm climate, and only naturally occurs below 1,000 metres (3,281 ft) in elevation. It is a common tree in scree forests.
Hornbeam was frequently coppiced and pollarded in the past in England. It is still infrequently managed using these traditional methods, but mainly for non-commercial conservation purposes. As a woodland tree traditionally managed in this way, it is particularly frequent in the ancient woodlands of south Essex, Hertfordshire and north Kent where it typically occupies more than half of most ancient woods and wood pastures.
There are a number of notable forests where C. betulus is a dominant tree species, among which include Epping Forest in the United Kingdom, and Halltorps hage in Öland, Sweden.
Fossil record
Three fossil fruits of Carpinus betulus have been extracted from borehole samples of the Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians, Poland.
Hornbeam – Ecology
In England, trees appear to prefer soils with a pH from 3.6 to 4.6 but tolerate up to 7.6. They are found on soils with moderate clay content and avoid soils with particularly high or low clay content. Carpinus betulus likes full sun or partial shade,[5] moderate soil fertility and moisture. It has a shallow, wide-spreading root system and is marked by the production of stump sprouts when cut back.
The seeds often do not germinate until the spring of the second year after sowing. The hornbeam is a prolific seeder and is marked by vigorous natural regeneration.
Associated species
Hornbeam grows in mixed stands with oak, and in some areas beech. The leaves provide food for some animals, including Lepidoptera such as the case-bearer moth Coleophora anatipennella.
This tree has been associated with the poisonous mushroom Amanita phalloides, better known as the death-cap mushroom, which grow around the trunk after hornbeams mature. When ingested, death-cap mushrooms can cause extreme medical conditions and death. Death-cap mushrooms can be mistaken for other edible mushrooms (Amanita princeps).
