Hophornbeam

Article By:

Graves, Arthur H. Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut.

Davis, Kenneth P. School of Forestry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.

Last reviewed:January 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.322600

Any tree of the genus Ostrya of the birch family. Hophornbeam is represented in North America by two species, O. virginiana and O. knowltonii. Ostrya virginiana (American or eastern hophornbeam) is a small tree that may reach a height of 60 ft (18 m). It is distributed widely in the eastern half of the United States and in the highlands of southern Mexico and Guatemala. It can be recognized by its fruit, which closely resembles that of the hop vine, and by its very scaly bark. The scales usually occur in narrow, more or less parallel, vertical strips. The winter buds are usually tinged with green, showing about six striate scales, and the leaves are sharply and doubly serrate (see illustration). This is one of several trees known as ironwood because of its hard, strong wood. Like the hornbeam, it is used for fence posts, tool handles, mallets, and other articles requiring hardness and strength. The Janka hardness for O. virginiana is 1860 lb-force (844 kg-force); its density is 49 lb/ft³ (785 kg/m³).

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