American Hornbeam Tree

Description

Botanical Name:    Carpinus caroliniana

Common Name:    American Hornbeam, Ironwood, Blue Beech, Water Beech, Musclewood

Description:    Beautiful slow growing, deciduous Florida native tree that is perfect for the shade, part shade part of your garden. Wonderful understory tree grows 25-30′ tall and wide and does great beneath larger oaks, maples, etc. Can handle periodic flooding, so go on ahead and put it in your rain garden, low spots, next to the pond, etc. Does not like extended flooding. Also grows just fine in regular gardening moisture. Likes to grow in loam, clay, or sandy soils. Its native habitat is in river floodplains.

The leaves are alternate with a doubly toothed margin. In early spring, yellow-green flowers mature. It produces a small, ribbed nutlet that is carried by a 3-lobed leafy bract. Is a short, stubby tree that can have one or more trunks, each a foot wide and aesthetically pleasing. The bark is bluish-gray, thin, fairly smooth, and heavily fluted. The leaves turn a gorgeous orange to scarlet color in the Fall before dropping.

Birds and critters love to eat the greet nutlet/fruit. Is a host plant for:  Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Striped hairstreak, and Red-spotted Purple butterfly. Moderately deer resistant.

Choose the spot for this wisely because it doesn’t like to be moved especially once established. Try to disturb the roots as little as possible when planting it.

Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray.

This plant in 3-gallon containers is 1 – 3 feet tall.

This plant in 7-gallon containers is 4 – 6 feet tall.

Plant Lore: The name “hornbeam” comes from the extreme hardness of the wood.

Florida Hardiness Zones 8 – 9