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The Hornbeams (Carpinus) comprise a genus of relatively small hardwood trees, placed in the hazel family Corylaceae, though some botanists include this family within the birch family Betulaceae. The 30-40 species occur across much of the north temperate regions, with the greatest number of species in east Asia, particularly China. Only two species occur in Europe, and only one in eastern North America.
The deciduous, alternate, and simple leaves, with a serrated margin, typically vary from 3-10cm in length. The flowers are wind-pollinated pendulous catkins, produced in spring. The male and female flowers are on separate catkins, but on the same tree (monoecious). The fruit is a small nut about 3-6mm long, held in a leafy bract; the bract may be either trilobed or simple oval. There are typically 10-30 seeds on each seed catkin.
The European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) typically grows to 10-20m tall but occasionally reaches 30m. it occurs through most of Europe. The leaves are 5-9cm long, and the seeds have a 3-4cm long trilobed bract.
The Oriental hornbeam (Carpinus orientalis) occurs in southeast Europe and southwest Asia, usually on hot dry sites at lower altitudes than C. betulus, and is a smaller tree, rarely over 10m tall and often shrubby. It has small leaves, 3-5cm long. The seeds differ from C. betulus in having a simple bract (not trilobed), about 2cm long.
The Japanese hornbeam (Carpinus japonica) is similar to C. orientalis in having unlobed seed bracts, but differs from it in having larger leaves, 8-10cm long.
The North American species, American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), is also occasionally known as blue-beech, ironwood, or musclewood. The various common names come from the resemblance of the bark to that of the American beech Fagus grandifolia, the hardness of the wood and the muscular appearance of the trunk. The seed bract is trilobed, but less deeply than in C. betulus.
The wood of hornbeams is very hard, and not used much due to the difficulty of working it. Its hardness has however lent it to use for carving boards, tool handles, coach wheels and other situations where a very tough, hard wood is required.
The common English name of "hornbeam" derives from the hardness of the wood (likened to horn) and the Old English beam, a tree (cognate with German "baum").
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