How to Grow and Care for Hornbeams

Common hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) is a deciduous small to medium-size tree that commonly grows in scree forests on mountainside cliffs. Common hornbeam often has a fluted and crooked trunk. The bark is smooth and greenish-grey, even in old trees. Common hornbeam is commonly planted as an ornamental tree in parks in northwestern Europe.

American hornbeam is a small tree that can reach heights of 10 to 15 m. It often does not grow straight, instead it usually has a crooked trunk. The wood from the american hornbeam is most often used in tool handles and levers due to its heavy, hard, and strong qualities.

The slow-growing heartleaf hornbeam is a deciduous tree whose timber is often used to make furniture and agricultural tools. Found in the wild on moist slopes, it is now cultivated in gardens as a hedge or screen. Heartleaf hornbeam is noted for its rough bark and heart-shaped leaves, which is thought to give rise to its common name.

Height 15 to 20 m. The bark is grayish white and smooth and has a vertical mesh pattern. The flowering period is in spring and the inflorescence is drooping and drooping. It is an airborne flower that blows pollen by the wind and the seeds also have a feather-shaped structure suitable for seed dispersal using the wind. There are many white hairs between the side veins of the leaves and the leaves turn yellow in autumn.

The Carpinus orientalis is a small tree, rarely over 10 m tall and often shrubby. It has minute, with small leaves, 3 to 5 cm long.The seeds have a simple bract, not trilobed like Carpinus betulus, that is about 2 cm long.