A tree or tall shrub 10 to 25 feet high. Bark smooth and dark gray, tough like a horn, and close-fitting. The buds are oval. Delicate twigs, in flat, spreading layers. Alternate leaf-scars. Fruit in clusters,—leaf-like bracts, holding little nuts.
HORNBEAMS
Carpinus caroliniana
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The hornbeam, like the hop hornbeam, is a small tree and is found growing under larger trees in the woods. It is readily distinguished from the hop hornbeam by its smooth, dark bark, the hornlike appearance of which instantly suggests its name. There is but one native species in New England, and it is much smaller than its sister tree from Europe of the same name. The European hornbeam has long been used for making hedges, and in Germany the hornbeams are planted in such a manner that every two plants intersect each other in the form of a St. Andrew’s cross. At the point where the two plants cross each other the bark is scraped off and the hornbeams are bound together closely with straw. The two plants grow together in a knot and send out horizontal shoots in a few years, making an impenetrable hedge. The hornbeam was much used in formal gardens for labyrinths, arcades, and groves, and as hedges for geometric designs known as “the star” and “the goose-foot.”
The wood, like that of the hop hornbeam, is hard, heavy, strong, and close-grained. It is used for small articles, like the handles of tools.
The generic name, Carpinus, comes from the Celtic car (wood), pinda (head), meaning that the wood was used for making the yokes of cattle. The specific name, caroliniana, was used to distinguish the American from the European species.
The hornbeam is found growing on the banks of streams and in moist woods throughout New England, and in the South and West.
Chapter VII
THE BEECH, CHESTNUT, AND OAKS
