Other Names: Ironwood; American Hornbeam; Musclewood.
Growth Form: Up to 30 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 1½ feet; crown rounded.
Bark: Smooth, blue-gray, ridged, appearing “muscular.”
Twigs: Slender, difficult to break, reddish-brown, smooth or finely hairy; leaf scars alternate, crescent-shaped, elevated, with 3 bundle traces.
Buds: Small, angular, tapering to a short point.
Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades thin, pointed at the tip, usually rounded at the base, 2-4 inches long and about half as wide, finely doubly toothed, the upper surface smooth, the lower surface either smooth or hairy; leafstalks up to ½ inch long, hairy.
Flowers: Staminate and pistillate on same tree but in different catkins, opening during May.
Fruit: Nutlets borne at the base of a three-lobed green “leaf,” crowded together into a fruiting cluster.
Wood: Strong and hard, hence the name Ironwood.
Use: Tool handles.