American hophornbeam

(Ostrya virginiana var. virginiana)

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

N5 - Secure

SNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed

Wetland Indicator Status

Great Plains

FACU - Facultative upland

Midwest

FACU - Facultative upland

Northcentral & Northeast

FACU - Facultative upland

 
American hophornbeam
 
 
Description

American hophornbeam, more commonly known as ironwood, is an small, slow-growing, short-lived, deciduous tree that rises on a single trunk. It is considered a weed tree. In Minnesota mature trees are usually 25 to 40 tall and 6 to 12 in diameter at breast height.

The crown is broad and rounded or cone-shaped.

The trunk is erect, often crooked, and distinct almost to the top of the tree.

The bark on young trees is smooth and chestnut brown, quickly becoming gray and rough. On mature trees the bark is grayish-brown and is broken into short, narrow, vertical strips that are loose at both ends. The strips often spiral somewhat around the trunk. They are fibrous and easily rub off.

The branches are long, slender, and spreading.

The twigs are slender, reddish brown, zigzagging, and hairy.

The buds are egg-shaped, pointed, slightly hairy, and greenish brown with green scale tips. They spread away from the twig.

The leaves are deciduous, alternate, and simple. They are narrowly egg-shaped or elliptic. usually widest near the middle, 2 to 5 long, and 1 to 2 wide. They are rounded or shallowly heart-shaped at the base. They usually taper to an abrupt, narrow point at the tip with concave sides along the tip. Sometimes they taper gradually to a point at the tip with straight or concave sides along the tip. The upper surface is dark yellowish green and hairless. The lower surface is the same color but hairy, felty and soft to the touch. The veins are straight and parallel and end in a tooth. The margins are sharply toothed, often doubly toothed, from the tip to the base. In the fall the leaves turn dull yellow. Dead leaves tend to remain on the tree throughout the winter.

Male and female flowers are in separate clusters on the same tree. Male inflorescences are dense, drooping, 1 to 2 long catkins in groups of 2 or 3 at the ends of the twigs. In the winter they are short, stiff, and erect. Female inflorescences are in loose, elongated clusters at the ends of new shoots.

The fruits are small, 3 16 to 5 16 long, flattened, nuts enclosed in a flattened, egg-shaped, about 13 16 long, inflated, papery sac. The fruit clusters are 2 to 4 long, have 4 to 10 sacs each, and resemble hops.

 

Height

25 to 40

 

Record

The champion ironwood in Minnesota is on private property near Wells, in Faribault County. In 1998 it was measured at 40 tall and 125.5 in circumference (39.9 in diameter), with a crown spread of 58.5.

 

Flower Color

Green

 

Similar Species

 
Habitat

Moist. Upland deciduous forests, well-drained floodplains. Shade tolerant.

Ecology

Flowering

April to May

 

Pests and Diseases

Ironwood leaf gall maker (Eriophyes sp.) creates a small, reddish, smooth, pocket gall on the upper side of the leaf and a small tuft of hairs on the lower side.

Use

 

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 24, 28, 29, 30.

7/1/2024    
     

Nativity

Native

     

Occurrence

Common

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae (green algae and land plants)

Subkingdom

Viridiplantae (green plants)

Infrakingdom

Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)

Superdivision

Embryophyta (land plants)

Division

Tracheophyta (vascular plants)

Subdivision

Spermatophytina (seed plants)

Class

Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)

Superorder

Rosanae

Order

Fagales (beeches, oaks, walnuts, and allies)

Family

Betulaceae (birch)

Subfamily

Coryloideae

Genus

Ostrya (hop-hornbeams)

Species

Ostrya virginiana (eastern hophornbeam)

   

Subordinate Taxa

   
   

Synonyms

Carpinus ostrya var. americana

Carpinus triflora

Carpinus virginica

Ostrya americana

Ostrya baileyi

Ostrya carpinifolia var. virginica

Ostrya ostrya

Ostrya virginiana f. glandulosa

Ostrya virginiana ssp. lasia

Ostrya virginiana var. glandulosa

Ostrya virginiana var. lasia

Ostrya virginica

Ostrya vulgaris var. eglandulosa

Ostrya vulgaris var. glandulosa

   

Common Names

American hophornbeam

American hop-hornbeam

eastern hop hornbeam

eastern hophornbeam

eastern hop-hornbeam

ironwood

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Catkin

A slim, cylindrical, drooping cluster of many flowers. The flowers have no petals and are either male or female but not both.

 

Simple leaf

A leaf that is not divided into leaflets, though it may be deeply lobed or cleft.

Visitor Photos
 

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Luciearl

American hophornbeam  

 

Randy

Eastern hophornbeam, Ostrya Virginiana, growing wild in White's Woods Park, Freeborn County, MN, late November 2016

American hophornbeam    

Trunk

   
     
American hophornbeam   American hophornbeam

Bark

     
American hophornbeam   American hophornbeam

This understory species tends to retain withered, peach-colored leaves into winter, similar to young American Beech

MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
American hophornbeam    

Tree

     
American hophornbeam   American hophornbeam

Bark

     
American hophornbeam   American hophornbeam

Bark

     
American hophornbeam   American hophornbeam

Leaves

     
American hophornbeam   American hophornbeam

Infructescence

 

Camera

Slideshows

Ostrya virginiana
Blake C. Willson

Ostrya virginiana
About

American Hop-Hornbeam

Ostrya virginiana
UF/IFAS WFREC

About

Published on Nov 20, 2013

No description available.

 

slideshow

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Other Videos

Trees with Don Leopold - eastern hophornbeam
ESFTV

About

Uploaded on Oct 2, 2011

No description available.

Hop hornbeam (Ostraya virginiana)
stjoecrk

About

Uploaded on Feb 23, 2012

Some views of the old knobby Hop hornbeams (Ostraya virginiana) in the woods in late winter.

 

Camcorder

Visitor Sightings
 

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Luciearl
6/26/2024

Location: Lake Shore, MN

American hophornbeam
Randy
late November, 2016

Location: White's Woods County Park, Freeborn County, MN

growing wild in White's Woods Park

American hophornbeam
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

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Binoculars

 

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