Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fagales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Ostrya virginiana
FAMILY
Betulaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about American Hop-hornbeam at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ostrya virginiana
FAMILY
Betulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Ostrya virginiana
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Ostrya virginiana var. virginiana
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 054-04-001:
Ostrya virginiana FAMILY Betulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ostrya virginiana
COMMON NAME:
American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux dcp34_p25
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_235
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_osvi_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_osvi_007_lhd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_osvi_008_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_osvi_012_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm0501b_11
January Anderson County SC
Bark light brown, narrowly grooved or scaly, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
JK Marlow jkm120325_765
March McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
The scaly, shaggy brown bark suggests shagbark hickory, per Trees Worth Knowing (Rogers, 1924).
)
JK Marlow jkm120325_766
March McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
Bark thin, finely fissured into narrow plates, often shreddy in appearance, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm120325_768
March McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm120325_773
March McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
Leaf bases rounded to almost heart-shaped or unequal, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow jkm170401_393
April McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
"Witches brooms" (broomlike clusters of short branches) are common on this, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_o_virginiana_1
May
Leaf tips acute to acuminate; lower surfaces finely pubescent, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow s040509_a
May Anderson County SC
Lvs 2-ranked, blades oblong to elliptical, margins singly or doubly serrate, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
COMPARE
Hop-hornbeam and Hornbeam
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_ostrya_virginiana_3_2
June
A hairy pendent conelike cluster of bladderlike sacs, each with one nutlet, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
JK Marlow jkm180828_4308
August Jackson County NC
Big Ridge Preserve
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_ostrya_virginiana_1
October
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_ostrya_virginiana_3
October
One of our heaviest and hardest woods, per Weakley's Flora (2012).
)
JK Marlow jkm071231_001
December McCormick County SC
Sumter National Forest: Edgefield Ranger District
Nuts ovoid, glabrous or puberulent, ribbed, 5-6.5 mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Ostrya virginiana
FAMILY
Betulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ostrya virginiana
FAMILY
Betulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Ostrya virginiana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Ostrya virginiana var. virginiana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 054-04-001:
Ostrya virginiana
FAMILY
Betulaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ostrya virginiana
1000
Tree
Perennial
Monoecious
Habitat: Mesic to dry forests, often rocky, especially over basic rocks, reaching high elevations, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate, 2-ranked
FLOWER:
Spring
Perianth absent in staminate flowers
Numerous stamens in staminate flowers
Inferior ovary
Unisexual
Flowers in catkins
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Nut
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p069
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p301
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p193
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p230
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p228
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p162
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p096
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p227
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p133
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p42
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p246
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p226
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".