Mostly hardy , foliage - losing trees or large bush native to Europe , eastern Asia , the Himalayas and North and Central America ; they belong to the Birch family , Betulaceae . They grade in stature from 15 - 80 ft . , the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree usually consume short trunks , and the wood is very heavy and indestructible . The name Carpinus is a Latin word used by Pliny .
Hornbeams originate fairly quickly when planted in well - Cultivated ground but otherwise develop tardily . The European Hornbeam and some of its assortment , and the Japanese , Taiwanese and American Hornbeams are interesting tree for enceinte lawns and for the fringes of woodlands . manly and female peak are bear severally , though both are on the same tree . The male catkins are pendulous , greenish - yellow , the female catkins are erect and shorter at first but they step by step elongate and become pendulous . The ribbed , nutlike fruits enclosed in large bracts ripen in autumn .
When to Plant and Sow Seeds . The Hornbeams flourish advantageously in an exposed sunny positioning , in bass moist loam , but they will grow in any soil , including those spring of limestone . They are planted either in leap or early fall . Propagation is by seed sown when right in fall in a cold frame or in a sheltered moulding out of room access ; by layer the humbled branches in spring ; or , in dealing with rare and rare variety , by grafting on seedling . Seeds germinate on an irregular basis , sometimes not produce plant until the second twelvemonth .
Pruning may be done in August or in autumn after the fall of the leaves ; it consists of thin the branches of young trees when too many are growing from the principal trunk , and cutting or shortening the branches near the big top of young Tree so that each tree diagram has a discrete and straight leading shoot .
Hornbeam Hedges . Carpinus Betulus , native to Europe and Asia Minor , grows from 40 - 75 feet high-pitched . With its ribbed or fluted and usually short trunk and upright branch , it is a beautiful specimen for common planting . It cause a useful thick and tall hedge for boundary and protection .
Of legion varieties of C. Betulus the come are the most clear-cut and useful : asplenifolia , profoundly lob , ferny leaf ; columnaris , a compact and vertical - develop Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ; incisa , with deeply toothed small leaf ; pendula , a elegant weeping form ; purpurea , unseasoned leaves purplish ; and pyramidalis , an unsloped rise tree .
Carpinus caroliniana , the American Hornbeam or Blue Beech , is a bushy headed tree 2040 ft . high , having leaves which take on beautiful orange - yellow-bellied tints before they fall in autumn . It is a handsome Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree but it stick out pruning and shearing less well than C. Betulus .
C. cordata , a 30 - 40 - ft.-high native of Japan , Asia and northern China , is noted for its large heart-shaped leaf ; the multifariousness chinensis , introduced by Wilson from easterly Szechuan in 1901 , has little leave of absence and haired young shoot .
C. laxiflora variety macrostachya , a graceful tree tell to reach a height of 40 ft . in western and primal China , was first introduced in 1900 by Wilson ; as the raw leave develop , they are of rich reddish color . C. Tschonoskii , a graceful shrubby tree diagram from Japan , Asia and northern China , 20 - 40 ft . , has corrugate leaves .
Economic purpose . The Mrs. Henry Wood is used in the manufacture of agrarian implements .
CARPINUS — Hornbeam(Carpi’nus )
