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Carpinus caroliniana
Also called Blue beech, Hornbeam, Musclewood, Ironwood, Water Beech, Coastal American Hornbeam
A small understory tree of eastern North America that grows naturally along stream banks and in moist woodland shade. It does best in deep, moist soil and partial shade.
Carpinus caroliniana, the American hornbeam, is a small hardwood understory tree in the genus Carpinus. American hornbeam is also known as blue-beech, ironwood, musclewood and muscle beech for the distinctive sinewy, muscle-like appearance of its trunk. It is native to eastern North America, from Minnesota to southern Quebec, east to Maine, and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida. It occurs in shaded areas with moist soil, particularly near the banks of streams or rivers, and is often a natural understory species of the riverine and maritime forests of eastern temperate North America.
They are shade-loving trees, preferring moderate soil fertility and moisture. It has a shallow, wide-spreading root system. The leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, for example the Io moth (Automeris io).
The wood is heavy and hard (Specific gravity, 0.7286; density 45.41 pounds per cubic foot (0.7274 g/cm3)), and is used for tool handles, longbows, levers, walking sticks, walking canes and golf clubs.
European hornbeam · Japanese Hornbeam · Loose Flower Hornbeam · Oriental Hornbeam · Turczaninow's Hornbeam
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Carpinus caroliniana by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
