OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

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



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.

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux    dcp34_p25

        

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905)    mtna_i_235

        

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_osvi_001_lvd

        

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service    pnd_osvi_007_lhd

        

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service    pnd_osvi_008_lvd

        

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide    pnd_osvi_012_lvd

        

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

JK Marlow    jkm0501b_11

January    Anderson County    SC

Bark light brown, narrowly grooved or scaly, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

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).

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

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).

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

JK Marlow    jkm120325_768

March    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

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).

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

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).

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

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).

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

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).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE Hop-hornbeam and Hornbeam

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

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).

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

JK Marlow    jkm180828_4308

August    Jackson County    NC

Big Ridge Preserve

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_ostrya_virginiana_1

October        

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_ostrya_virginiana_3

October        

One of our heaviest and hardest woods, per Weakley's Flora (2012).

image of Ostrya virginiana, American Hop-hornbeam, Ironwood, Eastern Hop-hornbeam, Leverwood

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

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

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)

map
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!



 


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