Habitat

• eastern United States
• zone 4
• naturally occurs as an understory tree in dry woodlands

Habit and Form

• a small to medium-sized tree
• reaches 30' to 50' tall
• overall shape is ovate to pyramidal when young
• older trees are rounded
• branching is upright and spreading
• old trees exhibit more irregular branching

Summer Foliage

• simple deciduous leaves
• alternate leaf arrangement
• leaves are 2" to 5" long and half as wide
• more or less oval shape to leaves
• acuminate leaf tip
• doubly serrate leaf margins
• medium to dark green leaves

Autumn Foliage

• yellowish brown to orange
• not particularly impressive

Flowers

• male flowers are catkins in 3's
• not highly ornamental

Fruit

• small inflated pods in clusters
• a hard nutlet is inside each pod
• fruit clusters look like fruit of hops, hence the common name Hophornbeam
• fruit change from green to tan

Bark

• forms vertical strips which exfoliate at the ends
• color is gray brown
• trunks and main branches develop a fluted or "muscle-like" appearance
• bark and trunk features are ornamentally attractive

Culture

• full sun to partial shade
• best in slightly acid soil that is moist, cool and fertile
• can tolerate dry gravelly soils in partial shade once established
• can be difficult to transplant and slow to establish
• easily transplanted form containers are B&B

Landscape Use

• lawn tree
• street tree
• naturalistic areas
• for bark and fruit

Liabilities

• not tolerant of salt at all
• avoid roadside or seaside uses
• can be slow growing
• slow to establish following transplanting
• hard to find in trade

ID Features

• veins on leaves branch before reaching the leaf margin
• hop-like fruit clusters
• fluted trunk
• exfoliating vertical strips of bark

Propagation

• by seed

Cultivars/Varieties

• none