{{Short description|Species of tree}}{{speciesbox| image = Carpinus betulus - HunsrÃ¼ck 001.jpg| image_caption = Tree in summer| status = LC| status_system = IUCN3.1| genus = Carpinus| species = betulus

Carl Linnaeus>L.| range_map = Carpinus betulus range.svg| range_map_caption = Distribution map}}Carpinus betulus, the European or common hornbeam, is a species of tree in the birch family Betulaceae, native to Western Asia and central, eastern, and southern Europe, including southern England. It requires a warm climate for good growth, and occurs only at elevations up to {{convert|1000|m|0}}. It grows in mixed stands with oak, and in some areas beech, and is also a common tree in scree forests. Hornbeam was also known as yoke elm.BOOK, Brown, John, 1816, Encyclopaedia Perthensis, 23, 364,books.google.com/books?id=uE1QAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA364,

Description

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- Carpinus fruit.jpg -
Hornbeam catkins

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- CarpinusBetulusBark.jpg -
Bark of a mature tree

It is a deciduous small to medium-size tree reaching heights of {{convert|15|-|25|m|0}}, rarely {{convert|30|m|abbr=on|0}}, and often has a fluted and crooked trunk. The bark is smooth and greenish-grey, even in old trees. The buds, unlike those of the beech, are {{convert|10|mm|abbr=on}} long at the most, and pressed close to the twig. The leaves are alternate, {{convert|4|-|9|cm|abbr=on}} long, with prominent veins giving a distinctive corrugated texture, and a serrated margin. It is monoecious, and the wind-pollinated male and female catkins appear in early summer after the leaves. The fruit is a small {{convert|7|-|8|mm|abbr=on}} long nut, partially surrounded by a three-pointed leafy involucre {{convert|3|-|4|cm|abbr=on}} long; it matures in autumn.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Distribution

Hornbeam is considered native from Western Asia and throughout Europe.WEB,www.nhm.ac.uk/fff-pcp/glob.pl?report=pcfllist&group=&sort=&inpos=nr6, Native flora recorded from postal district NR6 (Norwich) | Natural History Museum,www.nhm.ac.uk/fff-pcp/glob.pl?report=pcfllist&group=&sort=&inpostcode=nr6," title="web.archive.org/web/20121015211625www.nhm.ac.uk/fff-pcp/glob.pl?report=pcfllist&group=&sort=&inpostcode=nr6,">web.archive.org/web/20121015211625www.nhm.ac.uk/fff-pcp/glob.pl?report=pcfllist&group=&sort=&inpostcode=nr6, 2012-10-15, The species prefers a warm climate, and only naturally occurs below {{convert|1000|m|0}} in elevation. It is a common tree in scree forests.Hornbeam was frequently coppiced and pollarded in the past in England. It is still infrequently managed using these traditional methods, but mainly for non-commercial conservation purposes. As a woodland tree traditionally managed in this way, it is particularly frequent in the ancient woodlands of south Essex, Hertfordshire and north Kent where it typically occupies more than half of most ancient woods and wood pastures.BOOK, Ancient Woodland; its history, vegetation and uses in England, Rackham, Oliver, 2003, Castlepoint Press, 1-897604-27-0, New, There are a number of notable forests where C. betulus is a dominant tree species, among which include Epping Forest in the United Kingdom, and Halltorps hage in Ã–land, Sweden.

Fossil record

Three fossil fruits of Carpinus betulus have been extracted from borehole samples of the Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians, Poland.ÅaÅ„cucka-Åšrodoniowa M.: Macroscopic plant remains from the freshwater Miocene of the Nowy SÄ…cz Basin (West Carpathians, Poland) [SzczÄ…tki makroskopowe roÅ›lin z miocenu sÅ‚odkowodnego Kotliny SÄ…deckiej (Karpaty Zachodnie, Polska)]. Acta Palaeobotanica 1979 20 (1): 3-117.

Ecology

File:Coldfall Woods 01 MG 3569.jpg|thumb|Old hornbeam coppice stools left uncut for at least 100 years. Coldfall Wood Coldfall WoodIn England, trees appear to prefer soils with a pH from 3.6 to 4.6 but tolerate up to 7.6. They are found on soils with moderate clay content and avoid soils with particularly high or low clay content.Carpinus betulus likes full sun or partial shade, moderate soil fertility and moisture. It has a shallow, wide-spreading root system and is marked by the production of stump sprouts when cut back.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}The seeds often do not germinate until the spring of the second year after sowing. The hornbeam is a prolific seeder and is marked by vigorous natural regeneration.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Associated species

Hornbeam grows in mixed stands with oak, and in some areas beech. The leaves provide food for some animals, including Lepidoptera such as the case-bearer moth Coleophora anatipennella.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}This tree has been associated with the poisonous mushroom Amanita phalloides, better known as the death-cap mushroom, which grow around the trunk after hornbeams mature. When ingested, death-cap mushrooms can cause extreme medical conditions and death. Death-cap mushrooms can be mistaken for other edible mushrooms (Amanita princeps).JOURNAL, Childs, Craig, DEATH-CAP MUSHROOMS ARE SPREADING ACROSS NORTH AMERICA,www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/02/deadly-mushroom-arrives-canada/581602/, The Atlantic, February 1, 2019, 13 October 2023,

Cultivation and uses

File:Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’ Dublin P1310089.jpg|thumb|Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’ in Dublin DublinFile:Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’ Eindhoven 21 MG 3470.jpg|thumb|Mature Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’ in Eindhoven EindhovenCarpinus betulus is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree, for planting in gardens and parks throughout north west Europe. Because it stands up well to cutting back and has dense foliage, it has been much used in landscape gardening, mainly as tall hedges and for topiary. It was the classic tree used in French formal gardens for hedges in bosquets, as in the Gardens of Versailles, and in their English equivalent, the garden wilderness.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}There are several cultivars, notably ‘Fastigiata’ or ‘Pyramidalis’, a (wikt:fastigiate|fastigiate) tree when young, which has become a popular urban street tree in the United Kingdom and other countries.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} ‘Frans Fontaine’ is a similar fastigiate cultivar.WEB, RHS Plant Selector - Carpinus betulus ‘Frans Fontaine’,www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/91769/Carpinus-betulus-Frans-Fontaine/Details, 5 September 2018, Both the species C. betulus and the cultivar ‘Fastigiata’ have gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.WEB, RHS Plant Selector - Carpinus betulus,www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/3136/Carpinus-betulus/Details, 15 April 2020, WEB, RHS Plant Selector - Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’,www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/96627/Carpinus-betulus-Fastigiata/Details, 15 April 2020, As early as Roman times, but also during the Thirty Years’ War, defensive hedges (Landwehr) in Central Europe were largely planted from hornbeams. The bushes were chopped down with axes and broken down. The trees would then grow together with blackberries, dog roses, and other thorny bushes into impenetrable hedges. In the 11th century, for example, the Electorate of Mainz set up a large defensive forest called the {{ill|Rheingauer GebÃ¼ck|de}}. Many place names with the endings -hagen and -hain refer to such landwehrs.BOOK, Laudert, Doris, Mythos Baum: Geschichte, Brauchtum, 40 BaumportrÃ¤ts, 2004, blv, MÃ¼nchen Wien ZÃ¼rich, 3-405-16640-3, 129â€“131, 6., durchges. Aufl, Hildegard of Bingen wrote of hornbeam being used as a plant in traditional medicine to treat vitiligo. The heated hornbeam chips were pressed onto the affected skin areas.BOOK, Hertzka, Gottfried, Strehlow, Wighard, GroÃŸe Hildegard-Apotheke, 2017, Christiana-Verlag im FE-Medienverlag, Kissleg-Immenried, 978-3-7171-1119-1, 17. Auflage, Hornbeam is used in Bach flower remedies as a treatment for exhaustion.The wood is heavy and hard, and is used for tools and building constructions. It also burns hot and slowly, making it very suitable for firewood.Hornbeam Tree - Gardening Central {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807155859www.gardeningcentral.org/hornbeam_tree/hornbeam_tree.html |date=2018-08-07 }} This was the reason for lopping and hence indirectly the saving of Epping Forest, where the hornbeam was a favoured pollarding tree.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} The wood has a very high calorific value of around 2,300 kWh/RM.WEB, Matthieson, Ben, Brennholz aus der Hainbuche: Vorteile und Lagerung,www.gartenjournal.net/hainbuche-brennholz, Gartenjournal.net, 27 November 2023, de-DE, 17 July 2022,

Notable examples

The Last Tree - The only tree that survived the devastation of the Battle of Delville Wood in 1916. It is preserved as part of the Delville Wood South African National Memorial near Longueval.WEB, The South Africa (Delville Wood) National Memorial, Longueval,www.greatwar.co.uk/somme/memorial-delville-wood.htmdelvillewoodlasttree, www.greatwar.co.uk, 12 February 2021,
Lincoln’s Hornbeam - Planted by President Lincoln at the United States Botanic Garden in the Capitol grounds, Washington D.C.NEWS, ARBOR DAY FINDS OLD TREES LUSTY; Washington’s Elm, Lincoln’s Hornbeam, and the Oak From the Tomb of Confucius Still Flourish In Capital -- Other Famous Trees (Published 1926),www.nytimes.com/1926/04/25/archives/arbor-day-finds-old-trees-lusty-washingtons-elm-lincolns-hornbeam.html, 12 February 2021, The New York Times, 25 April 1926, Section XX, 13,

Gallery

File:Herchies JPG09.jpg|Tree in winterFile:Carpinus betulus trunk.jpg|Old treeFile:La Reid AR1aJPG.jpg|Hornbeam-covered walkFile:Carpinus betulus MHNT.BOT.2004.0.494.jpg|Fruit and seedsFile:Carpinus betulus bud.jpg|Leaf budFile:Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’ Poundbury 20 P1310846.jpg|Newly planted Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’ in Poundbury, Dorset, UK

References

External links

linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/coryla/carpi/carpbetv.jpg" title="web.archive.org/web/20020512071616linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/coryla/carpi/carpbetv.jpg">Den virtuella floran: Carpinus betulus distribution
Carpinus betulus - information, genetic conservation units and related resources. European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN)

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