Ironwood/Eastern hophornbeam - Ostrya virginiana

Pronunciation: os-tri-ah ver-jin-ee-ah-nah

Leaf: Alternate, simple, pinnately veined, oval to broadly lanceolate, 3 - 5 inches long, with a doubly serrate margin, green above, paler and fuzzy in the axils of veins and on the petiole.

Flower: Species is monoecious; males are preformed catkins, ½ - 1 inches long, in clusters of 3's (resemble birds toes), present throughout the winter; females appear in spring and are slender, light green catkins, ½ inch long, appearing or elongating (males) in spring.

Fruit: Very distinctive, resembling hops. More specifically, a ¼ inch nutlet is enclosed in a dried, leafy, inflated sac. Several sacs hang from one stem, 1 ½ - 2 ½ inches long; maturing in late summer and persisting through winter.

Twig: Slender, reddish brown, smooth, and may be slightly pubescent. Male catkins present on the end of the branch; buds are small, plump ovate, and covered with green and red-brown, finely grooved (vertically) scales.

Bark: When young smooth, reddish brown, with horizontal lenticels (cherry like), later turning light brown and developing a shreddy appearance, broken into small plates or loose scales that are easily broken off with a brush of the hand.

Form: A small tree up to 40 feet tall that develops a round crown of fine branches.

Looks like: sweet birch - yellow birch - hornbeam - American hazel

Ostrya virginiana - hophornbeam Greek "ostrya” or “ostrua" (a tree with hard wood)/of Virginia