Carpinus betulus, the European or common hornbeam, is a species of tree in the birch family Betulaceae, native species 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 . 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.]
Description
It is a deciduous small to medium-size tree reaching heights of , rarely , 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 long at the most, and pressed close to the twig. The leaf are alternate, long, with prominent veins giving a distinctive corrugated texture, and a serrated margin. It is monoecious, and the wind-pollinated male and female appear in early summer after the leaves. The fruit is a small long nut, partially surrounded by a three-pointed leafy Involucral bract long; it matures in autumn.
Distribution
Hornbeam is considered native species from Western Asia and throughout Europe.
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 of south Essex, Hertfordshire and north Kent where it typically occupies more than half of most ancient woods and .
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 Öland, 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.[Łańcucka-Środoniowa M.: Macroscopic plant remains from the freshwater Miocene of the Nowy Sącz Basin (West Carpathians, Poland) Szczątki. Acta Palaeobotanica 1979 20 (1): 3-117.]
Ecology
In 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.
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The 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.
Associated species
Hornbeam grows in mixed stands with oak, and in some areas beech.
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).
Cultivation and uses
Carpinus 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 , as in the Gardens of Versailles, and in their English equivalent, the garden wilderness.
There are several , notably 'Fastigiata' or 'Pyramidalis', a tree when young, which has become a popular urban street tree in the United Kingdom and other countries. 'Frans Fontaine' is a similar fastigiate cultivar.
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 . Many place names with the endings -hagen and -hain refer to such landwehrs.
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.[
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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 ] This was the reason for lopping and hence indirectly the saving of Epping Forest, where the hornbeam was a favoured pollarding tree. The wood has a very high calorific value of around 2,300 kWh/RM.
Notable examples
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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.
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Lincoln's Hornbeam - Planted by Abraham Lincoln at the United States Botanic Garden in the Capitol grounds, Washington D.C.
==Gallery==
, Dorset, United Kingdom]]
planted 3years and 3months earlier]]
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