Biology:Ostrya virginiana

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Short description: Species of tree

American hophornbeam
Ostrya virginiana 2.jpg
A hophornbeam branch with the characteristic hop-resembling fruits[1] in early summer
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Betulaceae
Genus: Ostrya
Species:
O. virginiana
Binomial name
Ostrya virginiana
(Mill.) K.Koch
Ostrya virginiana range map.jpg
Generalized native range
Synonyms[3]
  • Carpinus virginiana Mill.
  • Zugilus virginica Raf.
  • Ostrya italica subsp. virginiana (Mill.) H.J.P.Winkl.
  • Carpinus virginica Münchh.
  • Carpinus triflora Moench
  • Ostrya virginica (Münchh.) Willd.
  • Ostrya americana F.Michx.
  • Ostrya ostrya MacMill.
  • Ostrya baileyi Rose
  • Ostrya guatemalensis (H.J.P.Winkl.) Rose
  • Ostrya mexicana Rose

Ostrya virginiana, the American hophornbeam, is a species of Ostrya native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia west to southern Manitoba and eastern Wyoming, southeast to northern Florida and southwest to eastern Texas .[4] Populations from Mexico and Central America are also regarded as the same species, although some authors prefer to separate them as a distinct species, Ostrya guatemalensis.[3] Other names include eastern hophornbeam, hardhack (in New England), ironwood, and leverwood.[5][6]

Description

Ostrya virginiana (American hophornbeam) is a small deciduous understory tree growing to 18 m (59 ft) tall and 20–50 centimetres (8–20 in) trunk diameter. The bark is brown to gray-brown, with narrow shaggy plates flaking off, while younger twigs and branches are smoother and gray, with small lenticels.[5][7] Very young twigs are sparsely fuzzy to thickly hairy; the hairs (trichomes) drop off by the next year.[8]

The leaves are ovoid-acute, 5–13 cm (2–5 in) long and 4–6 cm (1 1⁄2–2 1⁄4 in) broad, pinnately veined, with a doubly serrated margin. The upper surface is mostly hairless, while the lower surface is sparsely to moderately fuzzy (rarely densely hairy).[5][7]

The flowers are catkins (spikes) produced in early spring at the same time as the new leaves appear. The staminate (male) catkins are 2–5 cm (3⁄4–2 in) long,[5] and arranged in groups of 1–4.[7] The pistillate (female) catkins are 8–15 mm (5⁄16–19⁄32 in) long, containing 10–30 flowers each.[5]

Pollinated female flowers develop into small nutlets 3–5 mm (1⁄8–3⁄16 in) long fully enclosed in a papery sac-shaped involucre 10–18 mm (3⁄8–11⁄16 in) long and 8–10 mm (5⁄16–3⁄8 in) wide.[5] The involucre changes from greenish-white to dull brown as the fruit matures.[7]

American hophornbeam is similar to its close relative American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), which can be distinguished by its smooth bark and nutlets enclosed in open, three-lobed bracts.[7]

  • Bark of a mature tree

  • Male catkins hanging from the branches in spring (United States Botanic Garden)

  • Leaf color in autumn

  • Two trees in winter with some dried leaves still hanging on their branches (marcescence)

  • An exceptionally large trunk

Subdivisions

There are two subspecies:

  • Ostrya virginiana subsp. guatemalensis (H.J.P.Winkl.) A.E.Murray – central and southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador[9]
  • Ostrya virginiana subsp. virginiana – eastern half of United States, eastern Canada

Populations along the Atlantic coast have slightly smaller leaves, and are sometimes separated as O. virginiana var. lasia Fernald.[5]

Habitat and ecology

In temperate areas of the US and Canada, Ostrya virginiana is found in lowland and foothill forests, where it is predominantly an understory tree.[2]

In Mexico and Central America, Ostrya virginiana is found in cloud forests and humid portions of mid-elevation oak, pine–oak, and pine forests between 1200 and 2800 meters elevation.[10]

The buds and catkins are important source of winter food for some birds, notably ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus).[7] Additionally, the nutlets and buds are eaten by birds, deer, and rabbits.[1]

Uses

It is grown as an ornamental plant and is sometimes used as a street tree.

Its wood is very resilient and is valued for making tool handles and fence posts.

Being a diffuse porous hardwood and having extremely high density and resistance to compression, it is an excellent material for the construction of wooden longbows.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. p. 374. ISBN 0-394-50760-6. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Stritch, L.; Shaw, K.; Roy , S.; Wilson, B. (2014). "Ostrya virginiana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T194540A2346581. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T194540A2346581.en. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/194540/2346581. Retrieved 19 November 2021. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Ostrya virginiana". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. http://wcsp.science.kew.org/qsearch.do?page=quickSearch&plantName=Ostrya%2Bvirginiana. 
  4. ↑ "Ostrya virginiana", County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA) (Biota of North America Program (BONAP)), 2014, http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Ostrya%20virginiana.png 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Furlow, John J. (1997), "Ostrya virginiana", in Flora of North America Editorial Committee, Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA), 3, New York and Oxford, http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500839 
  6. ↑ Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Hilty, John (2016). "Hop Hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana)". http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/plants/hop_hornbeam.htm. 
  8. ↑ Chayka, Katy; Dziuk, Peter (2016), Ostrya virginiana (Ironwood), https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/tree/ironwood 
  9. ↑ Whittemore, Alan, "Ostrya virginiana", Flora Mesoamericana, Missouri Botanical Garden, http://www.tropicos.org/Name/3600027?projectid=3 
  10. ↑ Mario González-Espinosa, Jorge A. Meave, Francisco G. Lorea-Hernández, Guillermo Ibarra-Manríquez and Adrian C. Newton, eds (2011). The Red List of Mexican Cloud Forest Trees. Fauna & Flora International, Cambridge, UK. 2011. ISBN:9781903703281

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q1489573 entry



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