The Trees of Great Britain & Ireland/Volume 3/Carpinus
CARPINUS
- Carpinus, Linnæus, Gen. Pl. 292 (ex parte) (1737); Bentham et Hooker, Gen. Pl. iii. 405 (1880); Winkler, in Engler, Pflanzenreich, iv. 61, Betulaceæ, 24 (1904).
- Distegocarpus, Siebold et Zuccarini, Flor. Jap. Fam. Nat. ii. 103, t. 3 (1846).
Deciduous trees belonging to the order Betulaceæ. Leaves, alternate, distichous on the branchlets, stalked, ovate, doubly-serrate, penninerved, the nerves ending in the points of the teeth; stipules scarious, caducous or persistent. Flowers appearing in early spring with the unfolding of the leaves, unisexual, moncecious, without petals. Staminate flowers in pendulous, cylindrical catkins, arising from buds produced near the ends of lateral branches of the previous year; stamens, three to twenty, crowded on a pilose receptacle adnate to the base of a concave scale; filaments short, twobranched, each branch bearing a one-celled anther, tipped with a cluster of long hairs. Pistillate flowers, in loose, semi-erect catkins, which are terminal on the branchlets of the year; in pairs at the base of an ovate, acute, deciduous scale; each flower subtended by a small bract and two minute bracteoles, and consisting of a two-celled ovary, surmounted by a minute epigynous calyx and two elongated styles; each cell containing one ovule.
Fruit, in pendent, stalked strobiles, composed of imbricated, foliaceous or membranous involucres, resulting from the developed bract and bracteoles of the flower, each with a nutlet at its base. Nutlet, ovoid, compressed, longitudinally ribbed, crowned by the calyx and remains of the style, one-seeded, and falling from the involucre in autumn. Seed, filling the cavity of the nutlet, without albumen; cotyledons fleshy, carried above ground in germination.
The genus consists of about eighteen species inhabiting the temperate regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. Two sections are distinguished:—
I. Distegocarpus, Sargent, Silva N. Amer. ix. 40 (1896).
- Scales of the staminate catkins lanceolate, stalked. Fruit-involucres, membranous, infolded below, completely covering the nutlet, closely imbricated in the strobile. Trees with scaly bark. Two species, C. japonica, Blume, and C. cordata, Blume.
II. Eu-Carpinus, Sargent, loc. cit.
- Scales of the staminate catkins ovate, sub-sessile. Fruit-involucres, foliaceous, open or only slightly infolded over the nutlets, loosely imbricated in the strobile. Trees usually with smooth bark. This section includes the remaining species.
Carpinus and Ostrya are very similar in foliage; and the following key, based upon the characters of the leaves and branches (Plate 201), distinguishes all the species of both genera which are in cultivation in England. Carpinus laxiflora, though not yet introduced, has been included, as it has been much confused with the other Japanese hornbeams.
Key to Carpinus and Ostrya
I. Leaves not exceeding 2 inches in length.
- 1. Carpinus orientals, Miller. South-eastern Europe, western Asia.
- Leaves 11⁄2 inch long, acute, deeply plicate.
- 2. Carpinus polyneura, Franchet. Central China.
- Leaves 2 inches long, acute, smooth and only slightly plicate.
II. Leaves exceeding 2 inches in length.
A. Leaves lanceolate.
- 3. Carpinus japonica, Blume. Japan.
- Leaves about 4 inches long, much longer in proportion to their width than in the other species, with numerous (eighteen to twenty-four pairs) nerves.
B. Leaves ovate, acute at the apex.
- 4. Carpinus yedoensis, Maximowicz. Central China. Cultivated in Japan.
- Leaves 21⁄2 inches long, rounded at the base, with conspicuous bands of appressed pubescence on the upper surface. Branchlets pilose.
C. Leaves ovate, acuminate at the apex.
* Leaves deeply cordate at the base.
- 5. Carpinus cordata, Blume. China, Korea, Manchuria, and Japan.
- Leaves 4 to 5 inches long, broad in proportion to their length, with fifteen to twenty pairs of nerves.
** Leaves rounded or only slightly cordate at the base.
† Under surface glabrous between the nerves.
- 6. Carpinus laxiflora, Blume. China, Japan.
- Leaves 21⁄2 inches long, rounded at the base, abruptly contracted into a very long acuminate apex. Branchlets with scattered long hairs. Buds minute, 1⁄16 inch long.
- 7. Carpinus Betulus, Linnæus. Europe, western Asia.
- Leaves 3 inches long, slightly cordate at the base, turning yellow in autumn. Branchlets with scattered long hairs. Buds fusiform, 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 inch long.
- 8. Carpinus caroliniana, Walter. North America.
- Leaves as in C. Betudus, but turning red in autumn. Branchlets with scattered long hairs. Buds ovoid, 1⁄8 inch long.
†† Under surface pubescent between the nerves.
- 9. Ostrya carpinifolia, Scopoli. Southern Europe, Asia Minor, Syria.
- Leaves 3 inches long, not velvety to the touch above, rounded at the base. Branchlets with dense appressed pubescence. 10. Ostrya japonica, Sargent. China, Japan.
- Leaves 3 to 4 inches long, velvety to the touch above, slightly cordate at the base. Branchlets with dense, scarcely appressed, pubescence.
11. Ostrya virginica, Willdenow. North America.
- Leaves 3 to 4 inches long, not velvety to the touch above, slightly cordate at the base. Branchlets glandular-pubescent. (A.H.)
CARPINUS ORIENTALIS
- Carpinus orientalis, Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 7, No. 3 (1759); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 2014 (1838); Winkler, Betulaceæ, 37 (1904).
- Carpinus duinensis, Scopoli, Fl. Carniol. ii. 243, t. 60 (1772); Boissier, Fl. Orient. iv. 1177 (1879); Willkomm, Forstliche Flora, 366 (1887).
- Carpinus nigra, Moench, Verz. Ausländ. Bäume u. Staud. 19 (1785).
A small tree or large shrub, rarely attaining 50 feet in height; bark smooth and greyish. Young branchlets covered with a very minute dense pubescence, with which are intermixed scattered long hairs. Leaves (Plate 201, Fig. 7) small,[1] strongly plicate, the nerves being deeply impressed above, about 1½ inch long by ¾ inch wide, ovate or ovate-elliptical, acute at the apex, unequal and slightly cordate at the base; margin sharply bi-serrate, ciliate; upper surface dark green, shining, with scattered long hairs; lower surface light green, pilose on the midrib and nerves, glabrous between the nerves, with minute axil-tufts; nerves nine to thirteen pairs; petioles, ¼ to ⅜ inch, pilose; stipules linear-lanceolate, pubescent at the apex, ¼ inch long, often persistent during summer. Fruit: strobiles, up to 2 inches long; bracts densely imbricated, ¾ inch long, obliquely ovate, not lobed, sharply and irregularly serrate.
This species is a native of south-eastern Europe and western Asia. It occurs in Italy and Sicily, reaching its northern limit in Istria, Croatia, Slavonia, Banat, and Transylvania, and extending southwards through the Balkan States to Macedonia and Greece. It is also met with in the Crimea, Asia Minor, and the Caucasus.
It was introduced into cultivation in England in 1739 by Miller. It appears to be exceedingly rare, the only specimens we have seen being at Kew, where there are several small trees, one of which, planted in 1878, is now about 20 feet high. (A.H.)
CARPINUS POLYNEURA
- Carpinus polyneura, Franchet, Journ. de Bot. xiii. 202 (1 899); Burkill, Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bot.), xxvi. 501 (1899).
- Carpinus Turczaninowii, Hance, var. polyneura, Winkler, Betulaceæ, 38, f. 12 (1904).
A small tree, attaining 30 feet in height; bark greyish, slightly fissuring and scaly. Young branchlets with scattered long hairs. Leaves (Plate 201, Fig. 5) small, weakly plicate, the nerves being only slightly impressed above, about 2 inches long by ⅞ inch broad, ovate, acute at the apex, unequal and slightly cordate at the base; margin bi-serrate, ciliate; upper surface dark green, shining, with scattered, appressed hairs; lower surface-as in C. orientalis; nerves nine to twelve pairs; petiole, ¼ to ⅜ inch, pilose; stipules linear, pubescent along the margins, } inch long, persistent during summer. Fruit: strobiles 2 inches long; bracts loosely imbricated, obliquely ovate, ½ inch long, outer margin slightly serrate, inner margin sub-entire, not lobed, without a basal auricle.
This species is a rare tree in the mountains of Eastern Szechwan and Western Hupeh in China; and is closely allied to, if not a mere variety of, C. Turczaninowii, Hance, which is common in Northern China. C. polyneura differs little in technical characters from C. orientalis, but is very distinct in appearance owing to the leaves being smooth and flat and not deeply plicate, as in the other species of hornbeam.
It is only represented in cultivation by a single tree, about 15 feet high, in Kew Gardens, which was raised from seed sent by me in 1889. (A.H.)
CARPINUS JAPONICA
- Carpinus japonica, Blume, Mus. Bat. Lugd. Bot. i. 308 (1850); Shirasawa, Icon. Ess. Forest. Japon, text 47, t. 24, ff. 1-17 (1900); Winkler, Betulaceæ, 25 (1904).
- Carpinus Carpinus, Sargent, Garden and Forest, vi. 364, f. 56 (1893); Forest Flora Japan, 64, t. 21 (1894).
- Distegocarpus Carpinus, Siebold et Zuccarini, Fl. Jap. Fam. Nat. ii. 103 (1846).
A tree attaining in Japan 50 feet in height and 5 feet in girth; bark furrowed and scaly. Young branchlets with scattered long hairs, which fall off in autumn. Leaves (Plate 201, Fig. 1) ovate-oblong, up to 4 inches long by 1% inch broad, acuminate at the apex, oblique at the base, which is rounded or slightly cordate; margin finely bi-serrate, non-ciliate; upper surface dark green, pubescent on the midrib and nerves; lower surface pale green, with scattered long hairs on the midrib and nerves and slight axil tufts; nerves, eighteen to twenty-four pairs, impressed above; petiole ½ inch long, pubescent; stipules ½ inch long, linear-lanceolate, pubescent, persistent during summer. Fruit: strobiles 2½ inches long; bracts densely imbricated, ¾ to ⅞ inch long, ovate, sharply serrate; nutlet covered by a minute orbicular lobe, attached merely by its base to the bract, the outer margin of the latter being slightly infolded below.
This species is a native of central and southern Japan, and, according to Sargent, is common on the Hakone and Nikko Mountains between 2000 and 3000 feet elevation. It was collected near Nikko by Elwes, and at Nagasaki by Oldham.
It was introduced by Maries in 1879; but no trees of this date are now to be found, there being only small plants about 3 feet high in the Coombe Wood Nursery. It is perfectly hardy in New England, where it produced fruit for the first time in 1891 in the Arnold Arboretum, where it had been introduced a few years previously. Young plants were sent by Prof. Sargent in 1895 and 1897 to Kew, which have now attained about 1o feet in height. At Tortworth a young tree has produced fruit.
The foliage of this species is remarkably distinct and handsome. (A.H.)
CARPINUS YEDOENSIS
- Carpinus yedoensis, Maximowicz, Mél. Biol. xi. 314 (1881); Burkill, Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bot.), xxvi. 502 (1899); Franchet, Journ. de Bot. xiii. 203 (1899); Winkler, Betulaceæ, 35 (1904).
A small tree. Young branchlets densely covered with long hairs. Leaves (Plate 201, Fig. 3), 2½ inches long by 1½ inch wide, ovate, acute at the apex, rounded at the base; margin biserrate and ciliate; upper surface with conspicuous bands of long appressed pubescence in the intervals between the lateral nerves; lower surface pilose on the midrib and nerves, glabrous or with scattered long hairs in the intervals between the nerves; nerves ten to twelve pairs; petiole, ⅜ to ½ inch long, pilose; stipules, linear-lanceolate, caducous. Fruit: strobiles, 2½ inches long; bracts loosely imbricated, ¾ inch long, semi-ovate, coarsely serrate on the outer side, subentire on the inner side, which is slightly infolded at the base, forming a small auricle partly covering the nutlet.
This species is only cultivated in Japan, where it was first seen by Maximowicz. It was discovered growing wild in the mountains of North-Eastern Szechwan in China by Pere Farges, and may have been brought to Japan by Buddhist monks in early days, like many other Chinese plants. Young plants were raised from Japanese seed in 1901 by Purpus, in the Botanic Garden at Darmstadt. In the nursery at Kew there are two or three plants, growing vigorously, and about 3 feet in height, which were obtained from Simon Louis in 1904. (A.H.)
CARPINUS CORDATA
- Carpinus cordata, Blume, Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. i. 309 (1850); Sargent, Garden and Forest, vi. 364 (1893), viii. 294, f. 41 (1895), and Forest Flora Japan, 65 (1894); Burkill, Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bot.), xxvi. 501 (1899); Shirasawa, Icon. Ess. Forest. Japon, text 46, t. 24, ff. 18-32 (1900); Winkler, Betulaceæ, 26 (1904); J.H. Veitch, Hortus Veitchii, 359 (1906).
- Distegocarpus (?) cordata, De Candolle, Prod. xvi. 2, p. 128 (1864).
A tree, attaining in Japan and China a height of 50 feet and a girth of 6 feet; bark, dark grey, deeply furrowed and scaly. Young branchlets covered with a very minute pubescence, intermixed with scattered long hairs. Leaves (Plate 201, Fig. 2), ovate, up to 5 inches long and 2¾ inches wide, acuminate at the apex, unequally and deeply cordate at the base; margin finely bi-serrate, non-ciliate; upper surface dark green, with scattered long hairs; lower surface light green, pubescent between the nerves, pilose on the midrib and nerves, without axil tufts; nerves fifteen to twenty pairs, impressed above; petiole, ¾ inch long, with scattered long hairs; stipules caducous. Fruit: strobiles, 3 to 6 inches long, long-stalked; bracts densely imbricated, membranous, 1 to 1⅛ inch long, irregularly serrate; the inner margin furnished below with an orbicular lobe, infolding and concealing the nutlet; the outer margin slightly inflected at the base. The basal lobe is much larger than in C. japonica, and is united to the bract, not only by its base, but also along one side.
Var. chinensis, Franchet, Journ. de Bot. 1899, p. 202.—Leaves, ovate-oblong, 3 inches long by 1¾ inch broad, with eighteen to twenty pairs of nerves, slightly cordate and unequal at the base, shortly acuminate at the apex. This variety strongly resembles in the shape of the leaf certain forms of C. japonica, but has the fruit of C. cordata. It seems to be intermediate between the two species, and is found in the mountains of Eastern Szechwan in China. It was introduced into cultivation by Mr. E.H. Wilson in 1901, and young plants are growing in the Coombe Wood Nursery.
According to Sargent, Carpinus cordata is one of the largest and perhaps the most beautiful of the hornbeams. It grows on the main island of Japan only at high altitudes, its true home being in the deciduous-leaved forest of central and northern Yezo. It is also a native of Korea and Manchuria; and occurs in China, in the typical form, in the province of Shensi,[2] the variety chinensis growing more to the south.
This species was introduced from Japan by Maries in 1879, and produced fruit in 1886 in the Coombe Wood Nursery, where the largest specimen now living is only 15 feet in height. A tree at Tortworth is about 20 feet, and has borne fruit, from which, however, Elwes did not succeed in raising seedlings. There is also a small tree at Grayswood, Haslemere. It seems to be very rare in cultivation, and there are no specimens growing in the Hornbeam Collection at Kew. (A.H.)
CARPINUS LAXIFLORA
- Carpinus laxiflora, Blume, Mus. Bot. Lugd. Bat. i. 309 (1850); Oliver, in Hooker, Icon. Plant, t. 1989 (1891); Sargent, Garden and Forest, vi. 364 (1893), and Forest Flora Japan, 64 (1894); Burkill, Journ. Linn. Soc. (Bot.), xxvi. 501 (1899); Shirasawa, Icon. Ess. Forest. Japon, text 48, t. 25, ff. 15-30 (1900); Winkler, Betulaceæ, 33 (1904).
- Carpinus Fargesii, Franchet, Journ. de Bot. 1899, p. 202.
A tree, attaining in Japan 50 feet in height and 5 feet in girth; bark smooth, grey, sometimes almost white in colour. Young branchlets with scattered long hairs. Leaves (Plate 201, Fig. 8), 2½ inches long by 1½ inch broad, ovate or ovate-elliptical, contracted above into a long acuminate apex, rounded or slightly cuneate at the base; margin, bi-serrate, non-ciliate; upper surface with scattered long appressed hairs; lower surface with long appressed hairs on the midrib and nerves, glabrous between the nerves; nerves thirteen to fifteen pairs; petiole, ½ inch long, pilose; stipules caducous. Fruit: strobiles, up to 3 inches long; bracts very loosely imbricated, about ⅝ inch long, semi-ovate, outer side irregularly serrate, inner side sub-entire, with a lobe near the base, which is infolded, but does not conceal the nutlet.
This species is a native of China and Japan. According to Sargent, it is very like the European hornbeam in habit, fluted stem, and smooth bark. It is common in all the mountain forests of Hondo, where it is most abundant at elevations between 2000 and 3000 feet. Near Agematsu, in Shinshu, at 2000 feet altitude, it was collected by Elwes, who saw no tree of any great size or beauty, though the leaves turn red and yellow in autumn. In Yezo, it descends to sea-level on the southern shores of Volcano Bay, where, near the town of Mori, it is common in oak forests, and grows to its largest size. In China, this species grows in the mountains of Hupeh, Eastern Szechwan, and Kiangsi; but is rare, displaying considerable variation in the character of the leaves and fruit.[3]
It has not yet, apparently, been introduced into cultivation. Plants at Kew, sent under the name of C. laxiflora, from the Arnold Arboretum in 1895, are C. japonica. (A.H.)
CARPINUS CAROLINIANA, American Hornbeam
- Carpinus caroliniana, Walter, Fl. Carol. 236 (1788); Sargent, Silva N. Amer. ix. 42, t. 447 (1896), and Trees N. Amer. 190 (1905); Winkler, Betulaceæ, 31 (1904).
- Carpinus americana, Michaux, Fl. Bor. Amer. ii. 201 (1803); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 2013 (1838).
- Carpinus Betulus, Koehne, Deutsche Dendrologie, 116 (1893).
A bushy tree, attaining, in America, rarely 40 feet in height and 6 feet in girth, with stem and bark like the common hornbeam. Young branchlets with a few scattered long hairs, the minute glandular pubescence often seen in C. Betulus never being present. Leaves (Plate 201, Fig. 6) as in the common hornbeam, but usually with fewer nerves, nine to ten pairs; and unequal, rounded, or slightly cuneate at the base. Stipules lanceolate, ⅓ inch long, caducous. Fruits: strobiles, 2 to 3 inches long; bracts loosely imbricated, triangular-ovate, ¾ to 1 inch long, with two short unequal lateral lobes, and a much longer middle lobe, which is usually serrate on only one margin; pedicels of each pair of bracts united only at the base.
In the absence of fruit, this species is difficult to distinguish from C. Betulus from which Koehne could not distinguish it even as a variety. In autumn, the beautiful red tint of the foliage of the American species is diagnostic. The best mark of distinction lies, however, in the buds, which are small, ovoid, acute, ⅛ inch long, with glabrous ciliate scales; those of C. Betulus being large, fusiform, ¼ to ⅓ inch long, with pubescent ciliate scales.
This species, which is known in America as the blue beech or water beech, is found along the borders of streams and swamps, from Southern and Western Quebec to Florida, extending westward to Northern Minnesota, Eastern Nebraska, Kansas Indian Territory, and Eastern Texas. It is also met with in a slightly modified form[4] in the mountainous regions of Southern Mexico and Guatemala. It is most abundant and of its largest size in the southern Alleghany mountains and in Southern Arkansas and Texas.
It was introduced into England by Pursh in 1812; but is very rare in cultivation, the best specimen we have seen being at Arley Castle. It has no claim to be considered as a forest tree, its only merit being the scarlet colour of the foliage in autumn. Elwes gathered seeds of this species near Ottawa in 1904, which did not germinate. (A.H.)
CARPINUS BETULUS, Common Hornbeam
- Carpinus Betulus, Linnæus, Sp. Pl. 998 (1753); Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. iii. 2004 (1838); Willkomm, Forstliche Flora, 358 (1887); Mathieu, Flore Forestiére, 396 (1897).
- Carpinus vulgaris, Miller, Gard. Dict. ed. 8, No. 1 (1768).
- Carpinus sepium, Lamarck, Fl. Franç. ii. 212 (1778).
- Carpinus compressa, Gilbert, Exerc. ii. 399 (1792).
- Carpinus ulmoides, Gray, Nat. Arrang. Brit. Pl. ii. 245 (1821).
- Carpinus carpinizza, Host, Fl. Austr. ii. 626 (1831).
- Carpinus intermedia, Wierzbicki, in Reichenbach, Icon. Fl. Germ, xii. f. 1297 (1850).
- Carpinus nervata, Dulac, Fl. Haut. Pyrén. 141 (1867).
A tree, usually attaining only a moderate size, 60 or 70 feet in height and 8 feet in girth; but in England occasionally as large as 90 feet by 12 feet. Stem never perfectly circular in section, being more or less longitudinally fluted or ridged, with shallow rounded depressions between the ridges; bark smooth, thin, grey. Young branchlets with scattered long hairs, a very minute dense glandular pubescence being also often present. Leaves (Plate 201, Fig. 4) about 3 inches long by 1¾ inch broad, oval or ovate, acuminate at the apex; broad, unequal, and rounded or slightly cordate at the base; margin bi-serrate, non-ciliate; upper surface dark green, glabrous, or rarely pilose on the midrib and nerves; under surface light green, with appressed long hairs on the midrib and nerves and minute axil tufts; lateral nerves, ten to fifteen pairs, impressed on the upper surface, prominent beneath; petiole ¼ to ½ inch long, pubescent; stipules narrow, lanceolate, ½ inch long, caducous.
Male catkins, about 1½ inch long; scales ovate, acute, entire, veined longitudinally; stamens, 4 to 12, with long yellow anthers. Female catkins, nearly 1 inch long; scales ovate, acuminate, ciliate. Fruit: strobiles up to 3 inches long; involucres loosely imbricated, in pairs, with their pedicels connate for the greater part of their length, three-lobed, the lateral lobes small and usually entire, the middle lobe, about 1½ inch long, entire or minutely serrulate; nutlet, 4 inch long, seven- to eleven-nerved, glabrous, with the apex umbonate and surrounded by a six-lobed calycine ring, within which are the remains of the style.
In winter, the twigs are smooth, shining, glabrous, with five-angled pith, and are marked at the base of the year's growth by ringlike scars, due to the fall of the accrescent scales of the bud of the previous season. Terminal bud not formed, the tip of the branchlet falling off in summer and leaving a small circular scar close to the uppermost axillary bud, the latter prolonging the shoot in the following season. Leaf-scars small, crescentic, three-dotted, with a short stipular scar on each side. Buds, distichous on the branchlets, unequal in size, on prominent leaf-cushions, appressed against the stem, fusiform, ¼ to ⅓ inch long; scales, ciliate and pubescent towards the tips, brownish.
Seedling:[5] Primary root tapering, wiry, flexuose; caulicle terete, pubescent, ½ inch long; cotyledons fleshy, rounded-obovate, ⅓ inch long, auricled at the base, shortly stalked, glabrous, green above, whitish beneath; stem zigzag, pubescent, giving off alternate stalked bi-serrate leaves, which resemble those of the adult plant, but are smaller and occasionally lobulate in margin.
Varieties
The common hornbeam shows little variation in the wild state, the only form worth noticing being var. carpinizza, which is found in Transylvania. In this variety the leaves are often distinctly cordate at the base with only seven to nine pairs of nerves; and the fruit-involucre has very short lateral lobes.
Under cultivation, pyramidal,[6] fastigiate, pendulous, and variegated forms have originated. In var. purpurea, the young leaves have a reddish tint. Var. incisa, Aiton,[7] has leaves with large sharp serrated teeth. A wide-branching tree of this variety at Beauport, Sussex, is 6 feet 3 inches in girth; and there is also a fine specimen at Smeaton-Hepburn, East Lothian. In var. guercifolia, Desfontaines,[8] the leaves are smaller than in the type and are irregularly and deeply cut or lobed. In this variety, leaves of the ordinary form are often present on the same branch with those of the pinnatifid kind. Two remarkable trees of this variety are reported[9] to be growing on the bowling green of the Woodrow Inn, in Cawston Parish, near Aylsham, Norfolk.
Distribution
The common hornbeam is indigenous in the south of England; but its true native limits cannot now be exactly determined, It is recorded[10] from Somerset, Wilts, Dorset, Hants, Berks, Oxford, Bucks, Herts, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Essex, Cambridge, Suffolk, and Norfolk; but in many cases, especially in the south-western counties, the records are probably of planted and not really wild trees. In Dorset,[11] it is a very rare tree; and Townsend[12] considers it to be a doubtful native of Hampshire. Druce[13] considers it to be indigenous in Oxfordshire on the chalk, but always planted on other formations. There is no doubt, however, that it formed a considerable part of the ancient forests, which existed to the north and east of London; and in the Lea division of Hertfordshire[14] it still forms the chief portion of the underwood; whilst it is common in Essex and Kent, where it is usually treated as coppice.
The hornbeam has been found in the fossil state in Suffolk, in the interglacial strata at Hoxne, and in the preglacial strata at Pakefield.[15]
Carpinus Betulus is widely distributed on the continent of Europe, and occurs also in Asia Minor, the Caucasus, and Persia. In Europe, its northern limit, beginning in Norfolk in England, crosses over to Denmark and South Sweden, where it ascends on the west coast to lat. 56° 30', and on the east coast to 57° 13', reaching its extreme northerly point on the island of Gothland in lat. 57° 20'. In Norway, Schubeler says, it is not wild; but he has seen a tree at Christiania, planted in 1818, which in 1885 measured 36 feet by 4 feet. In Russia, the hornbeam occurs as far north as lat. 56° 10' on the coast of Courland, and is confined to the provinces which lie west of an irregular line drawn from near Riga to the Sea of Azov, its most easterly localities being in the governments of Vitebsk, Mohilef, Chernigof, and Poltava, and in the Crimea. South and west of the above limits, the hornbeam is spread through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austrian Empire, Balkan Peninsula, Greece, Switzerland, and continental Italy; but is not found wild in Spain, Portugal, Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily.
In France, the hornbeam is most common in the north and east, where it forms a large part of the coppice forests, and also occurs as undergrowth in the high forests of beech and oak. Its southerly limit in France is a curved line extending from Grenoble through Toulouse to near Bordeaux. Towards the west and south, it becomes a rare tree, and is totally absent from Brittany. It is rather a tree of the plains and low hills than of the mountains; but ascends in the Vosges to 2000 feet, in the Jura to 2300 feet, and in the French Alps to 2800 feet. Treated as coppice, its growth is very rapid in France, where it takes the first rank as firewood.
In Germany the hornbeam is widely spread in the plains and low hills, where it grows usually, as in France, in company with the beech and other deciduous trees, either as scattered individuals or in small groups. In east Prussia, where the beech does not occur, the hornbeam replaces it and grows to great perfection, often forming part of the spruce and pine forests. Pure woods are rare, though some of considerable extent occur, according to Willkomm, in Alsace, Baden, and South Bavaria. In Austria, Hungary, the Balkan States, and Greece, the hornbeam is no longer a tree of the plain, but grows in the mountains in the beech forests. It ascends in the Harz mountains to 1250 feet, in the Bavarian Alps to 2900 feet, and in the Swiss Alps to 3000 feet.
According to Radde,[16] it is met with through the whole region of the Caucasus, at elevations ranging from sea-level to 5600 feet. It is also recorded from the northern provinces of Asia Minor, and from Ghilan in Northern Persia. (A.H.)
Cultivation
The seeds of the hornbeam ripen in October, but with few exceptions do not germinate until after a second winter, and must be treated in the same manner as those of the ash. The seedlings though very hardy as regards spring frosts, grow slowly at first, and require about four years in the nursery before they are strong enough to plant out. Though on sandy soil the tree produces fruit freely and the seedlings bear shade as well as those of the beech, yet the hornbeam does not in England, as in some parts of France, tend to overpower the oak; and its economic value was formerly much greater than it is now, on account of its being one of the very best trees for firewood, It may, however, be used for underplanting, and as a nurse for other trees on soils too wet for beech, and is admirably suited for making clipped hedges. When the shoots are interlaced they form an impassable barrier, and bear clipping as well as any tree. It also bears pollarding and coppicing extremely well, some of the old pollards which are seen in the eastern counties being of very great age; but when not so treated it does not appear to be a very long-lived tree, and rarely exceeds 200 years. In France, Mouillefert says, it lives 100 to 120 years, and rarely over 150 years, but I think it must considerably exceed this age in some parts of England.
The hornbeam is more critical as to soil and climate than most of our native trees; and though Loudon says it is always found on stiff clay and on moist soils where scarcely any other timber tree will grow, this is hardly correct. I have never seen a really fine tree on any but fertile soils, and though it is the most abundant tree of Epping Forest, from which Loudon probably derived his idea; there is not, so far as I know, a really fine specimen in that district, though this may be partly due to their being nearly all pollards. I searched in vain for self-sown seedlings, with roots fit to transplant, and of fifty sent me by Mr. M'Kenzie, superintendent of Epping Forest, only one survived. He tells me that though large numbers of seedlings may be seen after a good seed year, yet most of them very soon disappear, as the deer and cattle bite them off when not protected by bushes. As a wild tree it is principally found in the south-eastern and eastern counties where the lowest rainfall occurs, but it grows well in the west and in Ireland, and even as far north as Morayshire. Mouillefert says that in France fresh and permeable sandy soils suit it best; and that sandy, gravelly, and flinty clays also suit it well, even when calcareous, but that it languishes or perishes on those which are too stiff, marshy, peaty, or very dry; and I think this is correct as regards England also. On account of its weak development of roots when young it requires shelter at first, and though it will stand shade fairly, it succeeds best as an isolated tree when adult.
As a forest tree it can only be considered of secondary importance, and Forbes does not include it in his Estate Forestry. As as ornamental tree, it has great value, both on account of the graceful pendent branches, which when in flower and fruit are very beautiful, and for the brilliant yellow colour of the leaves in autumn.
Remarkable Trees
Large hornbeams are not at all common, and exist so far as I have seen in comparatively few places, mostly old parks. The largest and finest that I know of, though by no means the tallest, is near the reservoir at Cornbury Park, Oxford, where there is a tree whose height I could not measure exactly, though it probably exceeds 75 feet, with a bole 11 feet 10 inches in girth and 12 to 14 feet long, which spreads out at that height into an immense number of branches covering a circle of 95 paces (Plate 148). There are two other trees of nearly similar size and habit on the north side of the beech avenue, one of them leaning very much on one side with drooping branches. Sir Hugh Beevor has recently measured a tree, 100 feet in height and 9 feet 8 inches in girth, on Sir Robert Dashwood's property near West Wycombe.
But there is no place where I have seen hornbeams so tall or so numerous as at Cobham Park, Kent, where there must be hundreds of trees 70 to 80 feet high, and many with clean boles 20 to 4o feet long. Among so many it is hard to say which are the largest, but one which I measured near the old heronry, and not far from the ash grove, was over 90 feet high, dividing at about 7 feet into four stems, each of which ran up straight and clean for about 40 feet. Another, a pollard, hollow on one side, measured 13 feet 6 inches in girth, These grow on a soil which suits the ash perfectly. Four shoots from a stool in a wood here measured 76 feet high and 2 to 3 feet in girth,
At Mersham-le-Hatch, Ashford, Kent, the seat of Sir Wyndham Knatchbull, Bart., I saw, in 1907, a remarkable wood called Bockhanger, composed of very old pollard hornbeams many of which are hollow and much decayed. They grow on a sandy loam, covered in spring with bluebells, and have for generations served to supply the mansion with firewood, of which the steward told me twelve to fourteen cords were annually consumed. The largest of these trees was about 16 feet to the crown, and had a very large kidney-shaped wen on one side, over which it measured 16 feet 4 inches in girth. Another tree here showed the remarkable power of the hornbeam in repairing wounds in its trunk. A large double-stemmed tree, widely split and hollow at the base, had higher up completely covered the open cleft with young healthy wood and bark in the same way that old yews often do.
A most remarkable hornbeam, on account of its very wide-spreading branches, grows in Fredville Park, Kent, and though not over 35 to 40 feet high, covers an area of no less than 103 paces round. It has about fifteen main branches which show the characteristic irregularities that old hornbeams always have. The branches are so thick that foxes often choose the crown of this tree as a lair, and when covered with fruit, as it was when I saw it in June 1907, it is a most striking and beautiful tree. It grows in a deep fertile loam overlying chalk, but rather wet in winter.
The hornbeam is, in Essex, especially in Epping Forest, most commonly seen as a pollard, the practice of lopping the branches for firewood having been very general in old times. A photograph showing the appearance of the tree when so 
Plate 148.
HORNBEAM AT CORNBURY PARK
Plate 149.
POLLARD HORNBEAMS AT BAYFORDBURY
Plate 150.
HORNBEAM AT EASTON LODGE
Plate 151.
HORNBEAMS AT WEALD PARK
The finest and largest examples of pollard hornbeams that I have seen are in Easton Park, Essex, the seat of the Earl of Warwick. A group of these trees, growing near the park-keeper's house, which was shown me by Mr. Rogers, agent for the Easton property, contains several trees of great beauty, which were in flower on 7th April. The largest of these measures no less than 28 feet round the head_at about 8 feet from the ground, and 12 feet 2 inches at 2 feet (Plate 150). Another near it, dividing into two stems which are united at the crown, was 25 feet in girth at 7 feet and 174 feet at 2 feet. A third, growing at some distance, has perhaps the finest head of all, and measures 26 feet round the head with a bole about 11 feet high. Mr. Shenstone tells me that the largest he has seen in Epping Forest is 27 feet in girth round the head, and he showed me another very old one in Braxted Park which was over 20 feet round.
Mrs. Delves Broughton has sent me a photograph (Plate 151) of a very fine group of hornbeams in Weald Park, Essex, the seat of C.J.H. Tower, Esq., in which, according to the measurements sent me by Mr. T.W. Bacon, the two largest trees are 75 feet by 16 feet 9 inches, and 88 feet by 15 feet 4 inches.
At Elveden, Suffolk, there is a very well-shaped and handsome tree in front of the house, which, as I was told by the late Prof. A. Newton, is probably not more than 140 years old, and measured, when I saw it in 1907, 75 feet by 10 feet.
At Nibley, Gloucestershire, there is a tree, of which Col. Noel has been good enough to send me a photograph, which measures about 80 feet by 11 feet 6 inches with a bole of 8 feet and a spread of 80 feet diameter. In Bitton churchyard, Gloucestershire, there is a tree planted since 1817 by Canon Ellacombe's father which is 65 feet by 8 feet 2 inches. At St. Pierre Park, near Chepstow, Major Stacey showed me a very fine hornbeam which, though not very tall, and with a bole only 10 feet high by 11 feet 7 inches in girth, spreads over an area 112 paces round.
In the wooded part of Kew Gardens, there are several fine trees, the best of which is 70 feet high and 1o feet in girth, dividing into three stems at 7 feet from the ground. One tree, 5½ feet in girth, has bark on the lower part of the trunk, divided into raised longitudinal ridges, which are covered with small scales. At Heron Court, Hants, there is a beautiful tree near the front entrance, 70 feet by 10 feet 5 inches with a spread of 25 yards.
At Brocklesby, Lincolnshire, Lord Kesteven measured, in 1906, a tree 77 feet high by 9 feet 4 inches in girth, At Castle Howard the hornbeam grows well and there are several large trees, the tallest being about 80 feet high, the thickest 9 feet 3 inches in girth. At Studley Park, Yorkshire, in the valley below Fountains Abbey, there are several very fine hornbeams, probably the same as those figured by Loudon (ff. 1933, 1934, 1935), which were in 1838 50 to 60 and one 73 feet high. I measured three from 70 to 80 feet with a girth of 63 to 83 feet, one being covered with dense tufts of twigs, a kind of witches' broom, caused by Exoascus Carpint.
In Scotland the hornbeam is less common than in the south, but grows to a large size in the warmer districts; though, as it is not mentioned either by Hunter, or in the Remarkable Trees of Scotland, it is evidently looked on as a rare tree in the north. Walker[17] speaks of one formerly growing at Bargally, which was 70 feet high, with a clear trunk of 20 feet.
The finest I have seen is a tree at Gordon Castle, perhaps the one mentioned by Loudon as being then 54 feet high; in 1904, it was 68 feet by 8 feet (Plate 152). At Murthly, in the lower park near the Tay, there is an old tree measuring, in 1906, 65 feet by 9 feet 8 inches; and Henry measured one at Scone of the same dimensions.
Mr. J. Renwick sends me particulars of a very remarkable hornbeam at Douglas Support, in Lanarkshire, which, in 1900, measured 78 feet by 8 feet 1 inch, with a bole of 17 feet long, and a spread of 60 feet, the branches having long pendulous twigs, which form a screen all round the tree and hang nearly to the ground.[18]
Another remarkable tree is at Eglinton Castle, Ayrshire, which separates into three stems near the ground, and measures at the narrowest point below the fork 14 feet in girth; its three stems girth 5 feet 9 inches, 5 feet 6 inches, and 4 feet 11 inches respectively. Mr. Renwick sends me particulars of other fine hornbeams as follows:—at Househill, Renfrewshire, 10 feet girth, 72 feet spread; at Tulliechewan Castle, Dumbartonshire, 60 feet by 8 feet 3 inches; at Gargunnock House, Stirlingshire, 8 feet 11 inches girth, 83 feet spread.
The hornbeam is rarely planted in Ireland. The largest tree, which Henry has seen, is growing beside the Killarney Lake, at Mahony's Point. It measured, in 1904, 15 feet 8 inches in girth, at 18 inches above the ground, giving off six great stems, the three largest of which were—8 feet 4 inches, 7 feet 7 inches, and 6 feet 3 inches in girth. This tree is about 70 feet in height, and the diameter of its spread is 80 feet. It is in perfect health and bears fruit regularly.
At Adare, Co. Limerick, in 1903, Henry saw a fine tree, which measured 53 feet by 8 feet 8 inches, the spread of branches being 65 feet. At Glenstal, in the same county, there is a tree of exactly the same dimensions, as regards height and girth. At Kilrudderry, Co. Wicklow, a tree, which had been blown down, measured 8 feet 9 inches in girth; and here there is a very fine hornbeam hedge, about 15 feet in height.
Timber
Plate 152.
HORNBEAM AT GORDON CASTLE
With regard to the use of this wood by pianoforte manufacturers, Mr. J. Rose, of Messrs. Broadwood and Sons, to whom I am indebted for much information, writes me as follows:—
"Hornbeam is still used for piano action work in England, though American maple has replaced it to a considerable extent. French hornbeam, and, I believe, Dutch also, are used for the purpose, because of larger size and more freely grown than the British product, and also because, when all charges are included, it is probably cheaper. There is a marked difference in the English hornbeam and that grown in France and elsewhere on the Continent. This is perhaps hardly perceptible in a small sample, but the English wood is smaller and more irregular, but of a distinctly firmer texture, so hard and close as sometimes to resemble ivory. It works beautifully with fine saws and small drills; but the waste is serious. The foreign timber is larger and more freely grown, producing much larger boards, but the grain is coarser, and the texture of the wood less firm, and more liable to split when in small pieces, such as are used in action work." (H.J.E.)
- ↑ In wild specimens the leaves are often larger, 2 to 23 inches in length.
- ↑ Burkill, loc. cit.
- ↑ Three varieties are distinguished by Burkill, loc. cit.
- ↑ Var. tropicalis, Donnell Smith, Bot. Gaz. xv. 28 (1890).
- ↑ Cf. Lubbock, Seedlings, ii. 532, f. 667 (1892).
- ↑ A solitary wild specimen of the pyramidal hornbeam formerly grew in the forest of Gremsey, near Vic in France. Godron, Les Hêtres Tortillards (1869).
- ↑ Aiton, Hort. Kew, iii. 362 (1789).
- ↑ Desfontaines, Tab. Écol. Bot. Mus. Hist. Nat. 212 (1824).
- ↑ Rev. J.F. Noott in letter to Kew, March 1894.
- ↑ Watson, Comp. Cybele Brit. 311 (1870) and Topog. Bot. 355 (1873).
- ↑ Mansell-Pleydell, Flora of Dorsetshire, 246 (1895).
- ↑ Flora of Hampshire, 313 (1883).
- ↑ Flora of Oxfordshire, 268 (1886).
- ↑ Pryor, Flora of Hertfordshire, 373 (1887).
- ↑ C. Reid, Origin Brit. Flora, 144 (1899).
- ↑ Pflanzenverb. Kaukasusländ. 183 (1899).
- ↑ Essays, p. 95, fide Loudon.
- ↑ I am informed by Mr. Douglas that the peculiarity of this tree consists in the long drooping twigs, which are 20 to 30 feet in length, and hang like small cords to the ground on all sides, concealing the trunk, whilst the upper branches do not droop at all. He thinks that this is due to its being a grafted tree. A photograph, which he is good enough to promise me, will be given in a later volume.