Hornbeam
Hornbeam Temporal range: Ypresian - Recent
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European hornbeam foliage | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fagales |
Family: | Betulaceae |
Subfamily: | Coryloideae |
Genus: | Carpinus L. |
Synonyms[1] | |
Distegocarpus Siebold & Zucc |
Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus Carpinus in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Origin of names[]
The common English name hornbeam derives from the hardness of the woods (likened to horn) and the Old English beam "tree" (cognate with Dutch ‘’Boom’’ and German Baum). The American hornbeam is also occasionally known as blue-beech, ironwood, or musclewood, the first from the resemblance of the bark to that of the American beech Fagus grandifolia, the other two from the hardness of the wood and the muscled appearance of the trunk and limbs. The botanic name for the genus, Carpinus, is the original Latin name for the European species.
Taxonomy[]
Formerly some taxonomists segregated them with the genera Corylus (hazels) and Ostrya (hop-hornbeams) in a separate family, Corylaceae. However, modern botanists place Carpinus in the birch subfamily Coryloideae.[2][3] Species of Carpinus are often grouped into two subgenera Carpinus subgenus Carpinus and Carpinus subgenus Distegicarpus. However, phylogentic analysis has shown that Ostrya likely evolved from a Carpinus ancestor somewhere in C. subg. Distegicarpus making Carpinus paraphyletic. The fossil record of the genus extends back to the Early Eocene, Ypresian of northwestern North America, with the species Carpinus perryae described from fossil fruits found in the Klondike Mountain Formation of Republic, Washington.[2]
Description[]
Hornbeams are small to medium-sized trees, Carpinus betulus reaching a height of 32 m.[4]: 296 The leaves are deciduous, alternate, and simple with a serrated margin, and typically vary from 3–10 cm in length. The flowers are wind-pollinated pendulous catkins, produced in spring. The male and female flowers are on separate catkins, but on the same tree (monoecious). The fruit is a small nut about 3–6 mm long, held in a leafy bract; the bract may be either trilobed or simple oval, and is slightly asymmetrical. The asymmetry of the seedwing makes it spin as it falls, improving wind dispersal. The shape of the wing is important in the identification of different hornbeam species. Typically, 10–30 seeds are on each seed catkin.
Distribution[]
The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, with the greatest number of species in east Asia, particularly China. Only two species occur in Europe, only one in eastern North America, and one in Mesoamerica.[1][5][6][7][8] Carpinus betulus can be found in Europe, Turkey and Ukraine.[9]
Associated insects[]
Hornbeams are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including autumnal moth, common emerald, feathered thorn, walnut sphinx, Svensson's copper underwing, and winter moth (recorded on European hornbeam) as well as the Coleophora case-bearers C. currucipennella and C. ostryae.[10]
Applications[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/20140204Hainbuche_Neulussheim3.jpg/170px-20140204Hainbuche_Neulussheim3.jpg)
Hornbeams yield a very hard timber, giving rise to the name "ironwood".[11] Dried heartwood billets are nearly white and are suitable for decorative use. For general carpentry, hornbeam is rarely used, partly due to the difficulty of working it. The wood is used to construct carving boards, tool handles, handplane soles, coach wheels, piano actions, shoe lasts, and other products where a very tough, hard wood is required. The wood can also be used as gear pegs in simple machines, including traditional windmills.[11] It is sometimes coppiced to provide hardwood poles. It is also used in parquet flooring and for making chess pieces.
Species[]
Accepted species:[1]
- Carpinus betulus L. – European hornbeam - Europe to Western Asia; naturalized in North America.[9]
- Carpinus caroliniana Walter – American hornbeam - Eastern North America
- Hu – Guangdong, Guizhou, Hubei
- Carpinus cordata Blume – Sawa hornbeam - Primorye, China, Korea, Japan
- K.W.Liu & Q.Z.Lin – Hunan
- Nakai – Korea
- Lindl. – Nepal, Himalayas of northern India
- Hu[12] – Sichuan, Guangxi
- Yamam. – Taiwan
- (H.J.P.Winkl.) H.J.P.Winkl. – southern China
- Carpinus japonica Blume – Japanese hornbeam - Japan
- Hayata – Taiwan, southeastern China
- Hu – Guizhou, Yunnan
- Z. Qiang Lu & J. Quan Liu – Shaanxi, China
- (Siebold & Zucc.) Blume – Aka-shide hornbeam - Japan, Korea
- Y.K.Li – Guizhou
- H.J.P.Winkl. – southern China, northern Indochina
- J.Y.Liang – Guangxi
- S.B.Liang & F.Z.Zhao – Shandong
- Z.C.Chen ex Y.S.Wang & J.P.Huang – Guangxi
- Hu – Tibet, Sichuan, Yunnan
- Hand.-Mazz. – Tibet, Yunnan
- Hu & W.P.Fang – Sichuan, Guizhou
- Carpinus orientalis Mill. – Oriental hornbeam - Hungary, Balkans, Italy, Crimea, Turkey, Iran, Caucasus
- W.Y.Hsia – China
- †Carpinus perryae Pigg, Manchester, & Wehr, 2003 - Ypresian, Klondike Mountain Formation
- Franch. – southern China
- Burkill – China, Vietnam
- Hu – Guizhou, Guangxi
- Carpinus putoensis W.C.Cheng – Putuo hornbeam - Zhejiang
- Hayata – Taiwan
- A.Camus – Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou
- Hu – Gansu, Shaanxi
- C.J.Qi – Hunan
- † W.C.Cheng[13] – Pliocene Yunnan Province
- (Donn.Sm.) Lundell – Mexico, Central America
- Hu – Yunnan, Guizhou
- Maxim. – Chonowski's hornbeam - China, Korea, Japan
- Hance – Korean hornbeam,[14] - China, Korea, Japan
- Wall. ex Lindl. – China, Korea, Himalayas, northern Indochina
References[]
- ^ a b c "Carpinus L., Sp. Pl.: 998 (1753)". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- ^ a b Pigg, K.B.; Manchester, S.R.; Wehr, W.C. (2003). "Corylus, Carpinus, and Palaeocarpinus (Betulaceae) from the Middle Eocene Klondike Mountain and Allenby Formations of Northwestern North America". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 164 (5): 807–822. doi:10.1086/376816. S2CID 19802370.
- ^ Forest, F.; Savolainen, V.; Chase, M. W.; Lupia, R.; Bruneau, A.; Crane, P. R. (2005). "Teasing apart molecular- versus fossil-based error estimates when dating phylogenetic trees: a case study in the birch family (Betulaceae)". Systematic Botany. 30 (1): 118–133.
- ^ Stace, C. A. (2010). New Flora of the British Isles (Third ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521707725.
- ^ Flora of China, Vol. 4 Page 289, 鹅耳枥属 e er li shu, Carpinus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 998. 1753.
- ^ Flora of North America, Vol. 3, Hornbeam, Carpinus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 998. 1753; Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 432, 1754.
- ^ "Carpinus betulus L." Altervista Flora Italiana.
- ^ "2013 BONAP North American Plant Atlas. TaxonMaps". Biota of North America Program.
- ^ a b Carpinus betulus. 2.nd Ed., The Royal Horticultural Society, Dorling Kindersley Ltd, London, pp. 234, 235.
- ^ Miscellaneous Publication. U.S. Department of Agriculture. 1972. p. 297.
- ^ a b Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Eichhorn, Markus; Haran, Brady (2011-12-01). "The Hornbeam's Heartbeat". test-tube.org.uk. University of Nottingham. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
- ^ "Carpinus fangiana". Rogers Trees and Shrubs. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15.
- ^ Dai, J.; Sun, B.; Xie, S.; Lin, Z.g; Wu, J.; Dao, K. (2013). "A new species of Carpinus (Betulaceae) from the Pliocene of Yunnan Province, China". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 299 (3): 643–658. doi:10.1007/s00606-012-0750-1. S2CID 16941126.
- ^ English Names for Korean Native Plants (PDF). Pocheon: Korea National Arboretum. 2015. p. 400. ISBN 978-89-97450-98-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2016 – via Korea Forest Service.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carpinus. |
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Look up hornbeam in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Hornbeam". |
- Eichhorn, Markus (December 2011). "Hornbeam". Test Tube. Brady Haran for the University of Nottingham.
- Carpinus
- Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus