Florida 4-H Forest Ecology

Identifying Characteristics

Size/Form:	Eastern hophornbeam is a medium tree that reaches heights of 20' to 30'. It has a round-topped, vaselike crown and a columnar trunk.
Leaves:	The leaves are simple, alternately arranged, deciduous, and 2" to 4" long by 1½" to 2½" wide. The oblong shaped leaves usually have dark yellow-green upper surfaces while the underneath surfaces are paler and have tufts of hair near the midvein. The leaf base is rounded or wedged, sometimes unequal, and the tip tapers to a long point. The leaf margin is doubly serrated with fine teeth.
Flowers:	Very small and only present in early spring. Not noticeable.
Fruit:	The fruit is a small, brown nut that is ¼" long. The nuts are clustered in a conelike form. In the drooping clusters each nut is enclosed in a papery sac.
Bark:	The reddish-brown to gray-brown bark is rough. Old trunks are shaggy where the platelike ridges appear to be shedding.
Similar Trees on the Florida 4-H Forest Ecology Contest List: Eastern hophornbeam can easily be confused with another member of the birch family, American hornbeam. The fruits are one key feature for telling the two species apart. The fruits of hophornbeam are held in papery cones that resemble the hops used in brewing beer (hence the common name). American hornbeam has hard, spherical fruit hanging under leaf-like, 3-lobed bracts. The bark is another feature used to distinguish between these two birches. Hophornbeam has loose strips of reddish brown to gray creating a rough, "clawed" bark. Hornbeam has a smooth bark with an undulating texture resembling a "muscular" appearance.