American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)

Easily grown in average, medium moisture soil in part shade to full shade. Prefers moist, organically rich soils. The smooth, gray trunk and larger branches of a mature tree exhibit a distinctive muscle-like fluting that has given rise to another common name of musclewood for this tree. Flowers appear in spring in separate male and female catkins, with the female catkins giving way to distinctive clusters of winged nutlets. Serrated, elliptic-oval, dark green leaves often produce respectable shades of yellow, orange and red in fall. *2016 GreatPlants Winner

NATIVE RANGE

Map courtesy of USDA-NRCS Plants Database.