Common Hornbeam produces a very strong and dense timber, its common name meaning hard as horn, or perhaps referring to a beam between horns (as in a plough or cart yoke carried between oxen).
Native to much of Europe, from southern Sweden to the Pyrenees, and eastwards through the Caucasus and Russia to Iran. Native to Britain but confined to south-east England, elsewhere a naturalised archaeophyte, including Ireland.
Monoecious. Wind-pollinated. Wind- and gravity-dispersed.
A moderately large (to 30m) tree with upright, slender branching. The usually straight trunk becomes deeply fluted with age, the bulges earning it 'musclewood'; naturally single-stemmed but often coppiced or pollarded. Bark smooth, grey with silver streaks, developing vertical cracks. Twigs fine, zig-zagging between appressed inward-curving buds. Leaves ovate, 4-10cm, with 10-13 parallel impressed veins giving a corrugated look, serrate or double-serrate, marcescent. Female samaras have a distinctive three-lobed trident bract. European Beech differs: smooth leaves and margins, outward-pointing buds.
Shade-tolerant (though less than European Beech) and growing better than almost any tree on cold, heavy clay soils, tolerating seasonal waterlogging unlike Beech. Its tough bark resists deer damage. Often planted with broadleaves such as Pedunculate and Sessile Oak, Small-leaved Lime and Wych Elm. Traditionally pollarded or coppiced on long rotations (10-25 years or more), notably for firewood and bakers'-oven faggots around London.
Provides year-round shelter for wildlife. While not insect-pollinated, its early-spring catkins provide a valuable source of pollen for insects, particularly bees.
Bark-stripping by Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). Can be infected by Phytophthora species.
Its fluting makes conversion to large timber difficult, and its dense grain quickly blunts a saw. Besides fuel, the wood was used where strength mattered: gear pegs in wind- and watermills, piano striking mechanisms and butchers' blocks. Its winter-held dead leaves make it popular for year-round privacy hedging when trimmed regularly, and mature trees give a dramatic yellow autumn display. A fastigiate variety is a popular compact street tree.
