Carpinus caroliniana
What is the common name for this plant? It is often referred to as American hornbeam or muscle wood but either of those names creates confusion with the native understory tree Hop hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana). I have to assume that it is called hornbeam because its fruit is similar to Hop hornbeam and it is called muscle wood because its trunk is crooked and coarsely fluted like the muscles in a very strong person’s arm. Sometimes it is called Blue beech since its bark and leaves are similar to those of the Beech (Fagus grandifolia) but it is not in the Beech family. The only name that it seems to have to itself is Ironwood, a name that comes from its very hard and heavy wood, wood whose principle commercial uses have been as handles for tools or for mallets or golf club heads.
Carpinus caroliniana bark, Steven J. Baskauf
Call it what you will, this is one of the great plants in the New Jersey forest. It will grow in any kind of soil, thriving equally in loam or clay, wet or well drained sites, acidic or slightly alkaline soils. It is commonly found in partially shaded spots but it can survive in full—if not dark—shade and in sunny spots. It will have a full crown in sunny locations and a thin crown with beautifully twisted branches in shady locations. Ironwoods in central New Jersey forests usually grow to about thirty or forty feet, but one specimen in the southeast grew to seventy-five feet, with a diameter at breast height of 21.6 inches! It is quite pest resistant and, because you can find Ironwood in forests that have no other understory trees, it seems to be low on a deer’s list of preferred foods.
Its fruit is eaten by only a few birds—Cardinal, Yellow-rumped warbler, Mallard, Wood duck, Turkey Goldfinch and Evening grosbeak—but it is often used as a nesting site for song birds that prefer an understory location.
There are not many plants that give me tactile pleasure, but I find hard to keep my hands off of this plant; whenever I see one I want to feel its sinuous, smooth trunk.
