Plant Profile

Ostrya virginiana (American Hophornbeam, Eastern Hophornbeam)

Best distinguished by its hops-like brown fruits, strong slender trunk and deep green leaves, hop hornbeam is native across the forests of eastern North America where it is a common understory tree. It is slow-growing, deciduous and attains a conical or rounded crown at maturity. Its brown, vertically exfoliating bark is lightly grooved and moderately attractive. Grow ironwood in full sun to partial shade. It is tolerant of slightly acid and slightly alkaline soils that are rich and well-drained. It is sensitive to flooding as well as salt, so it is not a good tree for lowlands or street sides. Slow to establish and grow, it is best planted in suburban or rural landscapes where choice regional native trees are desired. Specimens become quite pretty when mature, are long-lived make excellent shade trees.

  • Landscape Information
  • Botanical Description
  • Horticulture Management
  • By Richard Webb, Bugwood.org, USA [CC BY 3.0 us (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By Steven Katovich, USDA Forest Service [CC BY 3.0 us (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By User:BotBln (Own work: User:BotBln) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By Fritzflohrreynolds (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By Rob Duval (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By Katja Schulz from Washington, D. C., USA (Eastern Hophornbeam) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Richard Webb, Bugwood.org, USA [CC BY 3.0 us (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

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  • By Richard Webb, Bugwood.org, USA [CC BY 3.0 us (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By Steven Katovich, USDA Forest Service [CC BY 3.0 us (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By User:BotBln (Own work: User:BotBln) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By Fritzflohrreynolds (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By Rob Duval (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By Katja Schulz from Washington, D. C., USA (Eastern Hophornbeam) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Richard Webb, Bugwood.org, USA [CC BY 3.0 us (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

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  • By Richard Webb, Bugwood.org, USA [CC BY 3.0 us (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By Steven Katovich, USDA Forest Service [CC BY 3.0 us (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By User:BotBln (Own work: User:BotBln) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By Fritzflohrreynolds (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By Rob Duval (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
  • By Katja Schulz from Washington, D. C., USA (Eastern Hophornbeam) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Richard Webb, Bugwood.org, USA [CC BY 3.0 us (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

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