Ostrya virginiana

Scientific Name: Ostrya virginiana

Common Name: eastern hop hornbeam

Native Range: Eastern North America, Mexico

Zone: 3 to 9

Plant type & Form: small to medium-sized, understory tree with a generally rounded crown

Height: 25.00 to 40.00 feet

Spread: 20.00 to 30.00 feet

Bloom Time: April

Bloom Description: Red-brown (male); light green (female)

Flower: reddish-brown male flowers and greenish female flowers appear in separate catkins on the same tree

Fruit: drooping clusters of sac-like, seed-bearing pods which, as the common name suggests, somewhat resemble the fruit of hops

Leaf: birch-like, oval to lance-shaped, sharply-serrated, dark yellowish-green leaves (to 5″ long)

Bark: Showy and shaggy

Sun: Full sun to part shade

Water: Medium

Soil type & pH: average, medium, well-drained soil

Maintenance: Low

Suggested Use: Shade Tree, Street Tree

Tolerates: Deer, Drought, Clay Soil

Notes: commonly called ironwood because of its extremely hard and dense wood