Common Name:
Hornbeam
Some 35 species of mostly deciduous trees or shrubs, gray, smooth or scaly bark, slender shoots, lacking a terminal bud. Leaves alternate, simple, in 2 rows, usually serrate, with 7-14 vein pairs. Female catkins terminal, erect at first, later pendulous, 5-20+ pairs. Fruit a small ribbed nutlet subtended by a persistent three-lobed or deeply toothed bract. Native ranges include Europe to East Asia and North and Central America.
Carpinus: classical Latin name
Hornbeam: The common English name hornbeam derives from the hardness of the woods (likened to horn) and the Old English beam "tree" (cognate with Dutch ‘’Boom’’ and German Baum) (Wikipedia).
Pronunciation:
kar-PI-nus
Family:
Betulaceae (Birch Family)