Ostrya virginiana
Common name: 
Ironwood
American Hop-Hornbeam
Pronunciation: 
OS-tri-a ver-jin-e-A-na
Family: 
Betulaceae
Genus: 
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Deciduous tree, 25-40 ft (8-12 m) tall, horizontal or drooping branches, rounded outline, pyramidal in youth.  Leaves simple, alternate, oval-laceolate, 5-13 cm long, half as wide, acuminate, rounded or heart-shaped, sharply and doubly serrate, dark green above, paler below.  Male flowers in catkins grouped in threes, visible throughout the winter, female flowers visible in spring, in elongated clusters, about 2.5 cm long, at the tips of new leafy shoots.  Fruit is a flattened nutlet about 5-8 mm long, each enclosed in an pale yellowish inflated sac, the cluster of sacs are about 15 cm long and resemble the flower cluster of hops, hence the common name Hop-Hornbeam.
  • Sun or partial shade, best in cool, moist, well-drained, slightly acid soil.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 3b     Native from Cape Benton, Ontario to Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas.
  • Ostrya: from ostrys, the Greek name.    virginiana: of Virginia.
  • Corvallis: Cloverland Park, west side of tennis courts, 29th St. and Arthur Ave.
Click image to enlarge
  • female and male flowers, spring

    female and male flowers, spring

  • plant habit, young tree

    plant habit, young tree

  • young leafy shoot

    young leafy shoot

  • leaves

    leaves

  • plant habit, fruiting

    plant habit, fruiting

  • developing fruit clusters

    developing fruit clusters

  • leaves and fruit clusters

    leaves and fruit clusters

  • fruit cluster and leaves

    fruit cluster and leaves

  • shoot, leaf and fruit, comparion

    shoot, leaf and fruit, comparion

  • leaf and fruit, comparion

    leaf and fruit, comparion

  • plant habit, foliage, and fruit

    plant habit, foliage, and fruit

  • leaf and fruit

    leaf and fruit

  • plant habit and leaves, fall

    plant habit and leaves, fall

  • plant habit and fruit, early winter

    plant habit and fruit, early winter

  • trunk, bark, young and old tree

    trunk, bark, young and old tree

  • winter twig, buds

    winter twig, buds