The genus Carpinis is widely distributed throughout the temperate
regions of the northern hemisphere. There are nine species known to
botanists, most of them being middle-sized trees. In addition to those
mentioned below, figures of which are herewith given, there are four
species from Japan and one from the Himalayan region which do not yet
seem to have found their way to this country; these five are therefore
omitted. All are deciduous trees, and every one is thoroughly
deserving of cultivation. The origin of the English name is quaintly
explained by Gerard in his "Herbal" as follows: "The wood," he says,
"in time, waxeth so hard, that the toughness and hardness of it may be
rather compared to horn than unto wood, and therefore it was called
horne-beam or hardbeam."
[Illustration: CARPINUS ORIENTALIS.]
_Carpinus Betulus_,[1] the common hornbeam, as is the case with so
many of our native or widely cultivated trees, exhibits considerable
variation in habit, and also in foliage characters. Some of the more
striking of these, those which have received names in nurseries, etc.,
and are propagated on account of their distinctive peculiarities, are
described below. In a wild state C. Betulus occurs in Europe from
Gothland southward, and extends also into West Asia. Although
apparently an undoubted native in the southern counties of England, it
appears to have no claim to be considered indigenous as far as the
northern counties are concerned; it has also been planted wherever it
occurs in Ireland.
[Footnote 1: IDENTIFICATION.--Carpinus Betulus, L., Loudon,
"Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum," vol. iii., p. 2004; Encycl.
of Trees and Shrubs, 917. Boswell Syme, "English Botany," vol.
viii., p. 176, tab. 1293; Koch, "Dendrologie," zweit. theil.
zweit. abtheil., p. 2: Hooker, "Student's Flora of the British
Islands," ed. 2, p. 365. C. Carpinizza, Host., "Flora Austriaca,"
ii., p. 626. C. intermedia. Wierbitzsky in Reichb Ic. fl. Germ. et
Helvet., xxii. fig. 1297.]
[Illustration: CARPINUS AMERICANA.]
Few trees bear cutting so well as the hornbeam, and for this reason,
during the reign of the topiarist, it was held in high repute for the
formation of the "close alleys," "covert alleys," or the
"thick-pleached alleys," frequently mentioned in Shakespeare and in
the works of other authors about three centuries ago. In the sixteenth
century the topiary art had reached its highest point of development,
and was looked upon as the perfection of gardening; the hornbeam--and
indeed almost every other tree--was cut and tortured into every
imaginable shape. The "picturesque style," however, soon drove the
topiarist and his art out of the field, yet even now places still
remain in England where the old and once much-belauded fashion still
exists on a large scale--a fact by no means to be deplored from an
archæological point of view. Dense, quaintly-shaped hornbeam hedges
are not unfrequent in the gardens of many old English mansions, and in
some old country farmhouses the sixteenth century craze is still
perpetuated on a smaller scale.
[Illustration: CARPINUS BETULUS, LEAF, CATKINS, AND FRUIT.]
Sir J.E. Smith, in his "English Flora," after enumerating the virtues
of the hornbeam as a hedge plant, gives it as his opinion that "when
standing by itself and allowed to take its natural form, the hornbeam
makes a much more handsome tree than most people are aware of." Those
who are familiar with the fine specimens which exist at Studley Park
and elsewhere will have no hesitation in confirming Sir J.E. Smith's
statement. The Hornbeam Walk in Richmond Park, from Pembroke Lodge
toward the Ham Gate, will recur to many Southerners as a good instance
of the fitness of the hornbeam for avenues. In the walk in question
there are many fine trees, which afford a thorough and agreeable shade
during the summer months.
[Illustration: CARPINUS VIMINEA.]
In any soil or position the hornbeam will grow readily, except
exceedingly dry or too marshy spots. On chalky hillsides it does not
grow so freely as on clayey plains. Under the latter conditions,
however, the wood is not so good. In mountainous regions the hornbeam
occupies a zone lower than that appropriated by the beech, rarely
ascending more than 1,200 yards above sea level. It is not injured by
frost, and in Germany is often seen fringing the edges of the beech
forests along the bottom of the valleys where the beech would suffer.
Scarcely any tree coppices more vigorously or makes more useful
pollards on dry grass land.
[Illustration: BRANCH OF CARPINUS BETULUS.]
On account of its great toughness the wood of the hornbeam is employed
in engineering work for cogs in machinery. When subjected to vertical
pressure it cannot be completely destroyed; its fibers, instead of
breaking off short, double up like threads, a conclusive proof of its
flexibility and fitness for service in machinery (Laslett's "Timber
and Timber Trees"). According to the same recent authority, the
vertical or crushing strain on cubes of 2 inches average 14.844 tons,
while that on cubes of 1 inch is 3.711 tons.
[Illustration: LEAVES OF CARPINUS BETULUS QUERCOFOLIA.]
A few years ago an English firm required a large quantity of hornbeam
wood for the manufacture of lasts, but failed to procure it in
England. They succeeded, however, in obtaining a supply from France,
where large quantities of this timber are used for that purpose. It
may be interesting to state that in England at any rate lasts are no
longer made to any extent by hand, but are rapidly turned in enormous
numbers by machinery. In France _sabots_ are also made of hornbeam
wood, but the difficulty in working it and its weight render it less
valuable for _sabotage_ than beech. For turnery generally, cabinet
making, and also for agricultural implements, etc., this wood is
highly valued; in some of the French winegrowing districts, viz., Côte
d'Or and Yonne, hoops for the wine barrels are largely made from this
tree. It makes the best fuel and it is preferred to every other for
apartments, as it lights easily, makes a bright flame, which burns
equally, continues a long time, and gives out an abundance of heat.
"Its charcoal is highly esteemed, and in France and Switzerland it is
preferred to most others, not only for forges and for cooking by, but
for making gunpowder, the workmen at the great gunpowder manufactory
at Berne rarely using any other. The inner bark, according to Linnæus,
is used for dyeing yellow. The leaves, when dried in the sun, are used
in France as fodder; and when wanted for use in water, the young
branches are cut off in the middle of summer, between the first and
second growth, and strewed or spread out in some place which is
completely sheltered from the rain to dry without the tree being in
the slightest degree injured by the operation." (Dict. des Eaux et
Forêts, art. Charme, as quoted by London).
[Illustration: LEAVES OF CARPINUS BETULUS INCISA.]
It hardly seems necessary to dwell upon the value of the hornbeam as a
hedge or shelter plant. In many nurseries it is largely used for these
purposes, the russet-brown leaves remaining on the twigs until
displaced by the new growths in spring.
_Var. incisa_ (Aiton, "Hortus Kewensis," v., 301; C. asplenifolia,
Hort.; C. laciniata, Hort.).--These three names represent two forms,
which are, however, so near each other, that for all practical
purposes they are identical. A glance at the accompanying figure will
show how distinct and ornamental this variety is.
[Illustration: HORNBEAMS (ONE WITH INOSCULATED TRUNK).]
_Var. quercifolia_ (Desf. tabl. de l'ecol. de bot. du Mus. d'hist.
nat., 213; Ostrya quercifolia, Hort.; Carpinus heterophylla,
Hort.)--This form, as will be seen by the figure, is thoroughly
distinct from the common hornbeam; it has very much smaller leaves
than the type, their outline, as implied by the varietal name,
resembling that of the foliage of the oak. It frequently reverts to
the type, and, as far as my experience goes, appears to be much less
fixed than the variety incisa.
_Var. purpurea_ (Hort.).--The young leaves of this are brownish red;
it is well worth growing for the pleasing color effect produced by the
young growths in spring. Apart from color it does not differ from the
type.
_Var. fastigiata_ (Hort.).--In this variety the branches are more
ascending and the habit altogether more erect; indeed, among the
hornbeams this is a counterpart of the fastigiate varieties of the
common oak.
_Var. variegata_, aureo-variegata, albo-variegata
(albo-marmorata).--These names represent forms differing so slightly
from each other, that it is not worth while to notice them separately,
or even to treat them as distinct. In no case that I have seen is the
variegation at all striking, and, except in tree collections,
variegated hornbeams are hardly worth growing.
[Illustration: FULL GROWN HORNBEAM IN WINTER. CARPINUS BETULUS (Full
grown tree at Chiswick, 45 ft. high in 1844).]
_Carpinus orientalis_[2] (the Oriental hornbeam) principally differs
from our native species in its smaller size, the lesser leaves with
downy petioles, and the green, much-lacerated bractlets. It is a
native of the south of Europe, whence it extends to the Caucasus, and
probably also to China; the Carpinus Turczaninovi of Hance scarcely
seems to differ, in any material point at any rate, from western
examples of C. orientalis. According to Loudon, it was introduced to
this country by Philip Miller in 1739, and there is no doubt that it
is far from common even now. It is, however, well worth growing; the
short twiggy branches, densely clothed with dark green leaves, form a
thoroughly efficient screen. The plant bears cutting quite as well as
the common hornbeam, and wherever the latter will grow this will also
succeed. In that very interesting compilation, "Hortus Collinsonianus,"
the following memorandum occurs: "The Eastern hornbeam was raised from
seed sent me from Persia, procured by Dr. Mounsey, physician to the
Czarina. Received it August 2, 1751, and sowed it directly; next year
(1752) the hornbeam came up, which was the original of all in England.
Mr. Gordon soon increased it, and so it came into the gardens of the
curious. At the same time, from the same source, were raised a new
acacia, a quince, and a bermudiana, the former very different from any
in our gardens." This memorandum was probably written from recollection
long afterward, with an error in the dates, and the species was first
entered in the catalogue as follows: "Azad, arbor persica carpinus
folio, Persian hornbeam, raised from seed, anno 1747; not in England
before." It appears, however, from Rand's "Index" that there was a
plant of it in the Chelsea Garden in 1739. The name duinensis was given
by Scopoli, because of his having first found it wild at Duino. As,
however, Miller had previously described it under the name orientalis,
that one is adopted in accordance with the rule of priority, by which
must be decided all such questions in nomenclature.
[Footnote 2: IDENTIFICATION.--Carpinus orientalis. Miller,
"Gardener's Dictionary," ed. 6 1771; La Marck, Dict, i., 107;
Watson, "Dendrologia Britannica," ii., tab. 98; Reich. Ic. fl.
Germ. et Helvet., xxii., fig, 1298; Tenore, "Flora Neapolitana,"
v., 264; Loudon, Arb. et Fruticet. Brit., iii., 2014, Encycl.
Trees and Shrubs, p. 918; Koch, "Dendrologie." zweit, theil zweit,
abtheil, p. 4. C. duinensis, Scopoli, "Flora Carniolica," 2 ed.,
ii., 243, tab. 60; Bertoloni, "Flora Italica," x., 233; Alph. De
Candolle in Prodr., xvi. (ii.), 126.]
_The American Hornbeam_ [3] also known under the names of blue beech,
water beech, and iron wood, although a less tree than our native
species, which it resembles a good deal in size of foliage and general
aspect, is nevertheless a most desirable one for the park or pleasure
ground, on account of the gorgeous tint assumed by the decaying leaves
in autumn. Emerson, in his "Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts," pays a
just tribute to this tree from a decorative standpoint. He says: "The
crimson, scarlet, and orange of its autumnal colors, mingling into a
rich purplish red, as seen at a distance, make it rank in splendor
almost with the tupelo and the scarlet oak. It is easily cultivated,
and should have a corner in every collection of trees." It has
pointed, ovate oblong, sharply double serrate, nearly smooth leaves.
The acute bractlets are three-lobed, halberd-shaped, sparingly
cut-toothed on one side. Professor C.S. Sargent, in his catalogue of
the "Forest Trees-of North America," gives the distribution, etc., of
the American hornbeam as follows: "Northern Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick, through the valley of St. Lawrence and Lower Ottawa Rivers,
along the northern shores of Lake Huron to Northern Wisconsin and
Minnesota; south to Florida and Eastern Texas. Wood resembling that of
ostrya (hop hornbeam). At the north generally a shrub or small tree,
but becoming, in the Southern Alleghany Mountains, a tree sometimes 50
feet in height, with a trunk 2 feet to 3 feet in diameter." It will
almost grow in any soil or exposition in this country.
[Footnote 3: IDENTIFICATION.--Carpinius caroliniana, Walter,
"Flora Caroliniana," 236; C. americana, Michx. fl. bor. Amer.,
ii., 201; Mich. f. Hist. des. Arbres Forestiers de l'Amerique
Septentrionale, iii., 57, tab. 8; Watson, "Dendrologia
Britannica," ii., 157; Gray, "Manual of the Botany of the Northern
United States," p. 457.]
_Carpinus viminea_[4] is a rather striking species with long-pointed
leaves; the accompanying figure scarcely gives a sufficiently clear
representation of their long, tail-like prolongations. Judging from
the height at which it grows, it would probably prove hardy in this
country, and, if so, the distinct aspect and graceful habit of the
tree would render it a decided acquisition. It is a moderate-sized
tree, with thin gray bark, and slender, drooping warted branches. The
blade of the smooth leave measures from 3 inches to 4 inches in
length, the hairy leaf-stalk being about half an inch long. It is a
native of Himalaya, where it occurs at elevations of from 5000 to 7000
feet above sea-level. As in our common hornbeam, the male catkins
appear before the leaves, and the female flowers develop in spring at
the same time as the leaves. The hard, yellowish white wood--a cubic
foot of which weighs 50 lb.--is used for ordinary building purposes by
the natives of Nepaul.
[Footnote 4: IDENTIFICATION.--Carpinus viminea, Lindl. in Wall.
Plant. Asiat. Rar., ii., p. 4, t. 106; D.C. Prodr., xvi., ii.,
127. Loudon, "Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum," iii., p. 2014;
Encycl. of Trees and Shrubs, p. 919. Brandis, "Forest Flora,"
492.]
GEORGE NICHOLSON.
Royal Gardens, Kew.
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