Hornbeam Hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the flowering plant genus "Carpinus" in the birch family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The common English name "hornbeam" derives from the hardness of the woods (likened to "horn") and the Old English "beam" "tree" (cognate with German "Baum"). The "American hornbeam" is also occasionally known as "blue-beech", "ironwood", or "musclewood", the first from the resemblance of the bark to that of the American beech "Fagus grandifolia", the other two from the hardness of the wood and the muscular appearance of the trunk, respectively.
Betula utilis from snowmelt, rather than from the monsoon rains. They often have very bent growth due to the pressure of the deep winter snow in the Himalaya. Leaves are ovate, long, with serrated margins, and slightly hairy. Flowering occurs from May–July, with only a few male catkins, and short, single (sometimes paired) female catkins. The perianth has four parts in male flowers, and is absent in the female flowers. Fruits ripen in September–October. The thin, papery bark is very shiny, reddish brown, reddish white, or white, with horizontal lenticels. The bark peels off in broad, horizontal belts, making it very usable