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.
Pteryx Pteryx Pteryx is a genus of beetles that is typically found in northern bogs in the Northern Hemisphere. They belonging to the family Ptiliidae which is referred to as feather-winged beetles as the hindwings are narrow and feather-like. Like most of the rest of the family, "Pteryx" are very small and live in rotting vegetative matter. They prefer rotting wood and are generally found under the bark of rotting logs or stumps. The "Pteryx" are less than 1 mm in length. They are polymorphic, in that they frequently occur in two forms, a normal variety, and a neonate form that