Carpinus caroliniana subsp. caroliniana

Common names: American hornbeam blue-beech
Endemic
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 3.

Trees, to 8 m; trunks short, crooked, shallowly fluted, crowns open, spreading. Bark steel gray or brownish gray, smooth to somewhat roughened. Winter buds containing inflorescences squarish in cross-section, 3–4 mm. Leaf-blade narrowly ovate to oblong-ovate, 3–8.5 (–12) × 3–6 cm, base narrowly rounded to cordate, margins doubly serrate, apex acute or obtuse; surfaces abaxially slightly to moderately pubescent, especially on major veins, without small dark glands. Infructescences 2.5–7 cm; bracts relatively uncrowded, 2–3 × 1.4–2.3 cm, lobes narrow, elongate, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded.


Phenology: Flowering late spring.
Habitat: Stream banks, flood plains, and moist slopes, frequently in understory
Elevation: 0–200 m

Distribution

V3 57-distribution-map.gif

Ala., Ark., Del., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ky., La., Md., Miss., Mo., N.J., N.C., Okla., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va.

Discussion

Carpinus caroliniana subsp. caroliniana is characteristic of the southern Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastal plains and also extends northward in the Mississippi Embayment. It differs from C. caroliniana subsp. virginiana in its smaller, more ovate, more acute-tipped leaves that have finer secondary teeth and lack conspicuous dark glands abaxially.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
rounded +, obtuse +  and acute +
John J. Furlow +
Walter +
tanniferous +  and furrowed +
brownish gray +  and gray +
smooth to somewhat +
narrowly rounded +  and cordate +
deciduous +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
subtending +
toothed +  and (1-)3-lobed +
expanded +
1.4 cm14 mm <br />0.014 m <br /> (2.3 cm23 mm <br />0.023 m <br />) +
fluted +  and ridged +
squarish +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
staminate +  and pistillate +
solitary +  and in small racemose clusters , lateral , formed previous growing season +
elongate +
expanding +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br />) +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
American hornbeam +  and blue-beech +
multibracteate +
Ala. +, Ark. +, Del. +, Fla. +, Ga. +, Ill. +, Ky. +, La. +, Md. +, Miss. +, Mo. +, N.J. +, N.C. +, Okla. +, S.C. +, Tenn. +, Tex. +  and Va. +
0–200 m +
pistillate +  and staminate +
reduced +  and small +
membranaceous +
deltoid +
tiny;moderately large +
conspicuous +
Stream banks, flood plains, and moist slopes, frequently in understory +
pistillate +  and staminate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
cluster +  and racemose +
2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br /> (7 cm70 mm <br />0.07 m <br />) +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
8.5 cm85 mm <br />0.085 m <br /> (12 cm120 mm <br />0.12 m <br />) +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (8.5 cm85 mm <br />0.085 m <br />) +
narrowly ovate;oblong-ovate +
inconspicuous +
elongate +
Flowering late spring. +
2(-3)-carpellate +
often not much longer +
Fl. Carol., +
1-seeded +  and 2-winged +
cluster +  and racemose +
persistent +
nearly +  and distinct +
Carpinus americana +
Carpinus caroliniana subsp. caroliniana +
Carpinus caroliniana +
subspecies +
differentiated +
tanniferous +