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Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata'

(Columnar European Hornbeam)

Overview

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A very popular cultivar that is much more common than the species in commerce. Not really a columnar form, but rather develops a dense, formal, pyramidal outline with unrivaled symmetry. Reaches 40' to 50' tall and 20' to 30' wide at the bottom third of the plant. Lacks a true central leader and has numerous , fine upright branches.

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Columnar European Hornbeam, Columnar Hornbeam, Fastigate European Hornbeam, Fastigiate Hornbeam, Pyramidal European Hornbeam

Description

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Family Betulaceae

Trees or shrubs deciduous, monoecious. Stipules present, free , often deciduous, rarely persistent . Leaves alternate, simple , petiolate , usually doubly serrate, rarely simply serrate, lobulate , or entire; veins pinnate. Flowers unisexual . Male inflorescence precocious , elongate , pendulous, with numerous overlapping bracts; each bract usually subtending a small dichasium with 1-3 male flowers; stamens as many as and opposite sepals or, if sepals obsolete , then stamens of inflorescence to 20; filaments very short, connate or nearly so; anthers 2-loculed, thecae connate or separate, opening by longitudinal slits. Female inflorescence pendulous or erect , with numerous overlapping bracts; each bract subtending a small dichasium with 2 or 3 flowers; calyx with 1-6 scalelike lobes , or obsolete; petals absent; ovary inferior, 2-loculed; styles 2, free; ovules 2, or 1 by abortion , pendulous from near apex of each locule. Fruit a nut or nutlet , winged or not. Seed 1, with straight embryo and flat or thickened cotyledons, without endosperm.

Six genera and 150-200 species: mainly in Asia, Europe, and North and South America; six genera (one endemic) and 89 species (56 endemic) in China.

Because of evolutionary divergence within the Betulaceae, the family has often been divided into tribes (i.e. , Betuleae, Carpineae, and Coryleae) or more recently into subfamilies (J. J. Furlow, J. Arnold Arbor . 71: 1-67. 1990) .[1]

Genus Carpinus

Trees , 8--25 m ; trunks usually 1, branching mostly deliquescent, trunk and branches irregularly longitudinally ridged , fluted . Bark of trunk and branches bluish to brownish gray, thin, smooth , close [thicker, broken or shredded ]; lenticels generally inconspicuous. Wood nearly white to light brown, very hard and heavy, texture fine. Branches, branchlets , and twigs conspicuously 2-ranked; young twigs differentiated into long and short shoots . Winter buds sessile, ovoid , 4-angled in cross section , apex acute; scales many, imbricate, smooth. Leaves on long and short shoots, 2-ranked. Leaf blade narrowly ovate to ovate, elliptic , or obovate with 10 or more pairs of lateral veins, 3--12 × 3--6 cm, thin, margins doubly serrate to serrulate ; surfaces abaxially glabrous to tomentose , sometimes covered with small glands . Inflorescences: staminate catkins solitary or in small racemose clusters , lateral, formed previous growing season and enclosed [exposed] in buds during winter, expanding with leaves; pistillate catkins distal to staminate on short, leafy new growth, solitary, ± erect , elongate ; bracts and flowers uncrowded. Staminate flowers in catkins 3 per scale, crowded together on pilose receptacle; stamens 3(--6), short; filaments often distinct part way to base ; anthers divided into 2 parts, each 1-locular, apex pilose, Pistillate flowers 2 per bract. Infructescences loose racemose clusters of paired bracts, clusters pendulous, elongate; paired bracts deciduous with fruit, expanded, (1--) 3-lobed, variously toothed , foliaceous , each bract subtending 1 fruit. Fruits small nutlets , deltoid, longitudinally ribbed , often crowned with persistent sepals and styles. x = 8.

Species ca. 25: mostly north temperate zone; Europe, Asia (s to India, Iran).

In the flora , Carpinus consists of a single native species , C. caroliniana, which is composed of two fairly distinctive geographic races (J. J. Furlow 1987, 1987b), treated here as subspecies . Worldwide it includes about 25 species, some of which become large trees. The European C. betulus is frequently planted in North America and persists long after other signs of human development have vanished. It seldom escapes , however, and it has not become naturalized . In the mountains of Mexico and Central America, the larger C. tropicalis (Donnell Smith) Lundell is widespread in the temperate forest zone.

Closely related to Ostrya, Carpinus is easily recognized by its smooth, gray, often fluted stems and racemose infructescences consisting of pairs of uncrowded, foliaceous, 3-lobed bracts, each subtending a small triangular nutlet . The staminate (but not the pistillate) catkins develop in the autumn and are enclosed within buds throughout the winter prior to anthesis (in Ostrya, these are exposed during the winter). The pistillate catkins are produced on the first new growth in the spring .

Of relatively minor economic importance, Carpinus has limited use for its very hard wood, especially in Europe, where it is used for making mallet heads , tool handles, levers, and other small, hard, wooden objects.[2]

Physical Description

ID Features: Yellow, pea-like flowers. Upright, multistemmed, columnar habit. Even pinnate leaves. Glossy, greenish stems. Spur-like growth on older wood. Twigs with conspicuous decurrent lines. Stipules persist and sometimes are nearly thorn-like.

Habit: Columnar deciduous broadleaf tree . Tree has a Beech-like form: Long, upright habit, very fine texture .

Flowers: Small yellow, pea-like flowers. Blooms in early to mid-May. Held singly or in groups of up to 4. Not overwhelming. • Bloom Period: March. • Flower Color: Yellow • Flower Conspicuous: Inconspicuous

Seeds: Fruit: A tan legume pod. Cylindrical and slender. About 1.5" to 2" long. Changes from green to tan in July and August. Pods open forcefully.

Foliage: Toothed • Foliage Shape: Ovate • Normal foliage color: Green • Underside foliage: Green • Juvenile foliage: Green • Mature foliage: Green • New foliage: Green • Spring foliage: Green • Summer foliage: Deciduous leaves. Alternate arrangement of evenly pinnate leaves. Leaves are 1.5" to 3" long. Leaves have 8 to 12 leaflets . Leaflets are 0.5" to 1" long. Leaflets are 0.5" to 1' long. Leaflets are ovate to ovoid . Leaves are silky when young. Foliage color matures to a bright green. • Fall foliage: Yellow-green color. Not impressive.

Size/Age/Growth

Growth Rate: Moderate to fast. • Size: Reaches 40' to 50' tall and 20' to 35' wide at the bottom third of the plant.

Landscaping

Landscape Uses: Borders . Screen/hedge. Windbreaker. For difficult growing sites. Container plant due to tolerance of cold and drought . • Liabilities: Leaf-hoppers. A canker disease/affliction. Not an overwhelming ornamental plant. • Care: Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system . Watering can be reduced after establishment. Feed with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring .

Biology

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Growth

Culture: Full sun . Tolerant of adverse growing conditions. Doesn't mind poor, dry soils. Tolerant of extreme cold. Tolerant of salt. Tolerant of winds. Fixes nitrogen.

Soil: Tolerates wide range of soils but needs good drainage . • Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 8.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full to part sun.

Moisture: Water Requirements: Once established needs only occasional water.

Temperature: Minimum Temperature (F): Hardy to about -20°F. • Heat Zones: High: 8 (>90 to 120 days) Low:3 (>7 to 14 days) (map) • Cold Hardiness: 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Notes

In the trade, variability exists in 'Fastigiata' as far as its shape , so it is probable that more then one clone is being called 'Fastigiata'.

An accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Carpinus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 21 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

C. betulus (European Hornbeam) · C. betulus 'Asplenifolia' (European Hornbeam) · C. betulus 'Fastigiata' (Columnar European Hornbeam) · C. betulus 'Globosa' (European Hornbeam) · C. betulus 'Incisa' (European Hornbeam) · C. betulus 'Pendula' (Hornbeam) · C. betulus 'Quercifolia' (European Hornbeam) · C. betulus 'Streetwise' (Common Hornbeam 'streetwise') · C. betulus 'Vienna Weeping' (Hornbeam) · C. caroliniana (American Hornbeam) · C. caroliniana caroliniana (American Hornbeam) · C. caroliniana var. Crimson Cloud (Crimson Cloud English Hawthorn) · C. caroliniana virginiana (American Hornbeam) · C. cordata (Heartleaf Hornbeam) · C. fangiana (Fang Hornbeam) · C. japonica (Japanese Hornbeam) · C. laxiflora (Hornbeam) · C. orientalis (Eastern Hornbeam) · C. turczaninovii (Korean Hornbeam) · C. turczaninowii (Korean Hornbeam) · C. viminea (Hornbeam)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Pei-chun Li & Alexei K. Skvortsov "Betulaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 4 Page 286. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Carpinus". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/19/2012