The tree gets its common names from the qualities of its wood and the hop-like fruit. It is a small, slender, generally round-topped tree, from 20 to 30 feet high and 7 to 10 inches in diameter. The top consists of long slender branches, commonly drooping toward the ends. It is found mostly on rather dry soils throughout the uplands of the eastern part of the state. The BARK is mostly light, gray-brown, or reddish-brown, and finely divided into thin scales. [Illustration: EASTERN HOPHORNBEAM (Twig, three-fifths natural size; leaf and fruit, one-half natural size)] The LEAVES are simple, alternate, generally oblong with narrow tips, sharply doubly toothed along the margin, and from 2 to 3 inches long. The FLOWERS are of two kinds on the same tree; the male, in drooping catkins which form the previous summer, the female, in erect catkins on the newly formed twigs. The FRUIT, which resembles that of the common hop vines, consists of a branch of leafy bracts 1 to 2 inches long containing a number of flattened ribbed nutlets. The WOOD, strong, hard, durable, light brown to white, with thick, pale sapwood, is often used for handles of tools, mallets, and other small articles. RIVER BIRCH (Red Birch) Betula nigra L. This is the only native birch found at low elevations in the South. It occurs in East Texas and, as the name implies, in the deep, rich soils along the borders of streams, ponds, lakes, and swamps. The BARK provides a ready means of identifying this tree. It varies from reddish-brown to cinnamon-red in color, and peels back in tough papery layers. These layers persist on the trunk, presenting a very ragged and quite distinctive appearance. Unlike the bark of other birches the thin paper layers are usually covered with a gray powder. On older trees, the bark on the main trunk becomes thick, deeply furrowed, and a reddish-brown color. [Illustration: RIVER BIRCH (Twig, natural size; leaf and fruit, one-half natural size; male flower, one third natural size)] The LEAVES are simple, alternate, 2 to 3 inches long, more or less oval in shape, with double-toothed edge. The upper surface is dark green and the lower a pale yellowish green. The FLOWERS are in catkins, the two kinds growing on the same tree. The FRUIT is cone-shaped about one inch long, and densely crowded with little winged nutlets that ripen from May to June. The WOOD is strong and fairly close-grained. It has been used to some extent in the manufacture of wooden-ware, in turnery, and for wagon hubs. However, this tree is scattered in its distribution and is not of commercial importance. AMERICAN BEECH Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. Beech is found in East Texas to the Trinity River on the bottomland of streams and the margins of swamps. It is one of the most beautiful of all trees, in summer or winter.