=Horticultural Value.=--Hardy throughout New England; prefers dry or well-drained slopes in gravelly or rocky soil; graceful and attractive, but of rather slow growth; useful in shady situations and worthy of a place in ornamental plantations, but too small for street use. Seldom raised by nurserymen; collected plants moved with difficulty. Propagated from seed. [Illustration: PLATE XXVIII.--Ostrya Virginica.] 1. Winter buds. 2. Flowering branch. 3. Sterile flower, back view. 4. Sterile flower, front view. 5. Fertile catkin. 6. Fertile flower. 7. Fruiting branch. =Carpinus Caroliniana, Walt.= HORNBEAM. BLUE BEECH. IRONWOOD. WATER BEECH. =Habitat and Range.=--Low, wet woods, and margins of swamps. Province of Quebec to Georgian bay. Rather common throughout New England, less frequent towards the coast. South to Florida; west to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Indian territory, and Texas. =Habit.=--A low, spreading tree, 10-30 feet high, with a trunk diameter of 6-12 inches, rarely reaching 2 feet; trunk short, often given a fluted appearance by projecting ridges running down from the lower branches to the ground; in color and smoothness resembling the beech; lower branches often much declined, upper going out at various angles, often zigzag but keeping the same general direction; head wide, close, flat-topped to rounded, with fine, slender spray. =Bark.=--Trunk smooth, close, dark bluish-gray; branchlets grayish; season's shoots light green turning brown, more or less hairy. =Winter Buds and Leaves.=--Leaf-buds small, oval or ovoid, acute to obtuse. Leaves simple, alternate, 2-3 inches long, dull green above, lighter beneath, turning to scarlet or crimson in autumn; outline ovate or slightly obovate oblong or broadly oval, irregularly and sharply doubly serrate; veins prominent and pubescent beneath, at least when young; apex acuminate to acute; base rounded, truncate, acute, or slightly and unevenly heart-shaped; leafstalk rather short, slender, hairy; stipules pubescent, falling early. =Inflorescence.=--May. Sterile flowers from growth of the preceding season in short, stunted-looking, lateral catkins, mostly single; scales ovate or rounded, obtuse, each subtending several stamens; filaments very short, mostly 2-forked; anthers bearded at the tip: fertile flowers at the ends of leafy shoots of the season, in loose catkins; bractlets foliaceous, each subtending a green, ovate, acute, ciliate, deciduous scale, each scale subtending two pistils with long reddish styles. =Fruit.=--In terminal catkins made conspicuous by the pale green, much enlarged, and leaf-like 3-lobed bracts, each bract subtending a dark-colored, sessile, striate nutlet.