Ostrya

European Hop Hornbeam ( Ostrya carpinifolia )

The hop hornbeam ( Ostrya ) are a genus of flowering plants of the birch family ( Betulaceae ). The genus includes eight to ten species, including a home in Europe. They are deciduous trees and shrubs. The hop hornbeam are the hornbeam (Carpinus ) are similar; different are the bare during the winter male kittens and the area enclosed by a bubble-like shell fruits.

Description

The hop hornbeam are deciduous trees and shrubs. The buds are ovate with many overlapping scales. The leaves are cut irregularly and double.

The male inflorescences are hanging naked in winter kitten. They are formed at the tips of the branches in the autumn to several together and bloom the following spring; they see where the hazelnuts very similar. The male flowers consist of only three to fourteen stamens; as in wind-pollinated taxa often do not bloom are available. The female, racemose inflorescences are solitary terminal on the branches. You can see which of hops similar to what has also led to the name " Hop Book ". In the female flower bracts are present. The small fruits ( nutlets ) are often winged ( the wings are the sepals ).

The wood is very hard. It has been previously used for the preparation of hand planing. The Hop Hornbeam is in the English language and ironwood ( iron wood ') called. This is however also a few other species.

Dissemination

The genus of the hop hornbeam is widespread in the temperate northern hemisphere. The only native species in Europe is the European hop hornbeam ( Ostrya carpinifolia ), which is native to southern Europe and Asia Minor. Three species are native to North and Central America, all other species in East Asia, with China.

System

The genus was first described by the Italian botanist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1760. The genus Ostrya include eight to ten species.

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