Blue Beech/Musclewood, Blue Beech, American Hornbeam, American Carpinus

Blue Beech/Musclewood, Blue Beech, American Hornbeam, American Carpinus

Carpinus caroliniana

A native hornbeam with dense multi-season interest, muscled bark, and excellent tolerance of pruning.

  • Rounded to oval crown with wide spreading branches
  • Attractive yellow or green catkins
  • Catkins turn into distinctive clusters of winged nutlets
  • Serrated dark green leaves in the summer turn yellow, orange and red in the fall
  • Smooth gray bark has distinctive muscle-like fluting
  • Commonly used for naturalizing, woodland/woods edge, specimen
  • Grows best in full sun to shade to partial shade
Size
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Plant Characteristics

Sunlight
Full sun, Partial shade, Shade
Soil Moisture
Moist, Average, Well-drained
Hardiness Zone
3 – 3
Mature Height (meters)
8.0 – 10.0
Mature Spread (meters)
8.0 – 10.0
Growth Rate
Medium
Foliage Colour
Green
Fall Colour
Orange
Bloom Time
Spring
Habit
Spreading
Deer Resistant
✓
Rabbit Resistant
✓
Pollinator Friendly
✓
Attracts Birds
✓
Ontario Native
✓
Landscape Uses
Mass planting, Accent
Growing & Maintenance Tips
A relatively low-maintenance plant; attractively shaped understorey tree for shady sites, but will grow just fine in full sun. Suitable for lawns or naturalized in woodland areas. Available as a multi-stemmed clump or tree form.

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