{"id":2205,"date":"2017-09-11T06:31:18","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T14:31:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/?p=2205"},"modified":"2017-09-11T06:35:31","modified_gmt":"2017-09-11T14:35:31","slug":"looks-like-hops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/looks-like-hops\/","title":{"rendered":"Looks Like Hops"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Looks<\/a>
Looks like hops, but looks can be deceiving.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

People generally ignore trees.\u00a0 This is because most of the time trees quietly present us with gifts like shade, cleaner air, erosion protection and beauty while asking little in return.\u00a0 On the rare occasions when trees break the surface of our consciousness, we generally criticize them for shedding branches in storms, dropping leaves and\/or litter in autumn, or otherwise interrupting our lives.\u00a0 If trees thought like humans, they would complain about being unappreciated.<\/p>\n

Sometimes though, some feature of one tree or another makes people take notice.\u00a0 This is the case of Ostrya virginiana, better known as American hophornbeam.\u00a0 In the last month or so, at least three different people have pointed to a hophornbeam and said, \u201cWhat is that tree with the hops hanging from it?\u201d<\/p>\n

The tree in question is a member of the birch family and the pale green \u201chops\u201d that hang from the branches are actually membranes that encase the tree\u2019s nutlike fruits.\u00a0 The \u201chops\u201d of hophornbeam only look like the bitter-tasting flowers of the Humulus lupulous, or hop vine.\u00a0 Unlike true hops, hophornbeam fruits are useless for beer making.<\/p>\n

Which does not mean that hophornbeam is a useless plant.\u00a0 The fruiting structues that give it such an interesting appearance in the late summer contribute to its value as a small to mid-size ornamental tree.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Tree guru Dr. Michael Dirr goes so far as to say, \u201cOstrya virginiana is an attractive, small to medium-sized tree that the American nursery industry has never pursued.\u201d<\/p>\n

Traditionally, hophornbeam, which is native to the eastern half of the United States, is one of a number of tree species grouped under the nickname \u201cironwood\u201d.\u00a0 Its dense timber may not be metallic, but it is hard enough to be harvested for use in implements like mallets, tool handles and fenceposts. \u00a0Unfortunately, we make fewer of those implements these days and often fabricate them from plastic or other non-wood materials.\u00a0 This leaves hophornbeam back where it started, as an ornamental.<\/p>\n

And that is a very good thing.\u00a0 As municipalities search for tree genera and species to use as street trees, they favor less common species that can add biodiversity to streetscapes and prevent the massive deforestation that took place during the early twentieth century chestnut blight and the mid twentieth century elm die-off.\u00a0 Hophornbeam is well-suited to this application.<\/p>\n

The trees are moderate in size, rising between 25 and 40 feet, with a spread that is about two thirds of the height.\u00a0 The ribbed green leaves remind me a little of the toothed, ovoid foliage of elm trees.\u00a0 They turn yellow in the fall, but are not particularly showy.\u00a0 Hophornbeams also bear recognizable gray to reddish-brown bark that grows in loose-ended strips, appearing ready to exfoliate.<\/p>\n

The kinship to other birch family members is most obvious in the spring, when hophornbeams bear dangling male catkins in groups of three.\u00a0 Since the trees are monoecious, with flowers of both sexes on the same plant, they also produce the insignificant female flowers that morph into the distinctive \u201chops\u201d as the growing season progresses.\u00a0 The nuts concealed in the \u201chops\u201d also serve as food to a variety of wildlife.\u00a0 If you are into habitat gardening, this should make hophornbeam even more attractive as a street or specimen tree.<\/p>\n

More than one source alleges that hophornbeam thrives on neglect.\u00a0 This is true as long as the trees are planted in full sun or very light shade.\u00a0 While ironwoods do not like wet soil, they are wild about hilly or dry sights and shrug at marauding deer.\u00a0 As street trees, they tolerate the various stresses, including vibration and pollution, which trouble other species.<\/p>\n

My town, which has made a serious effort at replenishing its stock of street trees, has planted hophornbeam in various places.\u00a0 I hope this is a trend.\u00a0 I could happily go a long time without seeing another Norway maple, but I could drink a toast to the installation of more \u201chop\u201d trees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People generally ignore trees.\u00a0 This is because most of the time trees quietly present us with gifts like shade, cleaner air, erosion protection and beauty while asking little in return.\u00a0 On the rare occasions when trees break the surface of our consciousness, we generally criticize them for shedding branches in storms, dropping leaves and\/or litter … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2,3,5],"tags":[1715,980,1711,1714,1713,1712,1204,1025],"class_list":["post-2205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","category-summer","category-winter","tag-birch-family","tag-habitat-gardening","tag-hophornbeam","tag-hops","tag-ornamental-trees","tag-ostrya-virginiana","tag-small-trees","tag-street-trees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2205"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2212,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205\/revisions\/2212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}