Mora Benth.

This native medium-small tree is up to 50' tall; it has a finely branched rounded crown. The trunk is up to 2' across. On mature trees, the bark of the trunk is rough-textured and greyish brown, dividing into narrow rectangular strips; this provides the trunk with a slightly shaggy appearance. The bark of smaller branches is more smooth and gray with small lenticels. The alternate leaves are 3-5" long and 1½–2½" across; they are ovate, pinnately veined, and doubly serrated along their margins. Each leaf tapers rather abruptly into a slender tip. The upper leaf surface is medium green and largely devoid of hairs, while the lower surface is pale green and slightly to moderately pubescent. The slender petioles are about ½" long, light green, and slightly to moderately pubescent. Because Hop Hornbeam is usually monoecious, the same tree has separate male and female flowers in the form of catkins. On rare occasions, some trees are unisexual. The male catkins are 1-2" long and narrowly cylindrical in shape; they are often arranged in groups of 3 and droop downward. The female catkins occur individually at the ends of branches; they are about ½" long and broadly cylindrical. The blooming period occurs during mid- to late spring. Cross-pollination of the flowers is achieved by wind. Afterwards, the inflorescence of female flowers begins to swell into a drooping compound fruit about 1½–2½" long and ¾–1" across; it has an appearance that is similar to the fruit of a hop vine. The nutlets of this fruit are enclosed within overlapping inflated sacs that are ovoid and somewhat flattened in shape. Initially, these sacs are greenish white and slightly shiny, but they later become dull brown. The woody root system produces no vegetative offsets; this tree reproduces by reseeding itself into new areas. Cultivation

Eastern hophornbeam will sprout from the stump following fire.
Following spring fires in New York, 62 percent of the top-killed stems
sprouted, and in Minnesota, 100 percent of the top-killed stems sprouted
[28,40].

The Research Paper by Bowles and others 2007 provides information on
postfire responses of several plant species, including eastern hophornbeam,
that was not available when this species review was written.

Throughout its range, eastern hophornbeam is browsed by white-tailed
deer only incidentally. White-tailed deer usually browse more desirable
species when available [23,33].

Buds and catkins of eastern hophornbeam are important winter food for
ruffed grouse, and the nuts are a secondary food in the fall. The nuts
are also a preferred food for sharp-tailed grouse and wild turkey, and
is eaten to a lesser extent by northern bobwhite, red and gray
squirrels, cottontails, ring-necked pheasant, purple finch, rosebreasted
grosbeak, and downy woodpecker [23,34].

Egg Type: Pelagic, Pelagic larva