Index / Search / Carpinus caroliniana

§1 Plant

Carpinus caroliniana Walter

vernacular American hornbeam — species · Betulaceae


USDA
CACA18
GBIF
2875842
Rank
species
American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)
Platephotograph · ThePrairiePreacherCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Shrub, Tree
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Betulaceae Gray
Genus
Carpinus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 3 counties across 1 state
Legend Native · 3 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
Low
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Low
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
Low
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-34 °F minimum
Frost-free days
80 min.
Precipitation
23–80 in/yr
pH range
4–7.4
Root depth
20 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Slow
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
30 ft
Height @ 20 y
18 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Dense
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Orange
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Mid Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
Yes
Seeds / lb
35,000
Propagation
seed, bare root, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Fuelwood
High
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 3 counties across 1 state.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CACA18 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2875842 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z