Audubon® Native American Hornbeam Treeling

For bird-friendly landscapes in small spaces, this native understory tree is hard to beat. American Hornbeam is a modestly-sized tree that’s big in benefits. A member of the Birch family, it produces buds, catkins, and seeds that many birds relish. In backyard gardens, you may find warblers, nuthatches, and finches coming to dine. In more rural areas, ruffed grouse, bobwhites, and turkeys are fans. American Hornbeam also hosts several species of caterpillars and other insects, which make up an important part of the diet of many of our native songbirds, such as wrens, robins, and orioles. It’s a full-service bird café!

Perhaps you know American Hornbeam by one of its other names: Blue Beech, Water Beech, Ironwood, or Musclewood. Quite likely you have seen it on a hike through the woods—once encountered, it is seldom forgotten. Its trunk, like rippling muscles under a thin skin of bark, begs to be touched, and its fiery fall color rivals that of some maples. American Hornbeam is found in wild spaces all over the Eastern U.S and even into Canada and Mexico, but nowhere is it common in landscapes. That needs to change!

The good ol' American Hornbeam, this native hardwood is not subject to cracking or splitting and was used by American pioneers for bowls and dishes. There's your history lesson for the day! Green foliage transforms into shades of yellow, orange, and red in fall - a bright contrast to the smooth gray bark. Grows best in partial shade but will also grow in full sun.