Carpinus caroliniana Walter, Betulaceae

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Common name: Hornbeam, blue beech, musclewood, ironwood.

Voucher: Kostadinov 140, (URV)

Brief description: A tall shrub or small tree, monoecious. The bark is smooth, muscle-looking, ashy-gray. Leaves are oblong to oblong-ovate,  simple, alternate, entire, margins  sharply serrate-toothed (often doubly serrate), pinnately veined. Flowers are unisexual catkins, the staminate ones naked and single, the pistillate ones in pairs, subtended by a bract. Fruits are a small, ribbed nutlet. 

Campus data: Quite frequent everywhere in the wild, not cultivated. Mature trees are usually small and comprise the undergrowth.