Charm: Meaning & Use

The common hornbeam is a medium-sized tree that can grow up to 20 metres tall. Its trunk has distinctive grooves, similar to protruding, sinuous muscles. These grooves are more subtle in young trees, but become more pronounced with age. Hornbeam bark, which is grey-green with whitish spots caused by lichens, remains smooth and fine even at maturity. The canopy is dense and, when exposed to light, bears thick, light-green foliage. Hornbeam leaves are oval, alternate, double-toothed and embossed, with a slight pubescence on the underside. It is a marcescent deciduous species, which means that some of the foliage remains on the branches throughout the winter, dropping off only when the sap arrives in spring. The flowers appear at the same time as the leaves and take the form of catkins. The male catkins are cylindrical, while the female catkins are thinner. The flowers then give rise to clusters of fruit called achenes, attached to a three-lobed bract. These fruits mature at the end of the summer, producing samaras that allow the seeds to be dispersed by the wind.