View source for Ostrya

{{Short description|Genus of trees}}
{{for|the herbaceous plant known as hophornbeam copperleaf|Acalypha ostryifolia}}
{{automatic taxobox
|name = Hophornbeam
|image = Ostrya virginiana.jpg
|image_caption = ''Ostrya virginiana''
|taxon = Ostrya
|authority = Scop.
|synonyms_ref = <ref name=wcsp/>
|synonyms = ''Zugilus'' <small>Raf.</small>
}}

'''''Ostrya''''' is a [[genus]] of eight to 10 small [[deciduous]] [[tree]]s belonging to the birch family [[Betulaceae]]. Common names include '''hop-hornbeam''' and '''hophornbeam'''. It may also be called [[ironwood]], a name shared with a number of other plants.

The genus is native in southern [[Europe]], southwest and eastern [[Asia]], and [[North America|North]] and [[Central America]].<ref name=wcsp>[https://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=144612 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref> They have a conical or irregular crown and a scaly, rough bark. They have alternate and double-toothed [[birch]]-like [[leaf|leaves]] 3–10&nbsp;cm long. The [[flower]]s are produced in spring, with male [[catkins]] 5–10&nbsp;cm long and female [[aments]] 2–5&nbsp;cm long. The [[fruit]] form in pendulous clusters 3–8&nbsp;cm long with 6–20 [[seed]]s; each seed is a small [[nut (fruit)|nut]] 2–4&nbsp;mm long, fully enclosed in a bladder-like [[Involucral bract|involucre]].<ref>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=123370 Flora of North America, vol 3, hop-hornbeam, ''Ostrya'' Scopoli, Fl. Carniol. 414. 1760. ]</ref>

The [[wood]] is very hard and heavy. The genus name ''Ostrya'' is derived from the Greek word {{lang|grc|ὀστρύα}} ({{grc-tr|ὀστρύα}}), which may be related to {{lang|grc|ὄστρακον}} ({{grc-tr|ὄστρακον}}) "shell (of an animal)".<ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster|Ostrya|access-date=2019-03-03}}</ref> Regarded as a weed tree by some foresters{{who?|date=January 2021}}{{fact|date=January 2021}}, this hard and stable wood was historically used to fashion [[Plane (tool)|plane]] soles.

''Ostrya'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species, including [[winter moth]], [[walnut sphinx]], and ''[[Coleophora ostryae]]''.

==Species==
''Ostrya'' has the following species:<ref name=wcsp/><ref>[https://bonap.net/NAPA/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Ostrya Biota of North America Program, 2013 county distribution maps]</ref>
# ''[[Ostrya carpinifolia]]'' <small>Scop.</small> – European hop-hornbeam - Mediterranean region of southern Europe, Middle-east, [[Turkey]], [[Lebanon]], Caucasus
# ''[[Ostrya chisosensis]]'' <small>Correll</small> – Chisos hophornbeam, Big Bend hophornbeam - endemic to [[Big Bend National Park]] in Texas
# ''[[Ostrya japonica]]'' <small>Sarg.</small> – Japanese hophornbeam - [[Japan]], Korea, northern China
# ''[[Ostrya knowltonii]]'' <small>Coville</small> – Knowlton hophornbeam, western hophornbeam, wolf hophornbeam - [[Utah]], [[Arizona]], [[New Mexico]], [[Texas]]
# ''[[Ostrya multinervis]]'' <small>Rehd.</small> – Central Chinese hop-hornbeam - central China
# ''[[Ostrya rehderiana]]'' <small>Chun</small> – Zhejiang hop-hornbeam - [[Zhejiang Province]] in China
#''[[Ostrya trichocarpa]]'' <small>D.Fang & Y.S.Wang</small> – [[Guangxi Province]] in China
# ''[[Ostrya virginiana]]'' <small>(Mill.) K. Koch</small> – eastern hophornbeam, American hophornbeam, ironwood - eastern US, eastern Canada, Mexico, [[Guatemala]], [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]]
# ''[[Ostrya yunnanensis]]'' <small>W.K.Hu</small> – Yunnan hop-hornbeam - [[Yunnan Province]] in China
# †''[[Ostrya oregoniana]]'' (fossil)
# †''[[Ostrya scholzii]]'' (fossil)

===Fossil record===
†'''''Ostrya scholzii''''' fossil seeds of the [[Chattian]] stage, [[Oligocene]], are known from the Oberleichtersbach Formation in the [[Rhön Mountains]], central [[Germany]].<ref>The floral change in the tertiary of the Rhön mountains (Germany) by Dieter Hans Mai - Acta Paleobotanica 47(1): 135-143, 2007.</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* Rushforth, K. (1985). "Ostrya". ''The Plantsman'' 7: 208-212.
* [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=123370 Flora of China: ''Ostrya'']
* [http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Ostrya+&SPECIES_XREF=&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK= Flora Europaea: ''Ostrya'']

== External links ==
* {{Commons category inline|Ostrya}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q605290}}

[[Category:Ostrya| ]]
[[Category:Fagales genera]]