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Carpinus betulus |
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 Trees
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Carpinus
betulus is a deciduous tree reaching up to 30m in
height. It grows in woodland and hedgerows and will tolerate shade and clipping, it is
native only in the south east . Dark green leaves on alternate sides of stems 4-10cm in size, sharp, doubled
toothed, oval with a point. Long yellow tinged red male catkins and smaller green female catkins appear between March and May, turning to clusters
of small nuts in 3 lobe bracts in October and November. It makes very good hedging.
Its wood is used for beansticks, charcoal and because it is a hard wood mallets
chopping boards.
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 Horn means 'hard' and beam means 'tree' in old English |
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Collect
nuts from trees while still slightly green from November onward. 