oring, make the beech a favorite for lawn and park
planting. The several European species of beech are equally
charming.

[Illustration: FIG. 56.--Bark of the Hackberry.]

Commercial value: The wood is strong, close-grained, and tough. It is
used mainly for cooperage, tool handles, shoe lasts, chairs, etc.,
and for fuel.

Other characters: The _fruit_ is a prickly burr encasing a sharply
triangular nut which is sweet and edible.

Comparisons: The _European beech_ (_Fagus sylvatica_), and its weeping,
purple-leaved, and fern-leaved varieties, are frequently met with in
parks and may be told from the native species by its darker bark.
The weeping form may, of course, be told readily by its drooping
branches. The leaves of the European beeches are broader and less
serrated than those of the American beech.

BLUE BEECH OR HORNBEAM (_Carpinus caroliniana_)

Distinguishing characters: The *fluted* or muscular effect of its
*trunk* will distinguish the tree at a glance, Fig. 54.

Leaf: Doubly serrated; otherwise the same as that of ironwood.

Form and size: A low-spreading tree with branches arching out at various
angles, forming a flattened head with a fine, slender spray.

Range: Very common in the eastern United States.

Soil and location: Grows in low wet woods.

Enemies: None of importance.

Value for planting: Its artistic branching and curious trunk give the
tree an important place in park planting.

Commercial value: None.

Other characters: The bark is smooth and bluish gray in color.

Comparisons: The blue beech or hornbeam is often confused with the
_ironwood_ or _hop hornbeam_ (_Ostrya virginiana_). The ironwood,
however, has a characteristic bark that peels in perpendicular,
short, thin segments, often loose at the ends. See Fig. 55. This is
entirely different from the close, smooth, and fluted bark of the
blue beech. The color of the bark in the ironwood is brownish, while
that of the blue beech is bluish-gray. The buds of the ironwood are
greenish with brown tips, while the bud of the blue beech shows no
green whatever.

HACKBERRY (_Celtis occidentalis_)

Distinguishing characters: The tree may be told readily from other trees
by the *corky tubercles* on the bark of the lower portion of the
trunk. See Fig. 56.

Leaf: Has three predominating veins and is a bit more developed on one
side than