HornbeamDrepanostoma, CC BY 4.0
Native, in south-east England · Up to 30 m

Hornbeam

Carpinus betulus · Betulaceae

Hornbeam is a broad, dense tree, often clipped as a hedge. Its smooth grey trunk is ridged like muscle, with wriggling silver or orange marks running up it.

Often mistaken for common beech. How to tell them apart →
Know it byLeavesOval leaves creased by close, deep veins.BarkSmooth grey bark over a ridged, muscly trunk.SeedsHanging clusters of three-lobed leafy flaps.

Then check · TwigsIn winter, slender brown buds, shorter than beech's, lie close along the shoot with their tips curved in. Beech's long buds stick out from the shoot.

How to identify a hornbeam

Hornbeam: leavesAlexis Tinker-Tsavalas, CC BY 4.0
Leaves

Hornbeam leaves are oval and short-pointed, creased by close, deep-set veins. Each vein runs out to a bigger tooth, with smaller teeth in between.

Hornbeam: barkJustin Cormack, CC BY 4.0
Bark

On all but young trees, the trunk runs in long ridges and hollows, like muscle under skin. The bark over it stays smooth and grey.

Hornbeam: seedsRichard Shirky, CC BY 4.0
Seeds

From July into autumn, clusters of leafy flaps hang from the twigs, each with a small nut at its foot. Each flap has three lobes, a long one in the middle and a short one either side.

Learn the hornbeam in TreelyEvery part through the year, and a short round each day until you know it.Get Treely

Every part, in photographs

Hornbeam leaves: oval, big and small teeth, creased by deep veinsJoss Carr, CC BY 4.0
LeavesOval, big and small teeth, creased by deep veins
Hornbeam catkins: yellow male catkins with the new leaves
CatkinsYellow male catkins with the new leaves
Hornbeam seeds: hanging clusters of three-lobed leafy flaps
SeedsHanging clusters of three-lobed leafy flaps
Hornbeam bark: smooth grey, ridged like muscle, with wriggling marksEwan Shilland, CC BY 4.0
BarkSmooth grey, ridged like muscle, with wriggling marks
Hornbeam twigs and buds: slender 8 mm buds hugging a zig-zag shootNick Butcher, CC BY 4.0
Twigs and budsSlender 8 mm buds hugging a zig-zag shoot
Hornbeam shape: dense crown on fine twigs, broad when open-grownDrepanostoma, CC BY 4.0
ShapeDense crown on fine twigs, broad when open-grown

When to look

JFMAMJJASOND
In leaf
Catkins
Seeds

In leaf: March to November · Catkins: March to May · Seeds: May to November

Every tree on the calendar · How to identify trees in winter

Where you’ll find it

Woods on heavy clay, hedges and scrub. It is much planted in parks, gardens and streets, and clipped as hedging. It grows on most soils, chalk included, and stands waterlogging for part of the year.

What it’s mistaken for

Hornbeam: trunk surfaceCommon beech: trunk surfaceHornbeam or common beech?Both have smooth grey bark and oval, pointed leaves, and both hold dead leaves low down in winter, when they look most alike.Trunk surface Hornbeam: what holds each nutHazel: what holds each nutHornbeam or hazel?Both have toothed leaves, in the same woods and hedges.What holds each nut Hornbeam: older trunkWych elm: older trunkHornbeam or wych elm?Both have leaves with big and small teeth and straight, parallel veins, and young, bushy elm can pass for hornbeam.Older trunk Hornbeam: leaf lengthSweet chestnut: leaf lengthHornbeam or sweet chestnut?Both have toothed leaves with parallel veins.Leaf length Hornbeam: leaf surfaceField elm: leaf surfaceHornbeam or field elm?Both have oval leaves with big and small teeth, in the same hedges.Leaf surface

More birches, alders, hazel and hornbeam

AlderAlnus glutinosaDowny birchBetula pubescensHazelCorylus avellanaSilver birchBetula pendula
In the app

There’s more of the hornbeam in Treely

  • Every part, through the yearLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed in every season
  • Its lookalikes, side by sideThe checks that settle it, part by part
  • A short round each dayUntil you know the hornbeam on sight, from any side
  • Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely tells you which tree
App StoreGoogle Play

Free to download.

Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.

Photographs: Drepanostoma (CC BY 4.0), Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas (CC BY 4.0), Justin Cormack (CC BY 4.0), Richard Shirky (CC BY 4.0), Joss Carr (CC BY 4.0), cjoynson (CC0), anniet39 (CC0), Ewan Shilland (CC BY 4.0), Nick Butcher (CC BY 4.0), Leon Cross (CC BY 4.0), David Ashcroft (CC BY 4.0), Sinclair Laing (CC BY 4.0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.