''Carpinus orientalis'', known as the Oriental hornbeam, is a species of

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...

in the birch family

Betulaceae Betulaceae, the birch family, includes six genera of deciduous nut-bearing trees and shrubs, including the birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams, hazel-hornbeam, and hop-hornbeams, numbering a total of 167 species. They are mostly natives of ...

, subfamily

Coryloideae Coryloideae is a subfamily in the woody angiosperm family Betulaceae, commonly known as the birch family, and consists of four extant genera - '' Corylus'' L., '' Ostryopsis'' Decne., ''Carpinus'' L., and ''Ostrya'' Scop. These deciduous trees an ...

, native to

southeastern Europe Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...

and

Western Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

. It is quite tolerant of dry conditions, and usually occurs on hot dry sites at lower

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

s in comparison to ''

Carpinus betulus Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...

'' (European hornbeam). Together with ''C. betulus'' and ''

Carpinus austrobalcanica ''Carpinus austrobalcanica'', the southern Balkan hornbeam, is a species of hardwood tree in the family Betulaceae, subfamily Coryloideae, native only to the southern Balkan Peninsula, in particular southern Albania and northwestern Greece. First ...

'', it is one of the three hornbeams native to Europe.

Taxonomy

Current view recognises two subspecies: ''C. orientalis'' subsp. ''orientalis'', the nominate form, occurs across Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus. In Iran, to the south of the Caspian Sea, is replaced by ''C. orientalis'' subsp. ''macrocarpa'', which is distinguished from the nominate form by larger leaves, fruits and pollen, and is sometimes treated as a distinct species, ''Carpinus macrocarpa''. Even though Oriental hornbeam is not particularly closely related to common hornbeam—both being grouped in different subsections of section ''Carpinus''—and have different

ploidy Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...

levels, they do appear to hybridise in the Caucasus, resulting in the hybrid species ''Carpinus × schuschaensis.''

Description

Oriental hornbeam is usually a small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

, rarely over 10 m tall and often shrubby. It may, however, also grow to become a substantial tree of up to 20 m height. In comparison to common hornbeam, it is characterised by a generally smaller stature and smaller leaves, which are only 3–5 cm in length. The

seeds In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds are the ...

have a simple

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

, not trilobed like ''Carpinus betulus'', that is about 2 cm long.Browicz, Kasimierz. Flora Iranica : Flora des Iranischen Hochlandes und der Umrahmenden Gebirge : Persien, Afghanistan, Teile von West-Pakistan, Nord-Iraq, (cont) 97: 2. 1972.

Distribution

Oriental hornbeam assumes an extensive but patchy distribution in the central and eastern

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

and

Hyrcania Hyrcania (; ''Hyrkanía'', Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 ''Varkâna'',Lendering (1996) Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 ''Gurgān'', Akkadian: ''Urqananu'') is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian Sea ...

in Iran. Generally, its distribution matches the southeastern part of that of common hornbeam, but Oriental hornbeam penetrates deeper into southern Italy and Greece. In Europe, the species is broadly distributed in the southern half of Italy, on the Adriatic coast and in the Balkans, chiefly south of the Danube. In Asia, its distribution becomes patchier in coastal Anatolia, but it also occurs across the

and the Hyrcanian forest regions.

Gallery

File:Carpinus orientalis bark.jpg, Bark File:Келяв габър – съцветия 3.jpg, Male flowers File:Келяв габър – женски цветове 2.jpg, Female flower File:Καρπίνος ο ανατολικός, Carpinus orientalis (καρπός), Όλυμπος, Πιερία 29 -10-2008.jpg, Ripe fruit File:Carpinus orientalis buds.jpg, Leaf bud File:Carpinus orientalis kz.jpg, Foliage and fruit ;Cultivation In recent years, this species has been extensively used as an

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

for

bonsai Bonsai (; , ) is the Japanese art of Horticulture, growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural hist ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1088271 orientalis Trees of Asia Trees of Europe Flora of the Caucasus Flora of Southeastern Europe Flora of Western Asia Flora of Iran Plants described in 1768 Garden plants of Asia Garden plants of Europe Ornamental trees Plants used in bonsai Trees of Mediterranean climate Taxa named by Philip Miller