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Questions and Answers: 2016

Question: Winter bud ID question: Is is possible to differentiate hornbeam from hop-hornbeam by examination of their winter buds alone? (I …

• Question

  Winter bud ID question: Is is possible to differentiate hornbeam from hop-hornbeam by examination of their winter buds alone? (I live in SW NH and I believe these small trees I'm looking at are Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana).

  Answer

  Dear breilly, yes, it is relatively straightforward to do so (even on saplings that won't display typical bark characteristics of mature trees). The winter buds of Ostrya virginiana are circular in cross-section and have conspicuously longitudinally striate scales. The winter buds of Carpinus caroliniana are somewhat square in cross-section and the bud scales are not obviously striate. There are images on the Go Botany taxon pages for these species that show these characters. Best wishes.