Ostrya virginiana (American hophornbeam), is a species of Ostrya native to eastern North America. It is a deciduous understory tree growing to 18 m tall and 0.2–0.5 m trunk diameter. The bark is brown to gray-brown, with small shaggy plates flaking off. The leaves are ovoid-acute, 5–13 cm long and 4–6 cm broad, with a finely serrated margin. The flowers are catkins produced in spring at the same time as the new leaves appear; the male catkins are 20–50 mm long, the female 8–15 mm long. The fruit is a small nutlet 3–5 mm long fully enclosed in a papery white involucre 1–1.8 cm long, with 10–30 involucres on each catkin.
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