Ostrya virginiana

American hophornbeam or ironwood is a member of the birch or Betulaceae family and is native to eastern North America, from Nova Scotia to southern Manitoba, through to northern Florida and west to eastern Texas.

• Leaves are alternate, simple, ovate, 12 cm long and 5 cm across, pinnately veined, pointed and double-toothed. They have tufts of hairs in the vein axles on the undersides.
• Flowers are catkins produced in early spring at the same time as the new leaves appear. Staminate (male) catkins are 2–5 cm long and are arranged in groups of 1–4. Pistillate (female) catkins are 0.8–1.5 cm long and contain 10–30 flowers each.
• Fruit is a small nutlet 3–5 mm long fully enclosed in a papery white sac (involcure) 1–1.8 cm long, with 10–30 sacs on each catkin, with bladder-like creamy husks in pendulous clusters 5 cm long.