Carpinus japonica

Japanese hornbeam is a member of the birch or Betulaceae family and is native to Japan.

• Leaves are alternate, simple, ovate, up to 10 cm long, 4 cm across, double-toothed and tapered at the tips; veins are prominently inset, giving a corrugated appearance.
• Male and female catkins appear in spring at the same time as the leaves. Females are small, green, at the tips of shoots, on the same plant as males.
• Fruit is a small 7–8 mm long nut, partially surrounded by 3–7 pointed leafy, toothed bracts to 6 cm long, in pendulous strings, somewhat resembling ironwood (Ostrya virginiana) catkins. The bracts mature in autumn, turning brown and some remaining on the tree over winter.