Garden Notes - Hornbeam to Lime

Hornbeam
Carpinus Betulus

In favorable situations may attain to a height of 70 feet. Wood: very tough and horny, and difficult to work; hence its name. Trunk: elliptical in section, in old trees somewhat fluted, as though several stems had grown together. Bark: smooth, gray, streaked with white. Leaves: oval and pointed, somewhat like those of Beech, but not glossy, and with margins double toothed. Stamen-bearing flowers in greenish catkins, 1 in. to 2 in. long; Pistil-bearing flowers in greenish catkins, 2 in. to 4 in. long. Fruit: in long drooping clusters, with three lobed wings to which two corn-like fruits are attached.

Laburnum
Laburnum vulgare

Familiar as a cultivated tree in our parks and gardens, under favorable conditions attains a height of 30 feet. Wood: hard, dark and coarse grained, but takes a good polish. Used by turners and cabinet-makers. Bark: smooth, gray green, sometimes peels off in transverse strips. Leaves: divided into three lance-shaped leaflets. Flowers: yellow, grouped in clustered tassels ("Golden Chains"), individual flowers papilionaceous, i.e. with petals somewhat like the wings of a butterfly. Fruit: downy pods, in clusters, green at first, turning brown and black; when ripe pods split lengthwise allowing black seeds to escape.

Larch
Larix europoea

Naturally a tree of the mountains, the larch grows at greater heights than the Spruce Fir; a native of Central Europe, with a straight tapering trunk attaining under favorable conditions a height of 120 feet. Wood: very durable. Bark: reddish-gray, flaking off in scales, useful in tanning. Branches: rather slight, tending downward at first, then upward, twigs usually hang down. Leaves: long flattened needles arranged in spreading tufts, not evergreen like those of most of our cone-bearing trees. Stamen-bearing flowers yellow; Pistil-bearing flowers purplish-red, developing into brown egg-shaped cones about 1 in. long.

Common or Cherry Laurel
PrunusLaurocerasus

The true Laurel is the Bay (Laurus nobilis), the Common Laurel of our gardens being an evergreen member of the Plum and Cherry family; under favorable conditions sometimes attains to a height of 20 or 30 feet. Bark, twigs and buds green. Leaves: evergreen, glossy above, dull and paler beneath, characteristic odor when bruised, edges slightly toothed, leaf-stalks short and stout. Flowers: small, white, grouped in erect slender spikes. Fruit: arranged in branched clusters, nearly as large as cherries, but more oval; glossy, green at first, ripening to red, and becoming finally black.

Lime, or Linden
Tilia europea

A native British tree, with a tall straight trunk which under favorable conditions sometimes grows to a height of 70-90 feet, with a girth of about 20 feet: one of the longest lived trees. Bark: smooth. Branches: slight in proportion to trunk, from which they spring at an angle of about 45 degrees, tending to droop at ends. Leaves: heart-shaped, two unequal lobes at base, edges toothed; leaves shed in early autumn. Flowers: fragrant, cream colored, in drooping clusters, each cluster growing, from a flower stalk 2 in. to 3 in. long, to which is attached a membranous yellowish-green bract. Fruit: spherical, velvety, about ¼ in. in diameter.