Understory Trees of the Land O’ Lakes

Nov 10, 2011

by Steve Blight

Photo: Blue-beech trunk, showing the ridges that give the tree its other common name, Musclewood

Fall provides an opportunity to see our local forests in a whole new light. With the leaves mostly on the ground, you can see much further into the forest and some aspects of the woods stand out in sharp relief. For example the oaks become quite easy to distinguish from other trees in a stand because they still have many of their russet leaves while the maples and many other hardwoods have lost theirs. A scan through the bush can reveal just how many oaks there are in some patches of forest.

I was walking through the nearly leafless forest last week and I was struck by the subtle beauty of two of our smaller native trees – the Ironwood, and the Blue-beech. Both of these trees are found in the understory of our local forests and don’t get much press – which seems unmerited because they have many positive features.

The Blue-beech (Carpinus caroliniana) has a number of other names, including American hornbeam, Water-beech or Muscle-wood. I particularly like the name Muscle-wood because the short, often crooked trunk is covered with a smooth slate gray bark that is characteristically ridged and does indeed resemble the muscles of a flexed arm. This little tree can be found throughout eastern North America from about Ottawa and extreme southern Quebec all the way to Florida. In our area it tends to be found on wetter forested sites such as hardwood swamps, the edges of woodland creeks or even around small seasonally wet depressions. It is very shade tolerant and slow-growing.

I really like Blue-beech’s orange and scarlet foliage in the fall. It is not widely used as an ornamental because it is difficult to transplant and is reported to not do well on exposed sites. After much searching, we found a Blue-beech sapling at a nursery to plant in our yard and it has put on a nice colour display every fall for many years.

The wood of Blue-beech is not commercially important because the tree is too small. However, its tough, dense, and close-grained wood is used for tool handles, levers, wedges, and mallets, and its density makes it a good firewood species.

Ironwood (Ostrya virginiana) is also called American hophornbeam, hornbeam, and leverwood. It too is a smallish, shade tolerant tree scattered in the understory of hardwood forests. It has a slow to medium growth rate on a great variety of soils and produces an extremely hard, heavy wood – hence its name Ironwood. The tree is not large enough for commercially important lumber but is used locally for the same purposes as the Blue-beech.

Ironwood has earned a reputation among some foresters as a “weed” tree, perhaps because of its low commercial value. Another reason may be that it tends to make up a much higher percentage of the trees growing in patches of bush where cattle are permitted to graze. Cows generally prefer to graze on other tree seedlings and leave the ironwood alone.

I have a more positive opinion of the Ironwood. It makes an attractive landscape tree and it provides wildlife with a good amount of seed. In early fall I’ve seen chipmunks and chickadees way out at the ends of slender branches, acrobatically harvesting ironwood seeds before they scatter in the wind. And I find Ironwood to be excellent firewood – it burns slowly, gives off a lot of heat, and provides a long-lasting bed of coals.

It won’t be long before the first snow flies, but for a few more weeks we can experience the unique charm of the fall woods in the Land O’ Lakes.

Please feel free to report any observations to Lorraine Julien at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or Steve Blight at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.