Identity
Category :
Arbre remarquable
Latin name :
Carpinus betulus
French name :
Charme Commun
Dutch name :
Gewone haagbeuk
English name :
Common / European hornbeam
Family :
Betulaceae
Height :
23 m
Targeted height :
This species can grow up to 25 m
Diameter of the crown :
15 m
Trunk circumference :
305 cm (note: measured at the base!)
Expected circumference :
500 cm
Expected longevity :
Can live for 150 years
Origin / Indigenous
Native to Belgium
Favorite soil :
Neutral, quite rich, clayish and cool
Favorite climate
Temperate, continental, resistant to cold
Usefulness and services of the tree :
Enhances the landscape :
+++
Enhances the biodiversity :
++
Provide oxygen :
++
Purify the air :
++
Filter the water :
+
Prevents flooding :
+
Stores carbon :
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Softens the climate :
+++
Limits soil erosion :
++++
Does good, heals :
+++
Illustrated botany © Wikimedia Commons
Features and characters of the individual
With its strange double-trunk silhouette and a figure-eight crown that soars up high, this hornbeam does not go unnoticed to anyone on the lawn. The neighbouring horse chestnut tree is imposing and tries to steal the show though. Generally, the hornbeam is a very sociable tree: willingly shares its space with large trees like oaks or lime trees, because it likes the shade they provide. Here though, competition with the horse chestnut is hard and the hornbeam is not going to let itself be pushed around. It is a resistant species: there’s a reason that people in Germany sometimes call it “the iron tree”. Take a look at the base of the tree and the roots that overlap between the two trunks, eventually sticking together over time.
