View down Woodland Drive – see the mountains?Directions
Enjoy a final gaze at the maple tunnel before heading back to Woodland Drive. Go north once more passing Alice Downey Park on your left before stoping at 1st Avenue by the pedestrian crossing. The next tree lines both sides of 1st for quite a way in both directions. At all times of the year this is a proven, great street tree that uses its aura to counteract the noise and traffic of one of Commercial Drives busier cross streets. Our next featured tree: The European Hornbeam.
European Hornbeam with pointy tops
European Hornbeam
Proper Name: Carpinus betulus ‘Fastigiata’
Common Name: European Hornbeam
Description: This medium sized deciduous tree is densely conical in shape due to this particular cultivar’s growing habit. It has a grey-green bark and distinctive green leaves with corrugated texture, many parallel veins and a finely serrated edge. They turn a lovely yellow in fall. Fruiting catkins are conspicuous as hang up to 8cm in length.
Defining Feature: The tree is shaped like a dome with a pointed top. But the leaves once you take a good look are easy to remember. They are similar to Beech but have more, closely parallel veins.
Serrated edge, many parallel veins? Then it’s aHornbeam.
betulus means ‘like Birch’ (Betulus being the name for the birch genus), referring to various morphological traits that this tree and other members of the Birch Family possess. The word fastigiata comes from the word fastigiate which means ‘rising to a pointed top’.