Ironwood is a tree that’s easy to overlook in our crowded woods.
It doesn’t have the stature of the majestic oaks, nor the bold presence of the hickories.
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It doesn’t produce hefty fruit like the walnut trees, and it doesn’t glow with autumn color like the maples. It doesn’t even have a name that anyone can agree on.
The ironwood that I’m talking about also goes by the names hop hornbeam and leverwood.
There’s an entirely different tree in our woods that goes by the name ironwood. That ironwood is also called musclewood and bluebeech.
Plant names are confusing. The scientific name can be used to clarify: the species I will be describing is Ostrya virginiana.
Ironwood is a humble, unassuming tree. Recognizing it requires a good eye and some imagination.
It’s an understory tree, which means that it grows underneath the canopy of the dominant oaks, hickories, maples and elms.
You’ll often find it on hillsides, with well-drained soils. It rarely gets taller than 30 feet, with a diameter of about 12 inches. The bark is light and flaky, and looks remarkably like shredded wheat (this is where your imagination comes in).
The trunks may twist and turn, taking on an artistic flare once in a while. If you stand under an Ironwood in winter, the leafless branches create a delicate, almost lacy pattern above.
In spring, the flowers of Ironwood go largely unnoticed.
The male and female flowers are separate, but on the same tree. The males are slender structures called catkins that are present throughout winter, while the females are barely noticeable until pale green fruits ripen in early summer.
These fruits look a lot like hops used in brewing beer. (Hence, the nickname Hop Hornbeam.)
The inflated papery sacs hold small nutlets, which are eaten by grouse, wild turkey, bobwhite quail, squirrels and deer.
In contrast with the subtlety of its outward appearance, the tree is tough as nails on the inside.
Its many nicknames come from the strength and uses of the wood.
The ax of early settlers was no match for the trunk of this tough tree, which earned the nickname ironwood.
The wood is dense, hard, and strong. It’s durable and holds up well to pressure and strain.
Ironwood has been put to use as sleigh runners, tool handles and levers (hence, “leverwood”).
The “hornbeam” part of the common name, hop hornbeam, also comes from its strength-under-pressure qualities.
In the Old World, a hornbeam was the yoke worn by oxen (the “beam” between “horned” beasts of burden). Ostrya virginiana is related to species used in Europe for this purpose.
For all its good qualities, ironwood is tough to work with. Some woodworkers say it is similar to working with stone (I can hear the cursing in the wood shop).
And, because ironwood grows slowly, many trees don’t get tall enough to create sizable saw logs. “Thirty years to get a three-inch-wide board is a serious commitment,” wrote one woodworker.
Thus ironwood has remained a minor player in the local wood industry.
Traditional uses of Ironwood extend beyond carpentry and toolmaking.
Native peoples throughout the tree’s range in eastern North America used ironwood for medicinal purposes. Daniel Moerman’s Native American Ethnobotany lists dozens of applications in traditional medicine.
The Cherokee used infusions of ironwood bark to build healthy blood, as an orthopedic aid and a toothache remedy.
The Chippewa used the heartwood to treat multiple ailments, from lung hemorrhages, coughing, and rheumatism, to kidney trouble. Ironwood roots were made into a tonic for “female weakness” among the Delaware.
The Pottawatomi made an infusion of Ironwood bark to treat diarrhea, and they used the heartwood in medicine for hemorrhages.
In a day and age of human strife and braggadocio, it’s nice to walk in the woods among humble friends like ironwood.
In the words of Donald Culross Peattie, a 20th century naturalist who never met a tree he didn’t like, “Everything about this little tree is at once serviceable and self-effacing. Such members of any society are easily overlooked, but well worth knowing.”
• Valerie Blaine is the nature programs manager for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. You may reach her at blainevalerie@kaneforest.com.
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