Hornbeam

Scientific name: Carpinus betulus

Family: Betulaceae

What3Words location: awards.stump.wallet

Origin: native

Maximum height: 30 metres

Lives for: more than 300 years

Hornbeam trees produce the hardest wood of all trees in Europe and it was used to make chariots by romans. Its name could come from the fact that it was also used to make wooden beams called ox yokes, which joined ploughing oxen together via their horns. However, horn means hard and beam means tree in old English, so this is more likely where the trees name originates.