The hornbeam thrives well on stiff, clayey, moist soils, into which its roots penetrate deeply; on chalk or gravel it does not flourish.
In north and central Franee the chief trees are the oak, the beech, rare south of the Loire, and the hornbeam; less important varieties are the birch, poplar, ash, elm and walnut.
Where artificial copsewood is the object, hazel, hornbeam and other bushes may be planted between the oaks; but, when large timber is required, the trees are best without undergrowth.
The woods consist chiefly of pine and hazel upon theApennines, and upon the Calabrian, Sicilian and Sardinian mountains of oak, ilex, hornbeam and similar trees.
The wood of the hornbeam is white and close-grained, and polishes ill, is of considerable tenacity and little flexibility, and is extremely tough and hard to work - whence, according to Gerard, the name of the tree.