Carpinus fargesiana

An elegant, medium to large, deciduous tree with grey bark on the trunk and dark-brown to grey bark on the branches, which weep at their tips. Rare in cultivation, the tree can reach 20m (66ft) high when mature. It bears attractive, bronze-purple and green new leaves in spring, maturing to green in summer and turning a rich orange-red in autumn. The green, male and female catkins are produced separately on the same tree in April. After fertilisation, the female flowers develop into hop-like clusters in late summer to autumn, containing winged seeds that disperse on the wind when ripe