Flowers:
Green (Not ornamentally important)
Foliage:
Green (Dark green in summer); Multi-Colored (Variable fall foliage; from orange-red to yellow)
Fruit:
Brown (Dry fruits (nutlets partly enclosed by bracts) resemble "hops" hanging in pendulous clusters that last into fall)
Soil:
Tolerant of different soil types
Diagnostic Characteristics:
Alternate, simple, serrated 2.5-5" long leaves. Compared to Carpinus betulus, C. caroliniana buds are straight instead of bending around stem, leaves are thinner, less sharply serrated, and veins are less impressed above. Downy, imbricate buds with 4-ranked scales. Terminal bud absent. Smooth, gray, "sinewy" bark