The Collaborative International Dictionary
Hornbeam \Horn"beam`\, n. [See Beam.] (Bot.) A tree of the genus Carpinus ( Carpinus Americana), having a smooth gray bark and a ridged trunk, the wood being white and very hard. It is common along the banks of streams in the United States, and is also called ironwood. The English hornbeam is Carpinus Betulus. The American is called also blue beech and water beech.
Hop hornbeam. (Bot.) See under Hop.
Wiktionary
n. 1 ''Carpinus caroliniana'', a species of deciduous tree. 2 (context uncountable English) The wood of this species. 3 (context countable English) A tree of this species.
Usage examples of "blue beech".
We had been days on the water and had paid little mind to the forest we were passing through, but this was big timber, giant sycamores, blue beech, river birch, and clumps of black willow, with here and there a table of rhododendrons.