Flowers are monoecious and borne in catkins. Fruit is a nutlet in a pendant, hop-like structure. Ostrya Species Bud scales are marked with fine, longitudinal lines. Buds are not conspicuously variable in size or angle. Leaves with each side vein form one or two branches near the margin of the leaf.
Teeth are of nearly the same size, making a uniformly toothed leaf margin.
The bark of the trunk and main branches strips off in thin shreds. The tree gets its common names from the qualities of its wood and the hop-like fruit. The top consists of long, slender branches commonly drooping toward the ends. It is mostly found on dry soils throughout the upland regions. It normally exists as an understory tree, but is larger than the American hornbeam and likely to have a single stem.