Pic: Tree full of hop cones!

[Germelli1]

So I came across this tree today on campus:



After digging in some of my forestry books for an identification, I actually ruled out the possibility that it is the common "Hoptree" (I have never seen one of these before).

After a little more digging to procrastinate from actual work, I figured out it is actually in the Birch family. With those leaves I was expecting it to be one of the crazy cultivar varieties of disease resistant Elm. Alas, it is Ostrya arpinifolia of the Betulaceae family. Googling the botanical name gave me the common name of "Hop Hornbeam".

And yes, I checked...The cones are aroma-free

 

[bierhaus15]

Cool find. I wonder if they grow well up here...

 

[Law_Brew]

They do, we had them on campus in Syracuse.

I think its more likely to be Ostrya virginiana Eastern Hop-Hornbeam. They are more common to the area

 

[IrregularPulse]

Do they have any bittering properties at least?