The leaves are alternate, 4–9 cm (1.6–3.5 in) long, with prominent veins giving a distinctive corrugated texture, and a serrated margin.

Three fossil fruits of Carpinus betulus have been extracted from borehole samples of the Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians, Poland.

[3] Carpinus betulus likes full sun or partial shade,[5] moderate soil fertility and moisture.

It has a shallow, wide-spreading root system and is marked by the production of stump sprouts when cut back.

[6] Carpinus betulus is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree, for planting in gardens and parks throughout north west Europe.

[7] Both the species C. betulus and the cultivar 'Fastigiata' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

[5][8] As early as Roman times, but also during the Thirty Years' War, defensive hedges (Landwehr) in Central Europe were largely planted from hornbeams.

In the 11th century, for example, the Electorate of Mainz set up a large defensive forest called the Rheingauer Gebück [de].

[11] This was the reason for lopping and hence indirectly the saving of Epping Forest, where the hornbeam was a favoured pollarding tree.