In truth, there's not a lot of difference between the 20 or so hornbeam species, so collecting them might have been a little crazy. Still, I’m glad I did. They're all really nice trees. I've got specimens scattered around the yard and I've given several away to friends who are now in my debt and, because of that, try their best to overlook the awful things I routinely say and do when I'm around them. One thing I'll say about hornbeams that I can't say about most of my friends, they look wonderful from a distance and even better up close.