Carpinus caroliniana Fire King®
Consistent red fall color.
Fire King has an upright branching habit as a youngster and develops a round head with age. A seven-year-old plant from a graft in Wisconsin will be about 1-3/4” in caliper and have a head that is 5’ wide by 6’ tall. This is considerably faster than a typical Carpinus caroliniana seedling of upper Midwestern U.S.A. seed provenance.
Fire King has no serious insect or disease problems. Fire King is useful as a specimen plant because of its outstanding ornamental and carefree characteristics. Like others of this species, it has beautiful, smooth gray bark similar to beech trees. It is especially valued in the wintertime. It has an orange-red fall color that reaches incredible intensity when grown in full sun. The plant could also be used as a broad screen for sun or shade, as it will tolerate both.
Care should be taken to mulch all Carpinus caroliniana plants because of their roots sensitivity to quick freezes.
Who Am I?
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Common Name:Fire King musclewood
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Botanical Name:Carpinus caroliniana 'JN Select A' Fire King® PP#29,969
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Type:Tree
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U.S. Native:YES
Cultural Details
TYPE
U.S. NATIVE
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Full sun
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Average garden soil
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Moist, but well-drained.
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4-8
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Early summer
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green to white
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fall
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greenish-brown
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5' tall by 6' wide in 7 years, 20' tall by 20' wide in 20 years
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None known
What Makes Me Special?
Landscape Use
Origin
Fire King® was selected by Michael Yanny at Johnson’s Nursery in about 2003 for its consistent orange-red fall color, fast growth rate, excellent form and branching, and superior hardiness. The tree was selected from a crop of 563 seedling whips. Most trees in the crop were damaged by a severe snowless winter. Their roots froze out. The majority of the crop was grubbed. It was an open winter, and frost penetration was extremely deep. 12 trees of the 563 had shown good orange or red fall color the previous fall, had good growth rates, and were not damaged by the severe winter. Fire King was the best of these 12 trees.
