#77 COMMON HAZEL
Corylus avellana
Planted:
This can be found at the east end of the Grass Path, on the north side.
| Distribution: | Native to Europe, western and central Asia. |
| Planting Date: | Self sown |
| Growth Habit: | A multi-stemmed deciduous shrub that responds well to coppicing – regular cutting down to ground level. The resulting stumps are called stools. |
| Bark: | Smooth grey-brown – peels with age. |
| Leaf: | Rounded, 6 to 12 cm long and across, softly hairy on both surfaces, and with a double-serrate margin. |
| Flowers: | Produced very early in spring, before the leaves, and are monoecious with single-sex wind-pollenated catkins. Male catkins are pale yellow and 5 to 12 cm long, while female flowers are very small and largely concealed in the buds with only the bright red 1 to 3 mm styles visible. |
| Fruit: | The nut is produced in clusters of one to five, each held in a short leafy involucre (husk) which encloses about three-quarters. Roughly spherical to oval, 15 to 20 mm long and 12 to 20 mm broad (larger, in some cultivated selections), yellow-brown with a pale scar at the base. The nut falls out of the involucre when ripe, about 7–8 months after pollination. |
| Toxicity: | A valuable food source – rich in protein and unsaturated fat. They also contain significant amounts of trace elements. |
| Potential tree size: | 3 to 8m |
| Uses: | An important component of hedgerows. Mainly cultivated for its nuts. The wood was traditionally grown as coppice, with the cut poles being used in agriculture. |
| Plant Hunter: | Native |
| Introduction Date: | Native |
| Anecdotes and Comments: | The scientific name avellana was selected by Linnaeus in 1542. It derives from the name of a town in Italy where the species was described as Avellana nux sylvestris ‘wild nut of Avella’. |