''Corylus americana'', the American hazelnut or American hazel, is a species of

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

shrub in the genus ''

Corylus The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

'', native to the

eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

and

central United States The Central United States is sometimes conceived as between the Eastern and Western as part of a three-region model, roughly coincident with the U.S. Census' definition of the Midwestern United States plus the western and central portions o ...

and extreme southern parts of eastern and central

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Description

The American hazelnut grows to a height of roughly , with a crown spread of . It is a medium to large shrub, which under some conditions can take the like of a small tree. It is often multi-stemmed with long outward growing branches that form a dense spreading or spherical shape. It spreads by sending up suckers from underground rhizomes below the surface. It blooms in very early to mid spring, producing hanging male (

staminate The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

) catkins long, and clusters of 2–5 tiny female ( pistillate) flowers enclosed in the protective bracts of a bud, with their red styles sticking out at the tip. The male catkins develop in the fall and remain over the winter. Each male flower on a catkin has a pair of bracts and four stamens. American hazelnut produces edible nuts that mature at a time between July and October. Each nut is enclosed in two leaf-like bracts with irregularly

laciniate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf plant morphology, morphology in the description and taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflet (bo ...

margins. Hazelnut (25333137603).jpg, Small bud-like female flowers and hanging male catkins Corylus americana0.jpg, Fruit cluster (nuts enclosed in leaflike bracts)

Ecology

The nuts produced by American hazelnut are a mast of squirrels,

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, woodpeckers,

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

s and other animals. The male catkins are a food staple of

ruffed grouse The ruffed grouse (''Bonasa umbellus'') is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is the most widely distributed game bird in North America. It is non-migratory. It is the only specie ...

throughout the winter.

Uses

The nuts are edible raw, although smaller than the more commonly cultivated filberts (''

Corylus maxima The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...

'', ''

Corylus colurna ''Corylus colurna'', the Turkish hazel or Turkish filbert, is a deciduous tree native to southeast Europe and southwest Asia, from the Balkans through northern Turkey to northern Iran. It is also found growing wild in the forests of Western Himal ...

'', ''

Corylus avellana ''Corylus avellana'', the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia. It is an important component of the hedgerows that were the traditional field boundaries in lowland En ...

'', and hybrids thereof). Native Americans used ''Corylus americana'' for medicinal purposes.

Cultivation

''Corylus americana'' is cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

for

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

gardens, and in

wildlife garden A wildlife garden (or wild garden) is an environment created by a gardener that serves as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibian ...

s to attract and keep fauna in an area. There are cultivated hybrids of ''Corylus americana'' with ''

'' which aim to combine the larger nuts of the latter with the former's resistance to a North American fungus '' Cryptosporella anomala''. It is a medium to fast-growing species, that suckers moderately, eventually producing a multi-stemmed, clump appearance. It adapts well to a range of soil pH and types, but does best on well-drained loams. American hazelnut prefers full sun for best growth and development. Though it can grow and persist in partial shade, plant density and fruit production are greatly reduced.

References

External links

''Corylus americana''
Photos, drawings, description from Nature Manitoba. {{Taxonbar, from=Q468659

americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

Edible nuts and seeds Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the Southeastern United States Plants described in 1788 Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Garden plants of North America