Description

Leaves: Alternate; simple; wide and ovate to obovate; 2-1/2" to 6" long; deciduous; sharply, doubly serrate margin; rounded to heart-shaped base; acuminate apex; dark green and glabrous above; hairy on veins beneath; yellow to purple in fall but not effective; petiole 1/2" to 1" long.

Twigs/buds: Twigs pubescent and bumpy; grayish-brown; with small cracks developing with age down the length of the stem.  No terminal bud; lateral buds 1/3" long, rounded, downy scales, green-brown.

Flowers/fruit: Monoecious.  Fruit an edible nut, 1/2" to 5/8" diameter, attached to a large, leafy bract

Bark: Light brown; flaky; orange-brown inner bark exposed as scales fall off.

Wood: Unimportant; little used.  Diffuse-porous.

General: Native to southeast Europe and western Asia.  Medium growth rate, medium-sized tree.  Tolerates a wide variety of conditions including high soil pH, and moderate drought, and fairly cold temperatures.  Shade intolerant.

Landscape Use: Another very good tree that is not planted enough and will be difficult to find.  Zones 4-8.  Other, shrubby hazels with edible nuts worth trying in Utah are American hazelnut (Corylus americana) and beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta and C. cornuta var. californica).

Cultivars: 'Obelisk'.

Characteristics