Corylus cornuta, the beaked hazelnut (or just beaked hazel), is a deciduous shrubby hazel with two subspecies found throughout most of North America.
Description
The beaked hazelnut can reach tall with stems thick with smooth gray bark, but it can also remain relatively small in the shade of other plants. It typically grows with several trunks.
The leaves are arranged in an alternate pattern. They are a rounded oval shape with a pointed tip and irregularly double-toothed margins. The leaves are long and broad, with soft and hairy undersides.
The male flowers are firm catkins which form in clusters of 1-3 units on the previous year's twigs. They become elongated and pendulous in spring. Single female flowers develop in early spring.
- Corylus cornuta var. cornuta – Eastern beaked hazel. Small shrub, tall; The California hazelnut is believed to be resistant to Eastern filbert blight.
Distribution and habitat
Eastern beaked hazel is found from southern Canada south to Georgia, while the Western beaked hazel occurs along the west coast from Alaska to California.
Ecology
Although C. cornuta is somewhat shade tolerant, it is more common in forests with fairly open canopies than denser ones. The hazelnut weevil feeds solely off the Western beaked hazel.
Native Americans used the sprouts to create baskets, fish traps, and baby carriers. The nuts were eaten and commonly used as a trade good among indigenous groupsboth the Lewis and Clark expedition and prolific early naturalist David Douglas bartered for beaked hazelnuts with local peoples they encountered. It was used medicinally as emetic, for deworming, as an astringent, and for teething. While the beaked hazelnut does not produce as many nuts as commercial European species such as the common hazel or filbert, it is more resistant to common diseases, and has been used in breeding programs to create high-yield, disease resistant hybrids.