Hazelnuts
Common Name: Common Hazel
Genus & Species: Corylus avellana (L).
Family: Betulaceae
Similar Species: Filbert (Corylus maxima)
Range and Habitat: Hazel grows across much of Europe, parts of north Africa and western Asia, from the British Isles south to Iberia, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, north to central Scandinavia, and east to the central Ural Mountains, the Caucasus, and north-western Iran. In the UK it's often found in the understorey of lowland oak, ash or birch woodland, and in scrub and hedgerows and it forms an important component of the traditional field boundaries in lowland England.
General ID: Common hazel is typically a shrub typically reaching a height of 3–8m tall, but can reach 15m. Trees can live for up to 80 years. Hazel is often coppiced, and if coppiced, hazel can live for several hundred years.
The leaves are deciduous, rounded, 6–12cm long and across, softly hairy on both surfaces, and with a double-serrate margin. The flowers are produced very early in spring, before the leaves, and are monoecious with single-sex wind-pollinated catkins. Male catkins are pale yellow and 5–12cm long, while female flowers are very small and largely concealed in the buds with only the bright red 1–3mm long styles visible.
The fruit is a nut, produced in clusters of one to five together, each nut held in a short leafy involucre ("husk") which encloses about three quarters of the nut. The nut is roughly spherical to oval, 15–20mm long and 12–20mm broad (larger, up to 25mm long, 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.
It is readily distinguished from the closely related filbert (Corylus maxima) by the short involucre; in the filbert the nut is fully enclosed by a beak-like involucre longer than the nut. Varieties which are commonly encountered are the Purple Hazel, actually a filbert cultivar (C. maxima) which has purplish leaves and a pink-purple tinge to the involucre and the Corkscrew Hazel (C. avellana var. ‘contorta) which has spiral stems and is often used as an ornamental.
For food… The seed – that is the nut – can be eaten raw or roasted and used in breads, cakes, biscuits, sweets etc. They can also be liquidized and used as a plant milk. Rich in oil, they are also added to spreads and ‘nut butters’. When kept in a cool place, and not shelled, the seed should store for at least 12 months. A clear yellow edible oil is obtained from the seed. It is used in salad dressings, baking etc. Hazelnuts are used in confections to make pralines, chocolate truffles, and hazelnut paste products. In Austria, hazelnut paste is an ingredient for making tortes, such as Viennese hazelnut torte. In Kiev cake, hazelnut flour is used to flavour its meringue body, and crushed hazelnuts are sprinkled over its sides. Dacquoise, a French dessert cake, often contains a layer of hazelnut meringue. Hazelnuts are used in Turkish cuisine and Georgian cuisine; the snack churchkhela and sauce satsivi are used, often with walnuts. Hazelnuts are also a common constituent of muesli. The nuts may be eaten fresh or dried, having different flavours.
For healing… The bark, leaves, catkins and fruits are sometimes used medicinally. They are astringent, diaphoretic, febrifuge, nutritive and odontalgic. The seed is stomachic and tonic. The oil has a very gentle but constant and effective action in cases of infection with threadworm or pinworm in babies and young children. It should not be confused with Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), an unrelated plant with medicinal uses.
In culture… The nuts contain up to 65% of a non-drying oil, which can be used in paints, cosmetics etc. The whole seed can be used to polish and oil wood. It is very easy to apply and produces a nice finish. The finely ground seeds are used as an ingredient of face masks in cosmetics. Plants can be grown as a tall hedge. They need to be left untrimmed or only lightly trimmed if seed is required. The bark and leaves are a source of tannin. Wood - soft, easy to split, not very durable, beautifully veined. Used for inlay work, small items of furniture, basketry, pea sticks etc. They are a traditional component of hurdles, and provide the wattles for wattle and daub construction. The wood also yields a good quality charcoal, used by artists, and much traditional charcoal production took place in, and was responsible for, hazel coppices.
Hazel has a reputation as a magical tree. A hazel rod is supposed to protect against evil spirits, as well as being a traditional material for the creation of wands for witches. The twigs are used as dowsing rods by water diviners. In some parts of England, hazelnuts were carried as charms and/or held to ward off rheumatism. In Ireland, hazel was known as the 'Tree of Knowledge’ said to grow around the well of inspiration, and in medieval times it was a symbol of fertility.
For wildlife… Coppiced hazel provides shelter for ground-nesting birds, such as the Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), Yellowhammer (Emberiza citronella) and Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus). Hazelnuts are also eaten by woodpeckers (family Picidae), nuthatches (family Sittidae), tits (family Paridae), wood pigeons (Columba palumbus), jays (Garrulus garrulus) and small mammals.
Hazel has long been associated with one small mammal in particular, the Common Dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius), also known as the Hazel Dormouse for its fondness for these trees. Not only are hazelnuts eaten by dormice to fatten up for hibernation, but in spring the leaves are a good source of caterpillars, which the dormice also eat. Hazel flowers provide early pollen as a food for bees. However, bees find it difficult to collect and can only gather it in small loads. This is because the pollen of wind-pollinated hazel is not sticky and each grain actually repels against another.
Hazel leaves provide food for the caterpillars of a very wide range of Lepidoptera such as Bucculatrix demaryella, Alabonia geoffrella and Esperia oliviella which don’t have common English names, Many of the Case-bearer moths of the genus Coleophora including C. anatipennella, C. badiipennella, C. binderella, C. fuscocuprella, C. paripennella, and C. serratella. There are also many species of lepidoptera with common names such as the Buff Arches (Habrosyne pyritoides), Dotted Border (Agriopis marginaria), Light Emerald (Campaea margaritata), Scalloped Oak (Crocallis elinguaria), Small White Wave (Asthena albulata), Barred Umber (Plagodis pulveraria), Nut-Tree Tussock (Colocasia coryli), Mottled Umber (Erannis defoliaria), Autumnal Moth (Epirrita autumnata), Pale November Moth (Epirrita christyi), November Moth (Epirrita dilutata), Large Emerald (Geometra papilionaria), Common Emerald (Hemithea aestivaria), Clouded Border (Lomaspilis marginate), Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata), Miller (Acronicta leporina), Grey Dagger (Acronicta psi), Dun-Bar (Cosmia trapezina), Satellite (Eupsilia transversa), Hebrew Character (Orthosia gothica), Rough Prominent (Nadata gibbose), Buff-Tip (Phalera bucephala), Io Moth (Automeris io) and Walnut Sphinx (Amorpha juglandis).
The trunks are often covered in mosses, liverworts and lichens, and the fiery milkcap fungus (Lactarius pyrolagus) grows in the soil beneath. The open canopy of a hazel coppice provides a good habitat for woodland wildflowers such as the Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa) and the English Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta).
At FFPG… At FFPG Hazel can be found in the orchard, forest garden and chill out area, with both native wild form and purple-leaved cultivars being present.
Disclaimer:
This is intended for information only. FFPG, its staff, trustees and volunteers do not make any claim as to the safety or efficacy of plants listed for medicinal purposes and do not encourage the consumption or use of any of the plants listed herein. Anybody wishing to use plants for medicinal effect is advised to consult their medical professional.