Hazel

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Hazels
Corylus avellana 0001.JPG
Common hazel (Corylus avellana)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Betulaceae
Subfamily: Coryloideae
Genus: Corylus
L.
Type species
Corylus avellana
L.
Species

See text for species.

Synonyms [1]

LopimaDochnahl

Young male catkins of Corylus avellana Catkins Corylus avellana-Mont Bart-5124~2015 12 26.JPG
Young male catkins of Corylus avellana

Hazels are plants of the genus Corylus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, [2] [3] [4] [5] though some botanists split the hazels (with the hornbeams and allied genera) into a separate family Corylaceae. [6] [7] The fruit of the hazel is the hazelnut.

Contents

Hazels have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins. The flowers are produced very early in spring before the leaves, and are monoecious, with single-sex catkins. The male catkins are pale yellow and 5–12 centimetres (2–4+3⁄4 inches) long, and the female ones are very small and largely concealed in the buds, with only the bright-red, 1-to-3 mm-long styles visible. The fruits are nuts 1–2.5 cm (1⁄2–1 in) long and 1–2 cm diameter, surrounded by an involucre (husk) which partly to fully encloses the nut. [4]

The shape and structure of the involucre, and also the growth habit (whether a tree or a suckering shrub), are important in the identification of the different species of hazel. [4]

The pollen of hazel species, which are often the cause for allergies in late winter or early spring, can be identified under magnification (600×) by their characteristic granular exines bearing three conspicuous pores. [8]

Species

Corylus has around 14–18 species. The circumscription of species in eastern Asia is disputed, with World Flora Online and the Flora of China differing in which taxa are accepted, within this region. WFO accepts 17 species while Flora of China accepts 20 species (including Corylus mandshurica).

Only those taxa accepted by both sources are listed below. [9] [10] [11]

The species are grouped as follows:

Several hybrids exist, and they can occur between species in different sections of the genus, e.g. Corylus × colurnoides (C. avellana × C. colurna). The oldest confirmed hazel species is Corylus johnsonii found as fossils in the Ypresian-age rocks of Ferry County, Washington. [12]

Chilean hazel ( Gevuina avellana ), despite its name, is not related to this genus. [13]


Ecology

At least 21 species of fungus have a mutualistic relationship with hazel. Lactarius pyrogalus grows almost exclusively on hazel, and hazel is one of two kinds of host for the rare Hypocreopsis rhododendri . Several rare species of Graphidion lichen depend on hazel trees. In the UK, five species of moth are specialised to feed on hazel including Parornix devoniella . Animals which eat hazelnuts include red deer, dormouse and red squirrel. [14]

Uses

Hazel coppice in winter at Bubbenhall in Warwickshire, England Hazel coppice, Bubbenhall Wood. - geograph.org.uk - 1709242.jpg
Hazel coppice in winter at Bubbenhall in Warwickshire, England

The nuts of all hazels are edible. The common hazel is the species most extensively grown for its nuts, followed in importance by the filbert. Nuts are also harvested from the other species, but apart from the filbert, none is of significant commercial importance. [5]

A number of cultivars of the common hazel and filbert are grown as ornamental plants in gardens, including forms with contorted stems (C. avellana 'Contorta', popularly known as "Corkscrew hazel" or "Harry Lauder's walking stick" from its gnarled appearance); with weeping branches (C. avellana 'Pendula'); and with purple leaves (C. maxima 'Purpurea').

Hazel is a traditional material used for making wattle, withy fencing, baskets, and the frames of coracle boats. The tree can be coppiced, [15] and regenerating shoots allow for harvests every few years. There is a 7 year cycle (cut and grow) for hurdle (fence) making. [16]

Hazels are used as food plants by the larvae of various species of Lepidoptera. Including Eriocrania chrysolepidella . [17]

Culture

The Celts believed hazelnuts gave one wisdom and inspiration. There are numerous variations on an ancient tale that nine hazel trees grew around a sacred pool, dropping into the water nuts that were eaten by salmon (a fish sacred to Druids), which absorbed the wisdom. A Druid teacher, in his bid to become omniscient, caught one of these special salmon and asked a student to cook the fish, but not to eat it. While he was cooking it, a blister formed and the pupil used his thumb to burst it, which he naturally sucked to cool, thereby absorbing the fish's wisdom. This boy was called Fionn Mac Cumhail (Fin McCool) and went on to become one of the most heroic leaders in Gaelic mythology. [18]

"The Hazel Branch" from Grimms' Fairy Tales claims that hazel branches offer the greatest protection from snakes and other things that creep on the earth. In the Grimm tale "Cinderella", a hazel branch is planted by the protagonist at her mother's grave and grows into a tree that is the site where the girl's wishes are granted by birds. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betulaceae</span> Family of flowering plants comprising hazel and birch trees

Betulaceae, the birch family, includes six genera of deciduous nut-bearing trees and shrubs, including the birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams, hazel-hornbeam, and hop-hornbeams numbering a total of 167 species. They are mostly natives of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with a few species reaching the Southern Hemisphere in the Andes in South America. Their typical flowers are catkins and often appear before leaves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hornbeam</span> Genus of flowering plants

Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus Carpinus in the family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nut (fruit)</span> In botany, type of dry indehiscent fruit

A nut is a fruit consisting of a hard or tough nutshell protecting a kernel which is usually edible. In general usage and in a culinary sense, many dry seeds are called nuts. In a botanical context, "nut" implies that the shell does not open to release the seed (indehiscent).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazelnut</span> Nut of the hazel tree

The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus Corylus, especially the nuts of the species Corylus avellana. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according to species.

<i>Corylus avellana</i> Species of tree (common hazel)

Corylus avellana, the common hazel, is a species of flowering plant in the birch family Betulaceae, native to Europe and Western Asia. It is an important component of the hedgerows that were, historically, used as property and field boundaries in lowland England. The wood was traditionally grown as coppice, with the poles cut being used for wattle-and-daub building, and agricultural fencing.

<i>Corylus maxima</i> Species of tree

Corylus maxima, the filbert, is a species of hazel in the birch family Betulaceae, native to southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, from the Balkans to Ordu in Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catkin</span> Cylindrical flower cluster

A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster, with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated. They contain many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged closely along a central stem that is often drooping. They are found in many plant families, including Betulaceae, Fagaceae, Moraceae, and Salicaceae.

<i>Corylus colurna</i> Species of tree native to Europe and Asia

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.

<i>Corylus cornuta</i> Species of tree

Corylus cornuta, the beaked hazelnut, is a deciduous shrubby hazel with two subspecies found throughout most of North America.

<i>Ostryopsis</i> Genus of shrubs

Ostryopsis is a small genus of deciduous shrubs belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. The species have no common English name, though hazel-hornbeam has been suggested, reflecting their similarities to the closely related hazels and hop-hornbeams.

Filbert may refer to:

<i>Anisogramma anomala</i> Species of fungus

Anisogramma anomala is a plant pathogen that causes a disease known as Eastern filbert blight on Corylus spp. (hazlenut). Also known as EFB.

<i>Gevuina</i> Species of plant

Gevuina avellana is an evergreen tree, up to 20 meters tall. It is the only species currently classified in the genus Gevuina. It is native to southern Chile and adjacent valleys in Argentina. It is found from sea level to 700 meters above sea level. Its distribution extends from 35° to 44° south latitude. The composite leaves are bright green and toothed, and the tree is in flower between July and November. The flowers are very small and beige to whitish, are bisexual and group two by two in long racemes. The fruit is a dark red nut when young and turns black. The peel is woody. It can grow up straight or branched from the soil, making up either a tree or a shrub.

<i>Corylus heterophylla</i> Species of tree

Corylus heterophylla, the Asian hazel, is a species of hazel native to eastern Asia in northern and central China, Korea, Japan, and southeastern Siberia.

<i>Corylus americana</i> Species of flowering plant

Corylus americana, the American hazelnut or American hazel, is a species of deciduous shrub in the genus Corylus, native to the eastern and central United States and extreme southern parts of eastern and central Canada.

<i>Corylus johnsonii</i> Extinct species of flowering plant

Corylus johnsonii is an extinct species of hazel known from fossil fruits found in the Klondike Mountain Formation deposits of northern Washington state, dated to the early Eocene Ypresian stage. Based on described features, C. johnsonii is the oldest definite species in the genus Corylus.

<i>Corylus chinensis</i> Species of tree

Corylus chinensis, common names Chinese filbert and Chinese hazel, is a deciduous tree native to western China. This tree is considered vulnerable due to its rarity.

<i>Phytoptus avellanae</i> Species of mite

Phytoptus avellanae is an acarine gall-mite species inducing big bud galls of up to 10 millimetres (0.39 in) across, sometimes slightly open, on the buds of hazel and on filbert. Synonyms include Phytocoptella avellanae, Eriophyes avellanae, Calycophthora avellanae, Phytoptus coryli, Phytoptus pseudogallarum, and Acarus pseudogallarum. The mites are white, about 0.3 mm long, with numerous tergites and sternites. Two forms of P. avellanae exist, a gall causer and a vagrant form that has a more complex life-cycle and does not form galls.

<i>Corylus jacquemontii</i> Species of tree

Corylus jacquemontii is a species of hazel, found in Asia, within the Himalayas and from Afghanistan through to W. Nepal. It is a small tree or shrub, with grey bark, ovate or obovate (teardrop-shaped) leaves, small flowers and small edible nuts, grouped in small clusters.

References

  1. ↑ Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ↑ Germplasmgobills Information Network: Corylus Archived 2009-01-14 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Chen, Zhi-Duan; Manchester, Steven R; Sun, Hai-Ying (August 1999). "Phylogeny and evolution of the Betulaceae as inferred from DNA sequences, morphology, and paleobotany". American Journal of Botany. 86 (8): 1168–1181. doi: 10.2307/2656981 . ISSN   0002-9122. JSTOR   2656981. PMID   10449397.
  4. 1 2 3 Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins ISBN   0-00-220013-9.
  5. 1 2 Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN   0-333-47494-5.
  6. ↑ Bean, William Jackson (1976). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles. Vol. 1. Taylor, George (8th ed.). London: J. Murray. ISBN   0719517907. OCLC   103403.
  7. ↑ Erdogan, V.; Mehlenbacher, S. A. (2002). "Phylogenetic analysis of hazelnut species (Corylus, Corylacae) based on morphology and phenology". Sist. Bot. Dergisi. 9: 83–100.
  8. ↑ Airy, Hubert (1874). "Pollen-grains in the Air". Nature. 10 (253): 355. Bibcode:1874Natur..10..355A. doi: 10.1038/010355b0 . S2CID   4077214.
  9. ↑ "Corylus L." Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  10. ↑ "Corylus in Flora of China @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  11. ↑ Flora of North America: Corylus
  12. ↑ Pigg, K.B.; Manchester S.R.; Wehr W.C. (2003). "Corylus, Carpinus, and Palaeocarpinus (Betulaceae) from the Middle Eocene Klondike Mountain and Allenby Formations of Northwestern North America". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 164 (5): 807–822. doi:10.1086/376816. S2CID   19802370.
  13. ↑ Crawford, Martin (2020). Shrubs for Gardens, Agroforestry and Permaculture. Permanent Publications. ISBN   978-1-85623-342-2.
  14. ↑ Trees for Life - Hazel
  15. ↑ "Coppicing". Small Woods. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  16. ↑ "TYPES OF WOODLAND MANAGEMENT" . Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  17. ↑ "Paracrania chrysolepidella[Lepidoptera: Eriocraniidae] in Leaf and stem mines of British flies and other insects". www.ukflymines.co.uk. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  18. ↑ Floriz: Mythology and Folklore of the Hazel Tree Archived 2012-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ Pitt.edu https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm021.html June 1, 2011
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