Corylus avellana L.
filbert (common filbert; hazelnut)
Betulaceae (Birch family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
filbert (common filbert; hazelnut)
Betulaceae (Birch family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Deciduous shrub, 1-5 m tall with many stems, densely clumped or spreading by suckers; twigs hairy, glandular.
Leaves:
Alternate, deciduous, elliptic to oval, leaf blades heart-shaped with sharp-pointed tips, doubly saw-toothed, paler below than above, 5-10 cm long, turning yellow in the fall.
Flowers:
Male flowers in catkins appearing before the leaves in spring; female flowers in a very small catkin with protruding red stigmas.
Fruits:
Edible, hard-shelled nuts not completely enclosed by thinly downy, lacerated bractlets, in 2's or 3's at the ends of the branches.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Habitat and Range
Moist meadows and thickets in the lowland zone; rare on Saltspring Island and in the Lower Fraser Valley; introduced from Europe.Status Information
Taxonomic Keys
Taxonomic Key to Corylus
1. Twigs sparsely to moderately hairy, sometimes slightly glandular; silicles completely enclosed by bristly bractlets.....................C. cornuta 1. Twigs both hairy and glandular, silicles not completely enclosed by the thinly downy, lacerated bractlets.................................C. avellana |