Corylus

Corylus is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels (with the hornbeams and allied genera) into a separate family Corylaceae.

Description

The Corylus species are small to large deciduous trees or large shrubs, commonly known as hazels. The leaves are simple, rounded, 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 cm 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.

Species

The 14–18 species include:

• Corylus americana – American hazel
• Corylus avellana – Common hazel
• Corylus colurna – Turkish hazel
• Corylus cornuta – Beaked hazel
• Corylus fargesii – Farges' hazel
• Corylus ferox – Himalayan hazel
• Corylus heterophylla – Asian hazel
• Corylus jacquemontii – Jacquemont's hazel
• Corylus maxima – Filbert
• Corylus sieboldiana – Asian beaked hazel

Uses

The nuts of all Corylus species 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.

See also

• List of Lepidoptera that feed on hazels
• Hazelnut

External links

• Corylus at USDA PLANTS Database
• Corylus at Flora of North America

Corylus Resources
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