The Hazel family of big deciduous multi-stemmed shrubs and trees produces delicious spherical hazelnuts. The rounded leaves with serrated margins, dangling cylindrical flower clusters, and smooth brown bark distinguish hazel trees and shrubs. The most hazelnuts are produced by the common hazel (Corylus avellana). The big blooming tree Corylus americana produces edible nuts and is native to the United States.
This article will help you identify the most frequent types of hazels that may be found in a natural environment. The features and characteristics of this nut-producing shrub-like tree will be highlighted by descriptions and images of hazel leaves, bark, flowers, and fruit.
Hazel Facts
In the plant genus Corylus and the birch family Betulaceae, Hazel is a blooming shrub or tree. The tree looks like a huge shrub with a spherical, umbrella-like canopy because of its clustering tendency. The shrub-like tree grows between 8 and 20 feet (2.5 and 6 meters) tall, depending on the hazel species. Many of the hazel tree and shrub species native to eastern and central North America are around 18 in number. The hardy deciduous tree thrives in full sun and well-drained organically rich soil in USDA zones 4 through 9, and performs best when planted.
Hazel trees grow about 15 inches (40 cm) per year in ideal circumstances. The growth rate of a hazel tree is usually around 5 years. A hazel tree might survive for up to 80 years. After two or three years, most hazel trees and shrubs produce nuts. Small to large gardens may benefit from these common hazels, such as European and American hazels.
Hedges, screens, and cottage gardens alike benefit from multi-stemmed shrubs. Regular pruning of the suckers allows you to create a single-stem blooming nut tree by growing a hazelnut tree.
Hazel Leaves
Hazel tree leaves are jagged and have double-toothed borders, giving them a rough appearance. The stems support alternating small leaves that range from 2.5 to 4.7 inches (6 to 12 cm) long and broad. From spring through summer, Hazel leaves are green, then golden yellow in the autumn.
Hazel Bark
The bark of a mature Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna) tree is smooth and light brown or light gray in color. The lenticels or pores visible around the hazel bark’s trunk are an identifying feature. The bark of the hazel tree becomes rough, scaly when it matures, with deep fissures.
Hazel Flowers (Catkins)
Male hazel catkins (catkins) on the left. Female blooms on the hazel tree are catkins (cylindrical flower clusters) that bloom in late winter and early spring. Yellow flower clusters hang in pairs or triplets, with a reddish tint. The little female blooms appear on the same twig as the catkins, and both male and female blooms bloom on the same tree.
Between 2 and 4 inches (5 and 10 cm) long, Hazel blooms. The light green foliage in bloom contrasts with the masses of pendulous yellowish catkins.
Hazel Fruit
Hazelnuts are small brown oval nuts measuring 0.5″ (1.3 cm) in diameter that grow from immature and mature fruit of the hazel tree. The green nuts are placed in a cup of green bracts when they first emerge. When mature, the nuts have a warm brown color and a slightly flattened end.
The kernel is enclosed inside a papery coating and has a slightly wrinkled lumpy appearance within the thin, brittle shell. Hazelnuts have a sweet, smoky flavor that is described as moderate. Small chestnuts look like ripe hazelnuts.
Whole hazelnuts with two kernels (one has been removed)
How to Identify Hazel
The leaves, bark, flowers, and fruit of Hazel trees are used to identify them. A multi-stemmed tree with a rounded canopy is ideal. Hazel has rounded to oval green leaves with double serrated margins that are characteristic of the species. Late in the winter, yellowish catkins emerge, and from August through October, tiny nuts develop.
Types of Hazel (with Pictures) – Identification Guide
Take a closer look at the different types of hazel trees and shrubs that you can cultivate in your yard landscape.
American Hazelnut (Corylus americana)
The American hazelnut is a massive deciduous shrub with rough foliage, dark green serrated ovate leaves, and gorgeous yellowish blooms that bloom in early spring on bare branches. The outward expanding branches of American hazelnut bushes create a lovely rounded head that grow as a clumping plant. The American hazelnut shrub grows 10 to 16 feet (3 to 5 meters) tall and 8 to 13 feet (2.4 to 4 meters) wide.
USDA zones 4 through 9 are ideal for the cold-hardy shrub. Female clusters of red flowers (female) or yellowish-brown flowers (male) blooming on the same shrub are American hazelnut flowers. When they bloom early in the season, showy hazelnut blooms help to brighten up a dreary winter landscape. The flowers are 1.5–3.25 inches (4–8 cm) long and have a cylindrical shape.
From late July until October, American hazelnut fruits are edible nuts that can be gathered. The leafy, ragged-looking papery husks of the egg-shaped nuts grow. The flavor of American hazelnut bushes is comparable to European ones.
American hazelnut shrub leaves have serrated edges and a pointed apex, and are identified by immature fruit. The leaves also have prominent veins, which you may notice. The thick foliage of American hazelnut bushes makes them ideal for summer hedges. In the fall, the green leaves turn rose, burgundy, yellow, and orange hues.
Plant the shrub in full sun to part shade to grow American hazelnut in a garden landscape. In well-drained soil kept moist, the nut-producing shrub performs best. The shrub can grow in clay soil, despite its preference for loamy soil. In the shade, the American hazelnut tree produces fewer nuts per season, but it also grows there.
The Dark Green Leaves With Doubly Serrate Borders Of American Hazelnut Make It Recognizable. The leaves are 3 to 6 inches (7.5 to 15 cm) long. The yellowish dangling flowers of a hazelnut shrub may be seen in late winter. American hazelnut is a multi-stemmed shrub with rounded branches in the landscape.
Common Hazel (Corylus avellana)
The European hazel is a tall suckering shrub with a spreading, umbrella-like canopy that grows on the common hazel (Corylus avellana). The showy yellowish blooms, rounded serrated leaves, and greenish papery parcels with edible brown nuts that develop in this species of hazel distinguish it.
European hazel bushes are 12 to 20 feet (3.6 to 6 meters) tall and broad, with a height of 15 feet (4.5 meters). The common hazelnut shrub grows in full sun to partial shade and prefers moist, well-drained soil. It’s also known as European filbert. USDA zones 4 through 8 are ideal for the multi-stemmed blooming shrub.
You can grow a specimen nut tree by pruning back suckers from the hazel shrub, which may be planted in shrub borders or grown as a screen or hedge. In late winter, long pendant clusters of light-yellow catkins emerge on common hazel bushes. The dangling blooms, which bloom in clusters of two or three, range from 2″ to 4.7″ (5 – 12 cm) long. In preparation for spring, the yellow hazel blossoms brighten up a bleak winter landscape.
On the upright-growing shrub, there are plenty of male and female European hazelnuts. The high-quality brown nuts that Corylus avellana produces make it typically grown commercially. The light-brown spherical nuts are 0.8” (2 cm) in diameter and grow in clusters of one to five.
Common hazel leaves have double serrated margins and are rounded to ovate in shape when young and old. The 4″ (10 cm) long and broad medium green leaves are up to 4″ (10 cm) long and broad. The ordinary hazel tree’s foliage becomes brilliant yellow in the autumn, just before falling.
Coppicing the plant is a common way to grow common hazel bushes. To encourage more suckers to grow, coppicing a hazelnut shrub requires trimming the plant. Long, flexible stems produced by coppiced hazel bushes are ideal for weaving baskets and fencing.
The widespread hazel shrub or European hazelnut has distinctive oval leaves with double-toothed borders, long drooping flower clusters, and brown edible nuts.
Beaked Hazel (Corylus cornuta)
Corylus cornuta var. The beaked hazel, also known as the California hazel, is a little deciduous shrub with doubly-serrated ovate leaves, finger-like yellowish catkins, and tiny oval edible nuts. The nut-producing shrub grows between 4 and 12 feet (1.2 and 2.6 meters) tall and broad, also known as the beaked filbert.
The rounded crown and densely growing thick foliage of the hazel shrub help to identify it in the landscape. Flowers appear as cylindrical yellowish clusters on beaked hazel bushes, which bloom from late winter to early spring. The dangling blooms add brightness to a winter garden and bloom at the end of short branches.
The distinct fruits of beaked hazel shrubs are a distinguishing feature. Hairy green husks with a long tubular beak are used to store the edible brown nuts. In late summer and early fall, the delectable, spherical nuts are ready to be picked.
Beaked hazel plants have rounded medium green leaves with pointed tips, which is another characteristic of the species. They have double-serrated margins, just like other hazel shrub leaves. The fuzzy undersides of beaked hazel shrub leaves are caused by soft hairs. Beaked hazels turn golden yellow in the fall.
Because of the long, stretched beak-like reddish or green husks that cover the fruit, beaked hazel leaf shrubs are simple to identify in the landscape. The pointed leaves of beaked hazels have serrated edges and yellow catkins, which distinguish them.
Filbert (Corylus maxima)
Filbert is a huge hazel tree with rounded leaves, pale yellow catkins, and clusters of edible brown nuts. It is named for Corylus maxima. Filbert is a huge hazel tree with a spreading circular canopy that grows 12 to 15 feet (3.6 to 4.5 m) tall. The edible hazelnuts have an extended beak-like casing, similar to the beaked hazel. Filbert is a species that resembles a tree, unlike other kinds of hazelnut plants.
The multiple stems grow together to form a vase shape with a rounded crown, despite the fact that it has suckering growth. Filbert’s green leaves are double-toothed and have a wide ovary shape. Soft hairs cover the undersides of leaves, giving them a fuzzy appearance. The longest leaf on each plant is 5 inches (13 cm) long. In the autumn, the dark green pointed leaves lose their luster and turn yellow.
Filbert catkins bloom in late winter or early spring, with clusters of long pendulous flowers, as do all types of hazelnut shrubs. The pinkish-red or dusty pink blooms are 2″ to 4″ (5 – 10 cm) long and feature long finger-like dangling petals.
After blooming, clusters of green and red husks appear from male and female Filbert flowers. The large nut inside measures 0.5″ to 1″ (1.2 cm) long and looks like beaked hazel fruits with papery husks.
In the United States, the common hazelnut is grown for nut production and is closely related to the Filbert fruit. The tubular husk of the filbert distinguishes it from the European hazelnut. The cultivar Corylus maxima ‘Purpurea,’ for example, is one of the most gorgeous types of hazel available. It has dark purple leaves that are almost black in color and is perfect for creating an attractive landscape shrub in gardens.
Hazelnuts grow in green and red tubular husks, and the rounded light green leaves with doubly-toothed margins of Corylus maxima ‘Purpurea’ Hazel Filbert hazel shrubs are readily recognized.
Turkish Hazel (Corylus colurna)
Turkish hazel has a clear pyramidal crown, short central trunk, and ovate glossy green leaves that mature and young tree. The tree blossoms with yellow flowers in the spring. Corky bark with a mottled gray roughness, peeling to disclose patches of orange, is what the bark on the Turkish hazel tree is called.
The flowers of Turkish hazel trees, which hang in long cascades of light-yellow catkins, are unique. Flowers that are 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) long are modest. The Turkish hazel blooms later in the early spring than other types of hazel, which blooms in late winter.
Male Turkish hazel catkins (catkins). Left: an obovate or ovate leaf with serrated borders, like a little reddish female hazel blossom amid the male catkins. The leaves are 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) long and 4 to 10 inches (10 to 25 cm) broad. Turkish hazel leaves turn a drab yellow color when they change color in the fall.
Apart from Florida, southern Texas, and California, Turkish hazels grow throughout the United States. They are hardy in USDA zones 4 through 7. Cold winters, hot summers, drought, wind, and a variety of soil types are all tolerable to the hardy tree. With the exception of the tip of the nut, the fruit of the Turkish hazel tree is roughly (0.4″–0.8″) 1–2 cm in diameter and covered with a spiky or bristly soft husk.
The Turkish hazel is an upright tree with a central leader, unlike most other nut-bearing hazel shrubs. As a result, creating a wide shade tree does not require trimming suckering branches. The Turkish hazel is a lovely, majestic nut tree that grows 40 to 80 feet (12 to 24 meters) tall with a distinctive lovely conical form.
The Turkish hazel tree is distinguished by its pyramidal crown, small clusters of yellow catkins, nuts encased in hairy husks, and large glossy green leaves with serrated margins.
Asian Hazel (Corylus heterophylla)
var. Corylus heterophylla The Asian hazel is a cluster of edible nuts and round leaves with serrated or lobed edges that blooms during the deciduous season.
The Asian hazel has thick stems and grows up to 23 feet (7 meters) tall. The delicious hazelnuts of the Corylus heterophylla are commercially grown in its native Asia.
The serrated rounded leaves with truncated apex on the opposite side of the leaf base distinguish Asian hazel immature fruit from related common hazel, which has serrated rounded leaves.
Yunnan hazel (Corylus yunnanensis)
The Yunnan hazel is a tiny nut-producing tree with ovate leaves with double-serrated margins, tiny cylindrical clusters of pale-yellowish brown blooms, and spherical nuts. The decorative trees Yunnan hazels reach a height of 23 feet (7 meters). The spreading, upward-growing branches of this hazel species are distinctive.
Hazel leaves and catkins from Yunnan