Beaked Hazelnut

Description

Full sun to part shade, Zone 2

Corylus Cornuta

Pot size #1, #2, #5

This native tree is found throughout North America is a medium size shrub that’s adaptable to many well-drained soil types. Coarse, green toothed foliage and yellow spring catkins are followed by beak-shaped edible nuts. Mostly used to naturalize areas and to attract wildlife.

The Beaked Hazelnut is named from its fruit, which is a nut enclosed in a husk with a tubular extension 2–4 cm (³⁄₄–1 ¹⁄₂ in) long that resembles a beak. Tiny filaments protrude from the husk and may stick into, and irritate, skin that contacts them. The spherical nuts, which are surrounded by a hard shell, are edible though small. The beaked hazel is the hardiest of all hazel species, surviving temperatures of −50 °C (−58 °F) at its northern limits.

The seeds are dispersed by birds and other small animals. Squirrels eat the nuts, while the deer tend to stick to the foliage.

Pollination: 2 Beaked Hazelnuts are required for cross-pollination!