| content |
| Asian Hazel | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Corylus heterophylla Fisch. ex Trautv. |
The Asian Hazel (Corylus heterophylla) is a species of hazel native to eastern Asia, from northern China, eastern Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and southeastern Siberia.1
It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 7 m tall, with stems up to 20 cm thick grey bark. The leaves are rounded, 4-13 cm long and 2.5-10cm broad, with a coarsely double-serrated to somewhat lobed margin and an often truncated apex. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins; the male (pollen) catkins are pale yellow, 4 cm long, while the female catkins are bright red and only 1–3 mm long. The fruit is a nut produced in clusters of 2–6 together; each nut is 0.7–1.5 cm diameter, partly enclosed in a 1.5–2.5 cm long, bract-like involucre (husk).12
It is very similar to the closely related Common Hazel (C. avellana) of Europe and western Asia, differing only in the leaves being somewhat more lobed.2
Uses
The nut is edible, and is very similar to the Common Hazel nut; it is cultivated commercially in China.1
References
- ^ a b c Flora of China: Corylus heterophylla
- ^ a b Bean, W. J. (1976). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles 8th ed., vol. 1. John Murray ISBN 0-7195-1790-7.
