Corylus avellana
Common hazel
How do you recognise common hazel?
The leaves grow spirally on stalks under 2 cm long. The blade is 5–10 cm long, undivided, obovate, heart-shaped at the base, and hairy. The male catkin is a long hanging yellow tassel, and the fruit is a round nut 1–2 cm long inside a leafy husk.
What is it confused with?
A lime leaf is also heart-shaped at the base, but it is hairless with a long-drawn tip. A hazel leaf is hairy with a shorter tip.
Where does common hazel grow, and when does it flower?
Hazel favours dryish and mesic, nutrient-rich deciduous and mixed woodland, and prefers limy soil. It flowers in March and April, and in mild winters as early as February.
Can you collect it for a herbarium?
Hazel grows wild only in the far south of Finland but is common in gardens. One leaf is enough.
Did you know?
Hazel flowers before its leaves open, so the wind carries the pollen unobstructed. The female flower is so small and bud-like that only its dark red styles give it away.
Where does common hazel grow in Finland?
The map shows where the species has been recorded. Darker squares mean more observations.
Loading the map
Observations: GBIF · Map: CARTO, OpenStreetMap
Sources: fi.wikipedia.org
Identify plants with your phone
Linnea identifies a plant from a photo and tells you its name and its story. Every find takes its own numbered place in your herbarium, with the day and the town where you found it.
