Common Hazel (Corylus Avellana)

Common Hazel

Plant Type: Shrub   

Typical Height: 91cm-2.44meters (3-8 feet) (possibly as much as 15 feet/4.57meters). 

Hazel Leaves

 Leaf Description: Deciduous. Rounded, Slightly Jagged edges, 6-12cm (2.4-4.7 inches) long and accross, Pale yellowish-Green/mid to dark green.

Male Hazel Catkin

Visible Catkins: Male; Yellow, 5-12cm (2-4.7 inches) long. Female; Only visible parts are the bright red, 1-3mm (0.04-0.12 inches) long style, the rest being hidden in the buds.

Hazel nuts in involucre

Fruit & buds: Fruit; The most well known part of the common hazel is the fruit, which is a nut. Spherical-oval in shape. 15-20mm (0.59-0.79 inches) long, 12-20mm (0.47-0.79 inches) wide. Yellowish brown with a paler "scar" at the base. Covered about 3/4 by a leafy hust (involucre) until ripe, at which point it falls out. Season - Early autumn. Buds; Green, fat and oval.


 Wood&Bark:  Young stems; Bronze colour and may show signs of peeling. Mature stems; Pale brown, shallow ridged.

Hazel Nut

Other: Hazel is a brilliant plant to be able to identify as it is found throughout Europe and Western Asia. The nuts are packed to the brim with all sorts of nutrition. They're excellent as snacks or included in a dish for desert or main meal. And of course I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't mention Nutella. The one thing that I always rave about is that nature has managed to pack so much into this one small nut. Not only is it full to the edges with protein, vitamines, minerals, fats (good ones), and carbohydrates, but it tastes fantastic. Just bare in mind that children shouldn't have too many of the uncooked ones (due to digestion). That said they're much better roasted than raw anyway. I recommend roasting them on a proper fire rather than in an oven. The flavour is much better that way.

The wood is also fantastically useful. Throughout history it has been used for copacing and as a traditional field boundries in lowland Britain. Due to the ease of copacing Hazel has always been an important scourse of wood, often used in the construction of wattle and daube buildings. The flexibility of the wood has also ment that it has been used throughout history, up to today, to make funature, baskets and divining sticks. It's also a reliable and excellent scource of firewood and thatching material.

 

Shell-less Hazel Nut

Finally there's also a long history of traditions where Hazel has been considered to be magical. A fantastic and prised wood for wands and water-divining and a rod of Hazel is supposed to ward off evil.

Not all food costs, you just have to know where and when to look and what to look for.