With a number of trunks shooting out from the ground instead of the one, Hazel is considered a bush rather than a tree. It is part of the Birch family though and is good for wildlife, as well as often being called a tree, so it’s worth a mention. It is common in Britain and it is familiar from the multiple trunks and the hazel nuts it produces. It is also recognisable from roundish shaped leaves (up to 10cm) with toothed edges. Little hairs can be found on the leaves as well as the branches. Hazel can reach up to 10 metres in height, but is often smaller and used in hedgerows. Being a deciduous tree it does not have leaves all year round, but it can still be recognised by the smooth brown bark it has.
Latin name: Corylus avellana
Overview
Hazel has male and female flowers on a single tree/bush, but it cannot pollinate itself. It needs the presence of another hazel and the help of the wind for this. The male flowers called catkins or lambs tails open at the beginning of spring, even before the leaves have returned. They are yellow in colour and hang down from the branches. The female flowers which appear on the same branch appear looking like pink buds. When the female flowers are fertilised they will turn into the hazel nuts enjoyed by both humans and animals. These are ripe in autumn time. Animals like squirrels will bury these nuts, and it’s the ones that are not dug up later in the year that will germinate into a new hazel bush.
In the garden
As well as providing pretty looking catkins in spring and edible nuts in autumn, hazel will also bring wildlife to your garden. Squirrels both grey (Sciurus carolinensis) and red (Sciurus vulgaris) will feast on the nuts. They are not the only small mammals attracted to hazel though. Both dormice (Muscardinus avellanarius) and wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) will also consume the nuts. You would be a lucky wildlife observer to find a dormouse in the garden! Our feathered friends will also pay a visit to the hazel in your garden, particularly woodpeckers. If you live in Berkshire, Lincolnshire, or Surrey then you may be lucky to find a Hazel pot beetle (Cryptocephalus coryli)on your bush. This is a rare and endangered species and if you live near an area where wild ones are found then maybe they will come to your garden as well.
Did you know?
- A Hazel rod is thought to protect against evil spirits in folklore.