Corylus heterophylla

Asian Hazel
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fagales
Family:	Betulaceae
Genus:	Corylus
Species:	C. heterophylla
Binomial name
Corylus heterophylla Fisch. ex Trautv.

Corylus heterophylla, the Asian hazel, is a species of hazel native to eastern Asia in northern and central China, 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 2.5–10 cm 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).^[1][2]

It is very similar to the closely related common hazel (C. avellana) of Europe and western Asia, differing 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

1. Flora of China: Corylus heterophylla
2. Bean, W. J. (1976). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles 8th ed., vol. 1. John Murray ISBN 0-7195-1790-7.