The hazels (Corylus) are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels (with the hornbeams and allied genera) into a separate family Corylaceae.
They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins. The flowers are produced very early in spring before the leaves, and are monoecious, with single-sex catkins, the male pale yellow and 5–12 cm long, the female very small and largely concealed in the buds, with only the bright red 1–3 mm long styles visible. The seeds are nuts 1–2.5 cm long and 1–2 cm diameter, surrounded by an involucre (husk) which partly to fully encloses the nut.
The shape and structure of the involucre, and also the growth habit (whether a tree or a suckering shrub), are important in the identification of the different species of hazel.
Several hybrids exist, and can occur between species in different sections of the genus, e.g. Corylus × colurnoides (C. avellana × C. colurna). The oldest confirmed hazel species is Corylus johnsonii found as fossils in the Ypresian age rocks of Ferry County, Washington, USA.
A number of cultivars of the Common Hazel and Filbert are grown as ornamental plants in gardens, including forms with contorted stems (C. avellana 'Contorta', popularly known as "Harry Lauder's walking stick" from its gnarled appearance); with weeping branches (C. avellana 'Pendula'); and with purple leaves (C. maxima 'Purpurea').
Hazels are used as food plants by the larvae of various species of Lepidoptera; see list of Lepidoptera that feed on hazels.
A Druid teacher, in his bid to become omniscient, caught one of these special salmon and asked a student to cook the fish but not to eat it. While he was cooking it, hot liquid from the cooking fish splashed onto the pupil's thumb, which he naturally sucked to cool, thereby absorbing the fish's wisdom. This boy was called Fionn Mac Cumhail and went on to become one of the most heroic leaders in Gaelic mythology.
The Hazel Branch, from Grimm's Fairy Tales, claims that hazel branches offer the greatest protection from snakes and other things that creep on the earth.
Category:Edible nuts and seeds
ar:بندق (نبات) an:Corylus az:Fındıq bg:Леска ca:Corylus cv:Шĕшкĕ cs:Líska da:Hassel de:Hasel (Botanik) et:Sarapuu (perekond) el:Φουντουκιά es:Corylus eo:Avelujo fr:Noisetier ko:개암나무속 hsb:Lěšćina os:Æхсæр it:Corylus ka:თხილი csb:Leszczëna lbe:Пуннукь la:Corylus lv:Lazdas lt:Lazdynas hu:Mogyoró nl:Corylus ja:ハシバミ属 no:Hasselslekten nn:Hasselslekta pl:Leszczyna pt:Corylus qu:Awillanu ru:Лещина sq:Corylus fi:Pähkinäpensaat sv:Hasselsläktet tr:Fındık zh:榛属This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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