Native Shrubs in Wildlife Landscaping

Hazelnuts

Good Food and Cover

American Hazelnut – Corylus americana
Beaked Hazelnut – C. cornuta

Form:
American – Shrub to 9 feet tall.
Beaked – Shrub 3 to 9 feet tall.

Bark and Twigs:
American- Young shoots and twigs are bristly with stiff hairs that fall off after the first year.
Beaked – Twigs smooth, not glandular-bristly.

Leaves:
In general are simple, alternate, deciduous.

American-Ovate 3 to 6 inches long, toothed margin, autumn color yellow.
Beaked-Oval and pointed at the tip, 2 to 4 inches long, toothed margin, autumn color yellow.

Flowers:
Inconspicuous

Fruit:
American-September-October, round thin-shelled brown nut ½ inch in diameter and enclosed in a cut toothed leafy husk.
Beaked- September, similar to American but leafy husks form a long beak-like protrusion which gives the plant its common name.

WV Range:
American-Throughout the state.
Beaked-Locally frequent throughout the state but less common than American.

Natural Habitat:
American-Thickets and along roadbanks in well-drained loamy or gravelly soil.
Beaked-Rich thickets, clearings and borders of wood.

Wildlife Uses:
Buds and twigs are browsed by deer. Nuts eaten by squirrels, chipmunks, bluejays, grouse, quail, pheasants, deer and probably other animals.

Horticulture:
Uses: Informal uses or naturalizing and clumps.
Light: Partial shade to full sun.
Soil Moisture: Dry to moist.
Soil pH: Acid to neutral.
Problems: Must be pruned to maintain a respectable form.

Compiled by: Joseph Glencoe, Professor of Biology, West Virginia Wesleyan College , Buckhannon , West Virginia (now deceased)

Written by West Virginia Native Plant Society members and jointly published with the WV Wildlife Diversity Program.

Return to Native Shrubs listing