78 



Bulletin 145 



HAZELNUTS 



There are two species of hazelnuts in Vermont. Only one, 

 the beaked hazel, is common, and there is scarcely enough of 

 this except in some of the higher mountain pastures to tempt 

 boys to harvest the nuts. Further west and south the larger 

 American hazelnut is more common and is gathered in quantity 

 by country children. In Europe a related species, the European 

 hazel (Corylus avellana) has been improved and brought into 

 culture, furnishing the familiar filbert-nut of commerce. Some- 

 times the hazelnut is confused with the witch-hazel described 

 later in this pamphlet. There is no occasion for this, however, 

 other than the name. The two hazelnuts are readily 

 distinguishable by the fruits as follows : 



Husks (involucral bracts) united and prolonged into a long tubular 



beak, about twice the length of the nut Beaked hazelnut. 



Husks nearly distinct and not prolonged into a beak. 



American hazelnut. 



bEake^d hazelnut. Corylus rostrata Ait. 



This is the common hazelnut of Vermont, frequent in dry 

 wayside thickets throughout the state. It is a small shrub. 



Beaked Hazelnut. 

 Leaf and fruit, X i/^. 



