HORNBEAM, HAZEL, BIRCH AND ALDER 103 



bogs that were formed at that time. Most of the Pleistocene birches 

 represent still existing species. At this time the dwarf arctic 

 birch {Betula nana) retreated southward before the advancing ice 

 sheets and left its remains in England, Scotland, Germany and 

 Galicia. The European white birch {Betula alba) has been found 

 fossil in Scotland, Hebrides, Skye, Germany, Italy and Japan. 

 Other fossil species occur in Germany, Galicia, Japan and Hungary. 

 In North America the yellow birch (Betula lutea) has been found 

 fossil in Ontario; the river birch {Betula nigra) has been found in 

 Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama, 

 and Mississippi; and other species occur in North CaroHna and 

 Kentucky. 



THE HAZEL 



"Hazel buds with crimson gems, 

 Green and glossy sallows." 



The hazel was one of Thor's trees, and together with the witch 

 or wych elm {Ulmus montana), was an object of considerable ven- 

 eration among the Saxons. The name witch hazel appHed to the 

 hazel by Nordic peoples, and not to be confused with the true witch 

 hazel of America which belongs to an altogether different tree 

 family, is said to have been derived from the Anglo Saxon wic-en 

 to bend, although the fact that hazel twigs were commonly used 

 as divining rods suggests that the tree had long been associated 

 with magic. 



The scientific name of the genus, Corylus, is derived from the 

 Greek, and is in allusion to the helmet-Hke leafy envelope which 

 in the nut bearing flower enlarges and surrounds the nut, or grows 

 out around it into a tubular beak. There are about 8 existing 

 species and 22 varieties recognized by botanists and many of the 

 latter are often raised to the rank of species. Of these Eurasia 

 has 6 species and 20 varieties, and North America 3 species and 

 1 variety — one of the American species {calijornica) of Washing- 

 ton, Oregon and CaUfornia being frequently considered as simply 

 a variety of Corylus rostrata, our beaked hazel nut, along with 

 4 other varieties (or species) of Manchuria, Korea, Japan and 



