CO FAMILIAR TREES 



The Hazel is found in North Africa, in Central 

 and Northern Asia, and throughout Europe south 

 of 63 N. latitude. It reaches an altitude of about 

 3,800 feet in the Alps, and 1,600 feet in the north 

 of Britain. 



The specific name of the Hazel (derived 

 originally from Abella or Avellino, towns in the 

 Neapolitan Campania, where the tree was much 

 cultivated) becomes additionally interesting from 

 its connection with that of the great tree-lover 

 John Evelyn. He tells us himself that in some 

 ancient records in his possession his ancestors' 

 names were generally written, " Avelan, alias 

 Evelin." Evelyn's account of the soil suited to 

 Hazels is that they, "above all, affect cold, barren, 

 dry and sandy grounds ; mountainous, and even 

 rocky, soils produce them; they prosper where 

 quarries of freestone lie underneath, as at Hazel- 

 bury in Wiltshire, Hazelingfield in Cambridgeshire, 

 Hazelmere in Surrey, and other places ; but more 

 plentifully if the ground be somewhat moist, 

 dankish, and mossy, as in the fresher bottoms 

 and sides of hills, holts, and in hedgerows." In 

 Kent, where the Hazel is abundant both in a wild 

 and in a cultivated state, it thrives best on a light 

 calcareous loam, resting on the ragstone or the 

 chalk ; but in Scotland it often grows on a granite 

 subsoil. It seems, in fact, to require at once 

 abundant moisture and good drainage. 



The name Corylus is of doubtful etymology, 

 being variously derived either from the Greek rcopvs 

 (korus), a cap, from the husk of the nut ; or from 



