CHAP. CV. 



C T ORYLA V CE;E. CO'RYLUS. 



202i> 



X 2. C. COLU'RNA L. The Constantinople Hazel. 



Identification. Hurt. (Tiff., 44H. ; I{,y. Lugdb.,Sl. ; Mill. Diet., No. 2. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 472. ; 



N. l)u Ham., 4. p. to. ; I.>dd. Cat.", 1 

 Synonym:*. ('. by/atitlna Her in. I.utll>., '.)!., .SW>. .Vws., 1. t. 27. ; ^vellana peregrlna hrtmilis 



liinifi. Pin., -US."; A. puinila hyzantliia Clus. Hist., 1. p. 11.; C. arborea Hurt. ; le Xoisetier de 



Hizance, !">. ; Hyzantinisrhe naulnuss, (r0r. 

 Kngnii'iiigii. Set*. Mill, 1. 1. 27. f. 2. ; Dend. Hrit., t. 99. ; our fig. 1948. ; and the plates of this tree 



in our last Volume. 



Spec. Char., $c. Stipules lanceolate, acuminate. Leaves roundish ovate, 

 cordate. Involucre of the fruit double; the exterior many-partite, the in- 

 terior 3-partite; divisions palmate. (Willd.'} A tree, 50ft. or 60 ft. high ; 

 a native of Turkey and Asia Minor. Introduced in 1665. 

 Varieties. 



% C. C. 2 intermedia: C. intermedia Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836; is probably si 

 hybrid between C. Colurna and C. ^vellana. 



$ C. C. 3 arborcsccns Fisch., and our^. 1949., differs from the species, chiefly in the cahx 

 of the nut being cut into shreds. 



Description, $c. The Constantinople nut forms 

 a handsome somewhat pyramidal tree, 50ft. or 

 60ft. high; with a whitisli bark, which peels off in 

 strips. The branches spread out horizontally ; the 

 leaves are more angular, and softer, than those of the 

 common hazel; and the stipules are linear. The nuts 

 are small, round, and almost covered with the calyx, 

 which is double, and deeply laciniated, or fringed, with 

 the points recurved. The tree grows rapidly, and with 

 great vigour, in the climate of London. It was at first 

 supposed to be a dwarf shrub, and is described as such 

 in the old books relating to trees ; but it was soon dis- 

 covered to be a lofty tree. It is a native of Asia 

 Minor and Turkey; but it bears the climate of both 

 Paris and London without the slightest injury. 

 Desfontaines tells us that Clusius first cultivated the 

 6'orylus Colurna; and that it was sent to him from 

 Constantinople in 1582 (Hist, des Arbrcs, ii. p. 540.) ; and Prof. Martyn tells 

 us it was reintroduced four years afterwards by " David Ungnad Baron in 

 Zorneck." It appears to have been 

 first cultivated in England by Rea, a 

 florist, who, in his Flora, published in 

 1665, says that he h.'id then " many 

 goodly plants of the filbeard of Con- 

 stantinople." ( p. 224.) It is also 

 mentioned by Ray, the celebrated bo- 

 tanical author, in his Historia Planta- 

 rnm, published in 1686, among " the 

 rare trees and shrubs " which he saw 

 a short time previously in the Palace 

 (wardens at Fulham. (See p. 41.) 

 Notwithstanding its beauty, and the 

 ease with which it is cultivated, the 

 Constantinople nut has never been 

 much in demand in English gardens. 

 It will grow in almost any soil, but does best in one similar to that adapted 

 for the common hazel. It is easily propagated by seed, grafts, or layers, 

 (irafting on the common hazel is, however, the most general way, as the 

 nut often proves abortive, both in French and English gardens. The largest 

 tree in the neighbourhood of London is that at Syon, of which a portrait is 

 given in our last Volume. There are also large trees at Ham House, Purser's 

 Cross, and in the grounds of Farnham Castle, which bear fruit most years. 

 Price of plants, in the London nurseries, 1*. (\d, each ; at Boll wy Her, 50 

 cents ; and at New York, 50 cents. 



* 6 p 8 



1949 



