337 



€f)c Crragurg at SSntang. 



[COBT 



a great part of Asia in a wild indigenous 

 state. It bears the common names of Hazel, 

 Hazle, or Hasel, not only in tins country, 

 but also in Germany, Holland, Sweden, and 

 Denmark. The plant is indigenous to all 

 these countries. Its habitat extends from 

 the extreme south of Europe to the most 

 northern parts of Britain. According to 

 De CandoUe it is found wild in the moun- 

 tains of the Island of Sardinia ; and he is 

 not certain whether its growth may not be 

 natural in some ravines near Algiers. It 

 is said to be not now found in Shetland; but 

 formerly it had existed there, for the shells 

 of its nuts are found plentifully in bogs, as 

 they are likewise in similar places through- 

 out Scotland. The ancient nut-shells are 

 often met with in fragments, but many are 

 found quite entire, at various depths below 

 the surface ; some of them are larger than 

 those of the Wild Hazel, growing near 

 the same localities at the present day. 



The Hazel generally forms large bushes, 

 from its great disposition to produce 

 suckers ; but if grown with a single stem it 

 assumes the form of a low tree. One at 

 Gordon Castle, North Britain, measured 

 thirty feet in height, with a trunk three feet 

 in circumference. The plants often form a 

 sort of jungle on precipitous banks of 

 rivers and streams, and may frequently be 

 seen growing out of crevices and fissures 

 of rocks, sometimes much confined for 

 root-space, yet in that case roots will ex- 

 tend far downwards, naked along the face 

 of the rock, till they reach soil below. The 

 wood when two years old and upwards is 

 tough and elastic, and it is well adapted for 

 hurdles, crates, hoops, walking-sticks, &c. 

 Its charcoal is esteemed for making gun- 

 powder. 



Nut leaves are large, roundish cordate, 

 and somewhat pointed. The same tree bears 

 male and female flowers, distinct from 

 each other, proceeding from different buds. 

 The male flowers begin to make their ap- 

 pearance in autumn, and acquire their full 

 developement early in spring; they are- at 

 first compact cylindrical bodies of a greyish 

 colour, afterwards they become long pen- 

 dulous catkins of a yellow colour, giving 

 the trees, then destitute of leaves, a con- 

 spicuous and rather ornamental appear- 

 ance. The female flowers do not appear 

 till spring. They exhibit a few crimson 

 thread-like styles issuing from the apex of 

 a bud. This bud elongates, and forms a small 

 branchlet, at the extremity of which the 

 cluster of nuts is borne. Until the nuts are 

 nearly full-sized their yet soft green shell 

 is filled with a milky juice, but this does 

 not constitute the kernel. The latter may 

 be observed at the same time not larger 

 than the head of a pin. As it grows the 

 milky substance is absorbed, all except the 

 fibrous portion, which is deposited on the 

 inside of the shell, forming a soft lining 

 for the kernel. The calyx or husk has a 

 fleshy base, to which the lower part of the 

 nut is strongly attached until fully ripe, 

 when the husk dries up and permits the 

 nut to drop out, except in the case of some 

 varieties, more especially those called fil- 



berts, which have long tubular husks con- 

 tracted beyond the apex of the nuts. These 

 were formerly called Full-beards, whilst 

 those with short husks were simply termed 

 Nuts or Hazel-nuts. 



There are numerous varieties, differing 

 in the form of the nuts, and in the relative 

 length of their husks. The Red Filbert and 

 White Filbert are similar in external ap- 

 pearance, but in the former the thin pel- 

 licle which forms the immediate coating of 

 the kernel is red or crimson, that of the 

 latter white or pale-brown. Both these are 

 esteemed because they admit of being kept 

 fresh in the husks. Short roundish nuts 

 with a strong thick shell are called Cob 

 nuts. Of this description are most of those 

 imported frpm Spain. The Cosford nut is 

 of an oblong form with a comparatively 

 thin tender shell, finely striated longitu- 

 dinally. The sorts above-named, together 

 with the Downton large square nut, and 

 the large Spanish, are amongst the best 

 sorts for cultivation. 



In this country, the neighbourhood of 

 Maidstone in Kent is the most celebrated 

 for the cultivation of filberts. The foreign 

 supply is chiefly from Spain. Phillips states 

 that from a single wood near Recus, 60,000 

 bushels have been gathered in one year, 

 and shipped from Barcelona, whence they 

 are called Barcelona nuts. • In the neigh- 

 bourhood of Avelino in Italy,' says Swin- 

 burn, ' the whole face of the neighbouring 

 valley is covered with nut trees, and in 

 good years they yield a profit of 60,000 

 ducats.' According to French authors the 

 nuts of Provence and Italy are preferable 

 to those of Spain and the Levant. [R. T.] 



The common Hazel, C. Avellana, is the 

 of the clan Colquhoun. 



CORYMB (adj. CORYMBOSE >. A raceme, 

 whose pedicles are gradually shorter as 

 they approach the summit, so that the re- 

 sult is a flat-headed inflorescence, as in 

 candy-tuft. — COMPOUND. A branched 

 corymb, each, of whose divisions is corym- 

 bose. 



CORYMBIFERiE. Corymb-bearing com- 

 posite plants . a sub-order of the natural 

 order Compositce or Asteracece, containing 

 plants with numerous flowers on a common 

 receptacle, forming a head surrounded by 

 a set of floral leaves or bracts called an 

 involucre. The heads of flowers are 

 either placed singly on stalks ; or there are 

 several stalked heads supported on a com- 

 mon axis, and so arranged as to have col- 

 lectively the form of a corymb, the lower 

 stalks being longer so as to bring the 

 heads to nearly the same level. The flowers 

 in the circumference of the heads are 

 usually ligulate and bear pistils only, 

 while those of the centre are tubular and 

 have both stamens and pistils. The style 

 of the perfect flowers is not swollen below 

 the stigma. Such plants as chamomile, 

 the daisy, the ox-eye, the dahlia, ever- 

 lasting, sunflower, cineraria, ragwort, 

 and groundsel belong to this sub-order. 

 The plants have bitter qualities ; some of 



