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Corylus cornuta: beaked hazelnut

Observed Ecoregions:
Native Ecoregions:
Freshwater Ecoregions:
Source: Wikipedia

Corylus cornuta
Beaked hazel foliage

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Tracheophytes
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Eudicots
Clade:Rosids
Order:Fagales
Family:Betulaceae
Genus:Corylus
Species:
C. cornuta
Binomial name
Corylus cornuta
Natural range of Corylus cornuta
Synonyms[2]
List
    • Corylus californica (A.DC.) A.Heller
    • Corylus cornuta Du Roi ex Steud.
    • Corylus cornuta var. californica (A.DC.) Sharp.
    • Corylus cornuta f. glandulosa (B.Boivin) T.C.Brayshaw
    • Corylus cornuta var. glandulosa B.Boivin
    • Corylus cornuta f. inermis Fernald
    • Corylus cornuta var. megaphylla Vict. & J.Rousseau
    • Corylus mexicana K.Koch
    • Corylus rostrata Aiton
    • Corylus rostrata var. californica A.DC.
    • Corylus rostrata var. tracyi Jeps.
Beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta), raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy2,629 kJ (628 kcal)
22.98 g
Dietary fiber9.8 g
52.99 g
14.89 g
Vitamins and minerals
VitaminsQuantity
%DV†
Thiamine (B1)
40%
0.480 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
12%
0.160 mg
Niacin (B3)
20%
3.190 mg
Vitamin B6
32%
0.550 mg
MineralsQuantity
%DV†
Calcium
34%
441 mg
Copper
133%
1.200 mg
Iron
17%
3.12 mg
Magnesium
56%
235 mg
Manganese
330%
7.600 mg
Phosphorus
33%
411 mg
Potassium
25%
738 mg
Sodium
0%
2 mg
Zinc
19%
2.06 mg
Other constituentsQuantity
Water5.92 g
Link to USDA Database entry
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[3] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[4]

Corylus cornuta, the beaked hazelnut (or just beaked hazel), is a deciduous shrubby hazel with two subspecies found throughout most of North America.

Description

The beaked hazelnut can reach 4–8 metres (13–26 feet) tall with stems 10–25 centimetres (4–9+3⁄4 inches) thick with smooth gray bark,[5] but it can also remain relatively small in the shade of other plants. It typically grows with several trunks.

The leaves are arranged in an alternate pattern. They are a rounded oval shape with a pointed tip and irregularly double-toothed margins.[6] The leaves are 5–11 cm (2–4+1⁄4 in) long and 3–8 cm (1+1⁄4–3+1⁄4 in) broad, with soft and hairy undersides.[citation needed]

The male flowers are firm catkins which form in clusters of 1-3 units on the previous year's twigs. They become elongated and pendulous in spring. Single female flowers develop in early spring. [6]

The beaked hazelnut is named for its fruit, which is a nut enclosed in a husk with a tubular extension 2–4 cm (3⁄4–1+1⁄2 in) long that resembles a beak. Tiny filaments protrude from the husk and may stick into, and irritate, skin that contacts them. The spherical nuts are small and surrounded by a hard shell. The beaked hazel is the hardiest of all hazel species, surviving temperatures of −50 °C (−58 °F) at its northern limits.[5]

It has a shallow and dense root system which is typically only 15 cm (6 in) deep, with a single taproot which may extend 0.6 m (2 ft) below the surface.[7]

Varieties

There are two varieties, divided by geography:[7]

  • Corylus cornuta var. cornuta – Eastern beaked hazel. Small shrub, 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) tall;[7] 'beak' longer, 3 cm (1+1⁄4 in) or more. Occurs from 100–500 m (330–1,640 ft) throughout its range, and up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in Alberta.[7]
  • Corylus cornuta var. californica – Western beaked hazel or California hazelnut. Large shrub, 4 to 15 m (13 to 49 ft) tall;[7] 'beak' shorter, usually less than 3 cm (1+1⁄4 in). Occurs below 2,100 m (6,900 ft) in California, and below 800 m (2,600 ft) in British Columbia. The Concow tribe called this variety gōm'-he'-ni (Konkow language).[8] The California hazelnut is believed to be resistant to Eastern filbert blight.[9]

Distribution and habitat

Eastern beaked hazel is found from southern Canada south to Georgia, while the Western beaked hazel occurs along the west coast from Alaska to California.[citation needed]

Ecology

Although C. cornuta is somewhat shade tolerant, it is more common in forests with fairly open canopies than denser ones.[7] However, it is intolerant of entirely open areas that get hot and dry.[5]

Fire kills the above-ground portion of the shrub, but it resprouts fairly readily after fire from its root crown or rhizomes. It recovers after fire to the extent that American Indians in California and Oregon used fire to encourage its growth.[7]

In boreal regions, it is threatened by the invasive Siberian peashrub, which can invade and achieve dominance in understories.[7]

Use by animals

Deer, moose, and livestock browse the foliage of the Eastern beaked hazel, but the Western beaked hazel is considered to have low palatability for ungulates.[10] The hazelnut weevil feeds solely off the Western beaked hazel.[7]

American beavers prefer Eastern beaked hazel browse, and consume it to such an extent that they reduce its relative abundance in favor of conifers.[7]

The nuts of C. cornuta californica are an important food source for squirrels, especially as a backup in times of acorn crop failure. Species such as Douglas squirrels, red squirrels and least chipmunks gather and stash the nuts, and although up to 66% of the nuts are consumed, the remainder have an elevated chance of germination due to being buried in soil or leaves. Although squirrels only distribute the nuts about 90 m (300 ft) or less, jays such as the blue jay in the east and the Steller's jay in the west distribute them over longer distances. Black bears, turkeys, and white-tailed deer also consume the nuts.[7]

Ruffed grouse consume the protein-rich catkins and young buds of Corylus cornuta.[7]

It is used as cover by a variety of animal species, and provides good nesting for birds, especially the ruffed grouse. The white-footed vole is positively correlated with California hazelnuts in the Umpqua National Forest in Oregon. [7]

Uses

The beaked hazelnut has been cultivated by the Gitxsan, Tsimshian, and Nisga'a peoples for at least 7,000 years.[11]

Native Americans used the sprouts to create baskets, fish traps, and baby carriers. The nuts were eaten and commonly used as a trade good among indigenous groups—both the Lewis and Clark expedition and prolific early naturalist David Douglas bartered for beaked hazelnuts with local peoples they encountered. It was used medicinally as emetic, for deworming, as an astringent, and for teething.[7]

It is considered an excellent nut, with the same uses as any hazelnut.[12] While the beaked hazelnut does not produce as many nuts as commercial European species such as the common hazel or filbert, it is more resistant to common diseases, and has been used in breeding programs to create high-yield, disease resistant hybrids.[7]

It is used in restoration plantings to increase biodiversity, improve food sources for wildlife, and to reduce rates of laminated root rot in nearby Douglas-fir and Sitka spruce.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Stritch, L.; Roy, S.; Shaw, K. & Wilson, B. (2020). "Corylus cornuta". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T194448A174149241. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "Corylus cornuta Marshall". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  3. ↑ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". FDA. Archived from the original on 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  4. ↑ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). "Chapter 4: Potassium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy". In Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). pp. 120–121. doi:10.17226/25353. ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  5. 1 2 3 "Corylus cornuta" (PDF). Alberta Centre for Reclamation and Restoration Ecology. University of Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 August 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  6. 1 2 Farrar, John Laird (1997). Trees in Canada (3rd impr ed.). Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside [u.a.] ISBN 978-1-55041-199-7.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Fryer, Janet L. (2007). "Corylus cornuta". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.
  8. ↑ Chesnut, Victor King (1902). Plants used by the Indians of Mendocino County, California. Government Printing Office. p. 405. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  9. ↑ Young-Mathews, Anna. September 2011. Plant fact sheet for California hazelnut (Corylus cornuta var. californica). USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Corvallis Plant Materials Center, Corvallis, OR. https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/factsheet/pdf/fs_cococ.pdf
  10. ↑ Whitney, Stephen (1985). Western Forests (The Audubon Society Nature Guides). New York: Knopf. p. 428. ISBN 0-394-73127-1.
  11. ↑ Armstrong et al., 2024. Genetic differentiation and precolonial Indigenous cultivation of hazelnut (Corylus cornuta, Betulaceae) in Western North America. PNAS 121 (48). https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2402304121
  12. ↑ Nyerges, Christopher (2017). Foraging Washington: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods. Guilford, CT: Falcon Guides. ISBN 978-1-4930-2534-3. OCLC 965922681.