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- Corylus cornuta
Corylus cornuta — beaked hazelnut
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Facts
Beaked hazelnut gets its specific epithet (cornuta) from the Latin word for horn, referring to the horny projection on the beaked fruit. In contrast to its cousin, American hazel, beaked hazelnut fruits do not bear red, glandular hairs. The nuts of beaked hazelnut are edible, and provide an important food source for hares, birds, squirrels, and many other animals.
Habitat
Forest edges, forests
New England distribution
Adapted from BONAP data
Native: indigenous.
Non-native: introduced (intentionally or unintentionally); has become naturalized.
County documented: documented to exist in the county by evidence (herbarium specimen, photograph). Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
State documented: documented to exist in the state, but not documented to a county within the state. Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
Note: when native and non-native populations both exist in a county, only native status is shown on the map.
Found this plant? Take a photo and post a sighting.
Characteristics
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
-
- Connecticut
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Growth form
- the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has teeth
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- armature on plant
- the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns
- Leaf blade length
- 50–130 mm
- Leaf blade width
- 35–80 mm
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is dry but does not split open when ripe
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- gray
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
-
Buds or leaf scars
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
- Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)
- NA
- Collateral buds
- there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches
- Leaf scar arrangement
- there is one leaf scar per node on the stem or twig
- Superposed buds
- there are no superposed buds on the branch
- Terminal bud
- there is no terminal bud on the branch
- Winter bud scale hairs
- the winter bud scales have no hairs on them
- Winter bud scales
- the winter bud is perulate (partially or completely covered with one or more scales)
- Winter bud shape
- the winter buds are ovoid (egg-shaped)
- Winter bud stalks
- the winter buds have no stalks
-
Flowers
- Carpels fused
- the carpels are fused to one another
- Enlarged sterile flowers
- there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant
- Flower petal color
- NA
- Flower symmetry
- there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)
- Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)
- NA
- Hypanthium present
- the flower does not have a hypanthium
- Inflorescence position
- the inflorescences grow on the twigs
- Inflorescence type
- the inflorescence is an ament (catkin; slender, usually pendulous inflorescence with crowded unisexual flowers)
- Number of pistils
- 1
- Ovary position
- the ovary is below the point of petal and/or sepal attachment
- Petal and sepal arrangement
- the flower lacks sepals and petals
- Petal appearance
- NA
- Petal fusion
- NA
- Sepal cilia (Ilex)
- NA
- Stamen number
- 4
- Stamen position relative to petals
- NA
- Stamens fused
- the stamens are not fused to one another
-
Fruits or seeds
- Berry color
- NA
- Fruit tissue origin
- there are no flower parts that form part of the fruit
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is dry but does not split open when ripe
- Fruit type (specific)
- the fruit is a nut (dry and indehiscent, with a hard wall, usually containing only one seed and usually subtended by an involucre)
- Nut with spines (Fagaceae)
- NA
- Wings on fruit
- there are no wings on the fruit
-
Glands or sap
- Sap color
- the sap is clear and watery
- Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)
- NA
-
Growth form
- Growth form
- the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
-
Leaves
- Hairs on underside of leaf blade
-
- the underside of the leaf has hairs on it
- the underside of the leaf has no hairs
- Hairs on upper side of leaf blade
- the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs
- Leaf blade base shape
-
- The base of the leaf blade is cordate (heart-shaped, with rounded lobes)
- the base of the leaf blade is rounded
- Leaf blade base symmetry
- the leaf blade base is symmetrical
- Leaf blade bloom
- the underside of the leaf has no noticeable bloom
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has teeth
- Leaf blade edges (Acer)
- NA
- Leaf blade flatness
- the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges
- Leaf blade hairs
- the hairs on the leaf blade are different from the choices given
- Leaf blade length
- 50–130 mm
- Leaf blade scales
- there are no scales on the leaf blades
- Leaf blade shape
-
- the leaf blade is oblong (rectangular but with rounded ends)
- the leaf blade is obovate (egg-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)
- the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)
- Leaf blade texture
-
- the leaf blade is coriaceous (has a firm, leathery texture)
- the leaf blade is herbaceous (has a leafy texture)
- Leaf blade translucent dots
- there are no translucent dots on the leaf blade
- Leaf blade vein pattern
- the main veins of the leaf blade are pinnate (the secondary veins branch off at intervals from the main central vein) and non-arcuate (not arched towards the leaf tip)
- Leaf blade veins
- the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base toward the tip
- Leaf blade width
- 35–80 mm
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- Leaf form
- the plant is broad-leaved (with broadly flattened leaf blades)
- Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)
- NA
- Leaf midrib glands
- the midrib of the leaf blade lacks glands on the upper surface
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Leaf stalk attachment to leaf
- the petiole attaches at the basal margin of the leaf blade
- Leaf stalk nectaries
- there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk
- Leaf stalk shape
- the leaf stalk is not flattened
- Leaf teeth
- the leaf blade margin has teeth, which themselves have smaller teeth on them
- Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)
- NA
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Specific leaf type
- the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets
- Stipules
- the plant has stipules
-
Place
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
-
- Connecticut
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Specific habitat
-
- edges of forests
- forests
-
Scent
- Plant odor
- the plant does not have much of an odor, or it has an unpleasant or repellant odor
-
Stem, shoot, branch
- Aerial roots
- the plant has no aerial roots
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Branch brittleness (willows only)
- NA
- Branch cross-section
- the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles
- First-year cane (Rubus)
- NA
- Lenticels on twigs
- there are no lenticels on the twigs, or they are very hard to see
- Pith shape
- the outline of the pith in a twig is roughly round
- Pith type
- the pith inside the twig is solid, completely filled with spongy tissue
- Short shoots
- there are peg- or knob-like shoots present
- Twig bloom
- there is no bloom on the twig
- Twig hairs
-
- the twigs have few or no hairs on them
- the twigs have hairs, but the hairs do not have glands
- Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)
- NA
- Twig scales
- there are no scales on the twig surface
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- gray
- Wings on branch
- the branch does not have wings on it
- armature on plant
- the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns
Wetland status
Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but occasionally in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACU)
In New England
Distribution
- Connecticut
- present
- Maine
- present
- Massachusetts
- present
- New Hampshire
- present
- Rhode Island
- present
- Vermont
- present
Conservation status
Exact status definitions can vary from state to state. For details, please check with your state.
- Maine
- unranked (S-rank: SNR)
ssp. cornuta
- Massachusetts
- widespread (S-rank: S5)
Subspecies and varieties
Our subspecies is Corylus cornuta Marsh. ssp. cornuta.
From Flora Novae Angliae dichotomous key
2. Corylus cornuta Marsh. ssp. cornuta N
beaked hazelnut. Corylus rostrata Ait. • CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT. Forests and forest borders.
Native to North America?
Yes
Sometimes confused with
- Corylus americana:
- branchlets with stipitate glands and husk of fruit not prolonged (vs. C. cornuta, with branchlets lacking stipitate glands and husk of fruit prolonged into a tubular struture).
Synonyms
- Corylus rostrata Ait.