A native of Asia Minor, hazel (hazel) has spread in the center of Europe, the forests of the Caucasus, America and Canada. This representative of the Birch family, due to its unique taste and excellent decorativeness, has long won the respect of gardeners around the world. Derived crops, also known as hazelnuts, are grown on an industrial scale in the southern regions. Wild thickets are found in the forests of the Southern Urals and Perm Territory, and in the mountains of the Caucasus. Today we’ll talk about what hazel is, is it a shrub or tree, how is it grown and used? We learn about the types and distribution of this plant on the planet, about the intricacies of caring for it, increasing its productivity and decorative qualities.
Hazel: is it a shrub or tree?
Hazel unites the genus shrubby, but among more than 20 species of its representatives there are trees. For example, a bear nut, which will be discussed later, is a magnificent specimen of a tree, slender and tall, with a beautiful crown shape. But most species of hazel are still shrubs whose wild forms form a dense undergrowth in broad-leaved forests. The most common and of high economic importance is hazel, or common hazel. An interesting story is the emergence of the word "hazel." This original Russian name came from the noted similarity of the outlines of the shrub leaf with the body shape of the lake fish of the bream, known since ancient times as the breadwinner of the Rus.
What does hazel look like?
The overwhelming majority of hazel species belongs to deciduous shrubs with large rounded leaves of magnificent rich green color. Hazel gravitates toward heat, moistened by the fertile soils of broad-leaved forests and gets along well with their permanent inhabitants: oaks, elms, maples, prevailing in the understory and often forming a solid wall. Wild hazel species are branched shrubs with a large number of stems coming from the rhizome. In height, they reach 3-5 meters. Bushes can propagate vegetatively (by offspring and cuttings) or seeds - nuts. Begin to bear fruit at 6-7 years with seed reproduction, at 4 years - with vegetative reproduction. In the summer, the hazel bush is easy to identify by oval-shaped leaves and decorated along the edge with small cloves and a sharp tip. Hazel leaf is distinguished by a slightly rough to the touch texture.
Basically, the hazel culture is a shrub of 5–6 meters high with even bark, the color of which varies from grayish to terracotta-brown shades. Young shoots are usually painted in gray-green tones, interspersed with small yellowish dots. Young shoots are similar in appearance to linden shoots, differing only in fairly dense pubescence. Hazel shoots can be easily confused with elm. Both their leaves and bark are very similar in color and texture. But there are differences. An elm, like a real tree, always has only one trunk, and the young shoots of hazel are multiple, which is characteristic of the bush. In addition, hazel has oval gray-green buds, while elm has reddish and spiky buds.
View Features
Hazel is a shrub or tree belonging to monoecious plants, but with separate formation of male and female flowers in the same crop. Male flower-earrings are collected in soft yellowish inflorescences, similar to birch or alder earrings. Laid down in June-July, in the fall they are already clearly visible and bloom in early spring, as soon as the plant overwinter. The wind picks up and carries pollen.
Female inflorescences are practically invisible. Consisting of small flowers tightly pressed against each other, they are located inside special buds that also formed in the previous season. During flowering, leaf flakes covering the inflorescences move apart, allowing you to catch pollen carried by the wind with a bunch of bright red stigmas.
Types of Hazel
The hazel genus, with almost 20 species, is represented by diverse cultures. All of them are different, but many species are characterized by high frost resistance and longevity. Hazel is unpretentious, grows on various soils, but develops more successfully and bears fruit on more fertile soils. Regardless of the species, the hazel (it is a shrub or tree) is hydrophilic, but it does not need excess water. For the most part, it is able to withstand a slight shading, but in open sunny areas, the decorativeness and yield of hazelnuts are highest. Here are some types of hazel.
Common hazel
This species is represented by a large multi-stemmed shrub up to 4-6 meters high with a wide spreading crown. A feature of the species is the flowering of the plant before the leaves bloom. This is why bees love hazel so much. Golden earrings of hazel, appearing long before the mass blooming of trees and shrubs, help bees regain strength after a long winter. The leaves of common hazel are dull green, bright on the back, and autumn - amber. Hazel growth is uneven. In the early years, it develops slowly. In the 5-6th year, it abruptly grows, forming many young shoots. In nature, hazel is common throughout the European territory of Russia and on the Crimean peninsula, in Western Europe and the Caucasus.
Bear Nut, or Tree Filbert
A bear nut is a representative of tree-like ones, knocking out of the general system of congenerous shrubs. This is a medium-sized tree up to 15-20 meters high and with a crown diameter of up to 6-8 meters, having a slender beautiful trunk.
The magnificent broad-pyramidal crown of the tree is beautiful and different from the crowns of other species with dense dark green foliage that blooms very early and lasts for a long time on the branches. Hazel - a tree covered with a whitish-gray bark, extending into narrow plates. The bear nut grows quickly, shade-tolerant and frost-resistant, it is not afraid of drought, but it develops better on humus-fertilized soils. Fruits - nuts of a peculiar kind, with a delicate wrapper, cut into thin serrated slices. Hazel tree is a rare, albeit undemanding culture: it easily adapts, its life span reaches 200 years, propagated by layering and seeds. Wild hazel is a tree that is found in the Caucasus and the Balkans, in Asia Minor. Hazel tree - a rare guest in broad-leaved mountain forests. In Russia, culture is protected in nature reserves. The bear nut is decorative, perfect for decorating streets and alleys, effective in linear planting.
Lombard walnut (large hazel)
The monument is a tall hazel, a shrub with magnificent straight branches of gray color, growing up to 10 meters in height. Leaves are rounded and serrated at the edges. Lombard nut is a thermophilic culture, its winter hardiness is low.
Cultivated since ancient times as a nut bush, large hazel is common in the Balkans and in Asia Minor.
The bush produces thick pubescent annual shoots. The leaves of this culture are broadly oval, almost round to 10-12 cm in diameter, heart-shaped at the base, ending with a short and sharp apex. A great decoration are large men's earrings, reaching ten centimeters. Fruits form crowded rosettes in which there can be up to 8 pieces protected by a fluffy tubular wrap.
Lombard nut is the founder of cultivated hazelnuts of industrial importance. It develops excellently on fertile fertile, breathable soils and is often used in landscaping as a decorative shrub.
Red-leafed form of hazel
Such forms of hazel are very effective due to the unusual color of the foliage and represent a multi-stemmed, tall (up to 4 meters) shrub with dark purple large leaves, a red fruit wrapper and a walnut kernel painted in pink tones. Red-leaved hazel - an extremely decorative shrub. But he is a true southerner, and the harsh winters of temperate Russian latitudes are fatal for these species of hazel. However, warming for the winter gives good results: the plant survives, but does not bloom and does not bear fruit. Leaving only a decorative function, it creates a unique surroundings on the site.
Hazel Manchurian
Frost-resistant and highly shade-tolerant Manchurian hazel is common in the Far East, in Primorye, Korea, and Northern China. It is a shrub up to 4-5 m tall with multiple strongly branching shoots. It is famous for the medicinal properties of fruits and decorative qualities: bark of brown tones, densely pubescent young shoots, wide soft leaves - dark green in the summer, acquiring bright orange or luxurious golden tones in the fall. The fruit of Manchurian hazel is a pointed nut, which is valued in Chinese medicine for its excellent anti-inflammatory properties.
Hazel
Shrub reaching three meters high, with a thick, spreading crown. Variegated hazel got its name due to a change in the color shades of foliage during one vegetative period. The leaves are of unusual shape, wide obovate with three teeth on top when blooming, have a terracotta hue, in the summer they are rich dark green, and a golden-orange palette wraps around the hazel tree in the fall. Hazelnuts multifolia perfectly tolerates even severe drought, frost-resistant, characterized by early fruiting. It is photophilous, but it tolerates some shading calmly. Got distribution in the east of Siberia, in Asia, in the Far Eastern regions of Russia. It occurs in the undergrowth of mixed and pine forests, as well as on the edges, clearings, on hillsides, forming impenetrable thickets.
Hazel
The lush multi-stemmed shrub, not exceeding three meters in height, got its name by the appearance of the outer tubular wrapper of the fruit, wrapping it around and twisting into a tube resembling a small horn. On pubescent legs are single or paired fruits. Nuts are large (up to 1.5 cm), edible, but poorly separated from the wrapper. The view is hardy and unpretentious.
Cultivated since 1745. In nature, the plant is common in the eastern North American states.
Application
Hazel is magnificent as an ornamental plant. It is used in alleyways and hedges. But in the southern regions, hazel is grown as a food crop. Hazelnut - a product of high nutritional value. The substances necessary for the body are concentrated in it: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, almost all groups of vitamins, as well as a number of macro- and microelements and their unique compounds. In the food industry, walnut is traditionally popular due to its high nutritional value and excellent taste. It is indispensable in the production of confectionery and all kinds of sweets, it is used as a filler in the manufacture of chocolate, creams, glazes and caramels. Whole roasted hazelnuts - a favorite for many.
Species of the hazel plant (wild and cultivated) have excellent decorative qualities and bestow delicious and healthy fruits.