Hazelnut American

Description

American Hazelnut is a shrub growing 3-6 feet tall with a straight trunk and spreading, ascending branches. Leaves are deciduous, alternate, broadly oval with a heart-shaped or rounded base, doubly serrate, hairy beneath. Male (staminate) and female (pistillate) flowers are separate, but both types present on each plant  with the male flowers being numerous in long, pendulous stalks in clusters of two or three near branch tips, appearing in the fall, but opening the following spring. Female flowers are several in a scaly bud, tiny and inconspicuous. Fruit is a light brown, acorn-like nut approximately ½” long, wider than its length.