Beaked hazel – Corylus cornuta

Pronunciation: el-ee-ag-nus an-gus-ti-foh-lee-uh

Leaf: Alternate, simple, oval to broadly ovate, 2 - 4 inches long, doubly serrated margin, heart-shaped or rounded base; dark green and slightly fuzzy above, paler below.

Flower: Species is monoecious; males are preformed, light brown-gray catkins (¾ - 1 inch long) in clusters of two or three near branch tips; females are inconspicuous with only bright red stigma and styles protruding from the otherwise gray-brown buds, resemble short, thin, red threads; appearing or elongating (males) in early spring before the leaves.

Fruit: Edible brown nuts (½ inch diameter) enclosed in bristly, leafy husk with a long protruding tube-like "beak" (resembles a gourd), initially green, ripening to a brown in late summer.

Twig: Slender, zigzag, light brown and hairless; buds small with few scales, two-toned, light grayish brown with scales near base being darker brown.

Bark: Light grayish brown and smooth, later develops a mild crisscross netted pattern

Form: Small suckering shrub, often in clumps reaching 6 feet in height.

Corylus cornuta - beaked hazel Greek "krylos" (hazelnut) / horned, refers to bracts forming a beak at the apex of the nut