The landscape looks quite drab this time of year. But if you have some hazelnuts growing nearby, you might find some intriguing small flowers in the next few weeks.
North Dakota has two native hazelnut species, the American hazelnut (Corylus americana) and beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta). Both are medium to large spreading shrubs growing to around seven feet tall, and both are widely distributed across the state. The American hazelnut is the most widely distributed of the two species. But it is the beaked hazelnut that is the dominant understory shrub in the Turtle Mountains and Pembina Hills.
The hazelnuts are or will be flowering soon. The male flowers are quite conspicuous to the casual observer. They are the catkins on these shrubs. It is the female flowers that I find most interesting. If you look at the leaf buds on the twigs, you will notice that some of the buds have several small red filamentous structures at the tip, about 1/8 –1/4 of an inch long, often arranged in a sort of starburst pattern. Those are not leaf buds. They are female flowers. Only the red stigmas of the pistil (where the pollen is received), protrude outward. Diamonds are not the only beautiful things that come in small packages!
The young twigs of beaked hazelnut are hairless or perhaps sparsely hairy. American hazel produces young twigs with glandular hairs. The leaves of both species are simple, alternate, and doubly serrate.
The nuts, however, are quite different on the two species. American hazelnuts are often produced in clusters with each nut enclosed in two leafy-like bracts about three-fourths of an inch to an inch across and an inch or so long with serrated margins. Beaked hazel, as the name implies produce their nuts in a husk with a tubular beak-like structure extending outward, about an inch long, and covered with dense bristly hairs. If you ever collect beaked hazelnuts, please be aware that those bristly hairs can irritate the skin like fiberglass. I would recommend wearing gloves for the task.
So be on the lookout for hazelnut in your area. It can be interesting when in flower, and the nuts are good eating.
Chuck Lura
Natural North Dakota is supported by NDSU Central Grasslands Research Extension Center and Dakota College at Bottineau, and by the members of Prairie Public. Thanks to Sunny 101.9 in Bottineau for their recording services.
