BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Corylus americana | American Hazel 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
American hazel is a large, deciduous, rhizomatous shrub from 3 to 10
feet (1-3 m) tall [5,9].  It has a straight trunk with spreading,
ascending branches, and can form dense thickets. The leaves are 3 to 5
inches (8-12 cm) long.  The male catkins are 8 inches (20 cm) long,
straight, slender, and regularly spaced along the upper stem.  The
female flowers are tiny, almost completely enclosed by bracts, and near
the end of the twigs.  The acornlike nuts are enclosed in two leafy
bracts [20,28].  The roots are typically in the upper 6 inches (15 cm)
of soil [6].  Some of the smaller roots run vertically toward the
surface and branch profusely into very fine laterals [34].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
American hazel reproduces both sexually and asexually.  It begins
producing seed after the first year, and produces good seed crops
every 2 to 3 years.  Seed dispersal is chiefly by mammals or birds [5].

Vegetative Reproduction:  The most important mode of reproduction of
American hazel is from rhizomes [6].  The large, woody rhizomes are 4 to
6 inches (10-15 cm) below the surface.  Rhizomes give rise to new shoots
1 to 2 feet (30-60 cm) from the parent plant [34].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
American hazel occurs along streams, hedgerows, meadows, woodlands,
roadsides, and forest margins.  It grows best on rich, moist,
well-drained soils [20,31,34]

Common understory associates of American hazel include shagbark hickory
(Carya ovata), raspberry (Rubus spp.), smooth sumac (Rhus glabra),
chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), arrowwood (Viburnum rafinesquianum),
eastern hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana), and dogwood (Cornus spp.)
[1,2,10]. 


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Faculative Seral Species

American hazel is shade tolerant [33].  It can grow under a light
intensity of 15 percent or less; even as low as 1 percent [1].  It is a
mid-seral species, and is usually absent in old-growth forest
communities [2].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
The flowers of American hazel are formed in the summer and open the
following spring, before the leaves emerge.  By late summer or early
fall, the fertilized flowers develop into fruits [5].

Related categories for Species: Corylus americana | American Hazel