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Join our network of individual supporters across the country who are assisting in our research and common goal. Your involvement can span from simply staying informed to helping us add to our germplasm collection.
Locate Wild Hazelnuts
You can help the ambitious goals of the Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium. By locating wild hazelnuts in your community, you will help us diversify our collection of plants.
What to Do
Let us know if you think you have identified an American hazelnut. After reviewing your information, we will let you know if we would like a sample of your wild hazelnut and what the proper procedures are to follow.
How to Find American Hazelnuts
Native American Hazelnuts are found in the midwestern, eastern, and southeastern regions of the United States and in Canada. Please refer to the map to discover if you might have American hazelnuts growing in your state.
The Consortium is primarily seeking samples from Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee, especially in higher elevations in these states.
Typical hazelnuts and where they’re found:
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Native range of American hazelnuts. -
Leaves alternate, heart shape. Oval, 8-12 cm long and 4.5-8 cm wide, doubly serrate, tip pointed (acute or acuminate); back of leaf paler, round involucres. -
Deciduous shrub, 8-15 ft (2.5-4.5 m) tall, suckers from roots and therefore wide spreading, width of 5-10 ft (1.5-3 m) or more, rounded. -
Nut: Brown color globe like with a smooth exterior. -
Male catkins, appear before leaves 5 to 8 cm hang from shrub. -
Female flowers arise from axillary buds before leaves appear, 6-12 flower/bud, red stigma.
Key Identifying Features of the American Hazelnut:
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Heart-shaped leaves (paler on back than front) -
Involucre (leafy bract) -
8- to 15-foot tall shrub -
Hazelnut nut -
Catkins
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