The species Corylus maxima is similar to avellana but has larger leaves and is far more robust, with longer catkins 3" to 4" in length. The nuts appear singly or in groups of two or three. The varity 'Kentish Cob' is that grown widely in the 'garden of England' for its large glossy well flavoured nuts, which are more elongated in shape.

Family:
Formerly often classified as belonging to the Betulaceae (Birch family), but was then given its own family: Corylaceae (Hazel family).

Synonyms:
Common Hazel, Hazelnut, European Filbert, Cobnut.

Hazel is a native British tree and occurs throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, except for the Shetland Isles. It also grows throughout Europe except for the far North.

  Analysis of pollen deposits in dated peat strata has confirmed that Hazel was one of the dominant plants of the undergrowth in Pine Forests after the Ice Age. This makes sense of the fact that one of the ancient names for Scotland was "Caledonia", meaning Hill of the Hazel ('Col' or 'Cal' is the Celtic word for Hazel and 'dun' means hill - as in our modern 'dunes').

Name:
'Corylus' was the Greek name for a Hazelbush.
'Avellana' is thought to refer to the Avella Vecchia area in Southern Italy.

Cultivation:
Propagation can be by seed, tip-layering or radical suckers and cutting. Hazels will grow in shade as well as in full sunlight and are  lime-tolerant. Grows 15 ft in 20 years. Hazel take extremely well to being coppiced and if done properly this practice can prolong the life of the Hazel considerably, since it normally is a relatively short-lived tree. Hazels were often cut every 7 years and could form enormous stools eventually.

Uses:
The nuts were of course eaten. It is rich in fatty oils and vitamins. Weight for weight they contain 50% more protein, 7x more fat and 5x more carbohydrate than hen's eggs.
The oil is multi-usable and has been employed for cooking or dressing salads, as well as in oil paints, as a machine lubricant and in making perfumery and cosmetics.
The wood of the Hazel is not long lasting, but since Hazel rods are extremely pliable (and abundant), they have been used for a great variety of purposes: basket work, wattle and daub frames, hurdles to pen sheep and other fencing panels, thatching spars, coracle frames (Coracles are the Celtic basket like boats), bender poles (a bender is a temporary tent as used by travelers, peace protesters and so on), hoops, fishing rods, walking sticks, broom handles and so on
Forked hazel twigs are traditionally used for water divining.

 History and Treelore:

Before the second World War, it was still quite common for people to harvest the nuts. Like many other rural customs, this was often a communal affair with whole villages going out and about. Timing is very important. Too early and the nuts will lack taste and will not store long. Too late and the jays and squirrels will have all. People would take picnics and a drink of ale or cider. "Nutting" used to be a euphism for "courting", and this expression may originated in the fact that gathering nuts in the woods and shrubland gave lots of opportunity for making contact with the object of one's affection.

The Hazel used to be the only proper edible Nut tree in Northern Europe and this gave it a special place in folklore and tradition. The nut was seen as powerful symbol of Wisdom. "All in a nutshell." Wisdom comes from the old Anglo-saxon root "wissen" which has a double meaning of 'knowledge' as well as 'growing'. Wisdom was seen as "growing power", it was seen as a living process rather than 'dogma'.

Hazel was an important tree in Irish mythology. It represented the letter 'Coll', which was the ninth letter of the Irish Bardic Ogham alphabet. It gave its name to a God named Mac Coll (son of Hazel), who according to Keating's history of Ireland was one of the earliest rulers Ireland, his brothers being Mac Ceacht (son of the plough) and Mac Greine (son of the Sun). They celebrated a triple marriage with the Triple Goddess of Ireland: Eire, Fodhla and Banbha.

Information sourced from numerous books and additionally from sites on the internet. Apologies to authors and websites if use is unauthorised as no intent at plagiarism is or was intended.