Uses:
– Filbert nut is edible, similar to hazelnut
– Main use in the US is as filler in mixed nuts
– Sometimes grown in orchards for nuts
– Purple-leaved cultivar is popular in gardens
Language:
– Term “filbert” used for commercial hazelnuts in Oregon
– Efforts to brand hazelnuts in Oregon for global markets
– Etymology may trace to Norman French
– Possibly renamed after Saint Philibert
– Nuts mature on Saint Philibert’s feast day
References:
– Wikimedia Commons has related media
– IUCN Red List classifies Corylus maxima
– Plants of the World Online information
– Book “Trees of Britain and Europe” by Rushforth
– RHS Plant Selector for Corylus maxima Purpurea
Characteristics:
– Deciduous shrub native to southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia
– Grows 6–10m tall with thick stems
– Leaves are rounded, 5–12cm long
– Wind-pollinated catkins produced in late winter
– Fruit is a nut enclosed in a tubular husk
Related Species:
– Similar to common hazel (C. avellana)
– Differs in nut being more fully enclosed
– Feature shared with beaked hazel (C. cornuta)
– Beaked hazel also found in eastern Asia (C. sieboldiana)
– Beaked hazel found in North America