American Hazelnuts - A tough native plant

                 American hazelnuts Corylus americana are native to a large portion of the eastern and midwestern United States. They are a perennial shrub and can grow from seed or from underground suckers from nearby plants. They are an excellent plant for wildlife or for cultivation for people to harvest and eat the nuts. There are some 'improved' varieties and strains of american hazlenuts, and a large assortment of hybrid european x american hazelnuts available on the market today. American hazelnuts are very hardy and productive, but the drawback is that usually the nuts are so small that they aren't really viable as a product to be sold for the in-shell hazelnut market and often so small that even harvesting them for processing isn't commercially viable either. There is continuing breeding being conducted by individuals, and organizations, such as universities, in the United States looking at hybrid hazelnuts and increasing their productivity. On our farm I plant mostly American hazelnuts that have been selected because they displayed particularly valuable characteristics for breeding, but I also will plant exceptional hybrids and their seedlings if they appear really promising in terms of a particular characteristic.

              Just to illustrate how tough American hazelnuts are I am attaching a picture of one of our seedlings that was planted at the end of summer 2017. We have been in a drought here in central Missouri since fall 2017. This particular plant was approximately 4 inches tall when it was planted, it has grown 1 foot in the past 12 months despite not being irrigated, growing on a south facing slope, and having only minimal weed control (light straw mulch). I do provide a cage for most of my plants to keep them from being eaten by wildlife.

Given that this plant has actually grown under these adverse drought conditions, I am really looking forward to seeing how fast it can grow once we actually have some regular rainfall again. Hazelnuts produce nuts at a relatively young age and in one to two years we should see what the quality of hazelnuts is like from this particular seedling.