A swampdonkey discovery

[Jeff]

I'm excited to have swampdonkey (Bill) up here at the cabin this week. He and I have been exploring my property a bit and he has been pointing out things I had no idea was here, for example, what is in the photos below. I'm thtilled at some of the discoveries we are having.    Can you I.D. this find?  I have several on the property.



  

 

[WDH]

Yes  . 

[Jeff]

Aint that cool?  8)

[WDH]

Yes  ;D.

[Mooseherder]

We have some of them around the woods edge at the cabin.
They had worms in them last year.   :(
_ _z_ _ _ ut_!

[isawlogs]

Yes, and will add that those are good!!!!!

[Okrafarmer]

I know what they are, and we had them in Maine. I know what we called them there, but I'm not sure if that's the right term.

[sprucebunny]

I thought about this today when I was at my woodlot and what really got me going was the juvenile leaves on alder so I was thinking it was alder but the word that comes first belongs with another shrub. So...yes ! I figured it out 

[WmFritz]

OK... I don't know a weeping willow from a white birch,
so for me this puzzle is a little like one of DoctorB's limericks.  :D :D

I guess you experts are gonna sit back smuggly and wait for me to dig my tree ID books out aren't you?   ??? ???

[thecfarm]

WmFritz,I all ready had mine out.  :(  I put it away too. I need more hints for this Dumb Mainer to get it.

[Jeff]

It is a nut

[thecfarm]

I think I got it. I thought it was a native tree of Maine by the way mooseherder said it grew on the edge of his cabin.
It can be an eye color,correct?

[sprucebunny]

But it's a special version of this nut discribed by a word not often associated with trees/shrubs and it describes the shape of this nut-case.

Puzzles are fun  ;D

[WDH]

I guess you experts are gonna sit back smuggly and wait for me to dig my tree ID books out aren't you?   ??? ???

Exactly  :D. 

[WmFritz]

Puzzles are fun  ;D

Says You!
They can drive me nuts! 

I solved da puzzle, but it took me 10 innings of the Tiger's game to get it done.    smiley_dunce

[Okrafarmer]

I think I got it. I thought it was a native tree of Maine by the way mooseherder said it grew on the edge of his cabin.
It can be an eye color,correct?

Yes, Cfarm, you have the name in mind that I know it by, since I grew up in Maine. But there is something else by that name that is more commonly known to the world, so I am waiting for the full roll-out by the dermatologists.

[Okrafarmer]

I mean dendrologists. Stupid spell-check.

[Jeff]

The husk can cause some skin irritation.

[Mooseherder]

I put them in a burlap type bag and whack em on a bench before trying to removing the husks. ;)

[Chuck White]

We have a lot of those around here, mostly along the river banks.

Don't wait until they turn brown to harvest them, or the squirrels will beat you to it!

[WDH]

so I am waiting for the full roll-out by the dermatologists.

For a minute there, I was almost offended  :D.

[Roxie]

I only know that I have no idea. 

[beenthere]

May be the beaked one.

[Lazy logger]

Took me two days but I think I know  witch  one it is. Never have seen one in person.

[Jeff]

May be the beaked one.

[Mooseherder]

I'll have to find a bag of commercial ones today to satisfy my craving.

[Deese]

Corylus americana

[beenthere]

Corylus americana

How about C. cornuta ?

[WmFritz]

Corylus americana

How about C. cornuta ?

I LOVE corn nuts!
I should've known they grew on trees. ;D

[WmFritz]

so I am waiting for the full roll-out by the dermatologists.

For a minute there, I was almost offended  :D.

You know what Danny?
At the Pig Roast, I wanted to pick your brain on your recommendation for a good skin care product that would smooth out rough bark!
I furgot all about it till jest now.  ;D

[Deese]

so I am waiting for the full roll-out by the dermatologists.

For a minute there, I was almost offended  :D.

You know what Danny?
At the Pig Roast, I wanted to pick your brain on your recommendation for a good skin care product that would smooth out rough bark!
I furgot all about it till jest now.  ;D

Morus rubra sap     ;D

[Okrafarmer]

In Maine, as thecfarm alluded to, some of us, at least, referred to them as Hazelnuts. However I don't know if these are the same thing, or related to, the commercially produced hazelnuts and filberts that grow on big trees. The plant in Jeff's picture, as depicted, and also in Maine, typically only grew as a low bush or shrub, similar in size to a blackberry bush but not thorny, and looking like a small tree, but not growing to tree size.

[Mooseherder]

It is rare but I have seen a big tree that was single stem of Hazelnuts before in Maine.

[isawlogs]

 I have yet to see one in any of my travels, seen many ten twelve foot '' shrubs '' loaded but never a single big tree. If one can beat the squirrels or the deer to them, you're in for a snack!

[thecfarm]

I am pretty sure I have none on mine land. Or none that produce the fruit as pictured.

[Dave Shepard]

In Maine, as thecfarm alluded to, some of us, at least, referred to them as Hazelnuts. However I don't know if these are the same thing, or related to, the commercially produced hazelnuts and filberts that grow on big trees. The plant in Jeff's picture, as depicted, and also in Maine, typically only grew as a low bush or shrub, similar in size to a blackberry bush but not thorny, and looking like a small tree, but not growing to tree size.

So you are saying they are not arborescent?

[WDH]

 :D

[Dave Shepard]

You started it!  :D

[Deese]

 ;D

[Okrafarmer]

In Maine, as thecfarm alluded to, some of us, at least, referred to them as Hazelnuts. However I don't know if these are the same thing, or related to, the commercially produced hazelnuts and filberts that grow on big trees. The plant in Jeff's picture, as depicted, and also in Maine, typically only grew as a low bush or shrub, similar in size to a blackberry bush but not thorny, and looking like a small tree, but not growing to tree size.

So you are saying they are not arborescent?

I'm not sure, but I might have said they were neither arboresque nor arboreal, nor yet arborative.

[Okrafarmer]

It is rare but I have seen a big tree that was single stem of Hazelnuts before in Maine.

Good, at least I'm not the only one who calls them that.

So, dendrologists, what relation do these hazelnuts have with the commercially produced ones, such as the ones found in Nutella? Also, do these hazelnuts, such as the ones in Jeff's picture, have any other common names they go by?

[mesquite buckeye]

We have the little native ones in MO. ;D 8) 8) 8)

[enigmaT120]

I have lots of those on my place, both wild natives in my woods and about 10 growing in my yard.  I never get any, though, because the squirrels and scrub jays pick them off the tree before they're even ripe. 

They are a big commercial crop in Western Oregon, and the field men tell me that they are dropping the term "filberts" and just calling them hazelnuts like the rest of the world. 

I always get Coryllus Cornuta and Cornus Nutalii mixed up!  And I have both so it's not like I can just forget one.

[SwampDonkey]

Yes there is a western beaked hazel. There is a small village in northern BC called Hazelton at the mouth of the Bulkley River where it meets the Skeena. I remember seeing hazelnuts there, the only area in my travels along the Skeena I saw them.

[Jeff]

I had to come up to meet with a web client and do some mowing. My Beaked Hazels had already been thoroughly ransacked! >:(

[SwampDonkey]

 :D :D ;D

[WmFritz]

I had to come up to meet with a web client and do some mowing. My Beaked Hazels had already been thoroughly ransacked! >:(

You should've borrowed my squirrel dog to protect those hazelnuts. 

[Mooseherder]

I did manage to get a picture of 2 in the husk.
The rest of ours were gone also.  The squirrels probably went in to harvesting as soon as we got close.  There was plenty of squirrels.

[SwampDonkey]

I saw squirrel today, cross the road, with a mouthful of hazelnut(s).  :D

[Okrafarmer]

Still nobody said whether these hazlenuts are related to the commercially grown ones. Or I missed it.

[Jeff]

It's been decided that we can't let this information out. 

[Okrafarmer]

It's been decided that we can't let this information out. 

Well, thanks for being so noncommittal!  :D Or maybe I should say secretive.  ;D

[Mooseherder]

I put these in my pocket while driving by on the lawnmower.
Had I waited for another pass by they probably would have disappeared from sight.


 

[Jeff]

It's been decided that we can't let this information out. 

Well, thanks for being so noncommittal!  :D Or maybe I should say secretive.  ;D

Or, it could be, be it ever so unlikely, that I just don't know.  ;)

[Okrafarmer]

It's been decided that we can't let this information out. 

Well, thanks for being so noncommittal!  :D Or maybe I should say secretive.  ;D

Or, it could be, be it ever so unlikely, that I just don't know.  ;)

Whoa.    Astounding!

Erm, well, maybe the Swampster knows something about it?

[SwampDonkey]

I think they taste better than filberts. But one is just a shrub that grows in a clump and the other is more tree like. I can tell ya those beaked hazel whips are hard fibre, need a sharp saw blade. I'm surprised no one has cultivated them in rows like raspberries by now. Mow between the rows. Now that I have a tractor and a bush hog on the list next year.................hmmmm. ;)

[Clark]

Still nobody said whether these hazlenuts are related to the commercially grown ones. Or I missed it.

That's a good question and I had to do some digging to get to the bottom of it.

From what I've found, commercial hazelnuts are grown on cultivars of Corylus avellana. It's a variety native to Europe and Asia. The two vareties in N. America, C. cornuta and C. americana are not currently used for commercial production but there is research going into crosses between either of those and the European variety.

From what I saw of pictures online, it is pretty obvious why the European variety is used commercially. The husk looks to be much more delicate then either N. American variety.

I doubt that anyone has found a C. cornuta or C. americana that is of small tree size or form. That's not the nature of the plant. Now, witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) is very similar but blooms in the fall and can reach 3-4" dbh, taking on "small tree" form.

Clark

[CJennings]

C. americana can form a tiny tree about 12 feet tall or so (I guess some might still call that a shrub however). I've seen this form of it. But beaked hazel is much more common where I'm from (Vermont). I think the nuts of both are better than the commercial variety. There were almost none this year in my usual spots.