Beaked Hazelnut

Beaked hazelnut is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub native to western North America, commonly found in forest edges, riparian areas, and shaded slopes. It grows 13–15 feet tall, with smooth gray bark and broad, round, toothed leaves that turn golden in fall. In early spring, it produces long, pendulous catkins on male plants, and small, inconspicuous flowers on female plants, which later develop into hard-shelled nuts enclosed in distinctive, fringed husks. Beaked hazelnut produces edible nuts that are an important first food of native people, an excellent food source for wildlife and foragers, and it plays an important role in forest succession and soil stabilization.