Friends of Heene Cemetery

The catkins of the male Hazel flowers appear in January, along with the bud-like female bright red styles.

Dedicated to:

Richard Crofts Bartlett 1880-1956 and Bessie May Bartlett née Hemsley 1886-1964 of Hazelwood, Cansiron Lane, Holtye, Kent.

Species introduction

At a glance

Latin name:

Corylus avellana

Family:

Birches and Alders

Family Latin name:

BETULACEAE

Category:

Flowering Plants

Vernacular names:

Halse, Hezzel, Ranger, Lamb's tails (the catkins)

Species description

The pale yellow hanging catkins of the male flowers appear in January, along with the bud-like female bright red styles. The tough and pliant wood of this native tree is ideal for dowsing or divining rods, hoops for lightweight barrels, casks, walking sticks, hurdles (or wattles), lobster pots, salmon putchers and eel griggs, and the spars, runners and pegs used by thatchers. Coracles consist of tarred canvas stretched over a hazel framework. Hazel faggots were used for foundations on boggy ground and dyke making. Ship's fenders, to protect the side of a ship from impact with the quayside, were made from bundles of hazel.

A stick of hazel with honeysuckle twined round it is very lucky, especially if you are courting.

Pick the nuts when brown, if the squirrels have left any. They are rich in vitamins B1 and C, and also in Calcium and protein. Try grinding them into a powder and stirring into a mixture of milk and honey (in the ratio 1 of nuts, 1 of honey and 3 of milk). Nutting is the gathering of wild hazelnuts, but in times past this was only done by boys because of the belief among girls that harvesting nuts, a powerful fertility symbol, would make them pregnant. Hazelnut spread is an old favourite.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)

Hazels are members of the Birch and Alder family of nut-bearing trees and shrubs, largely found in temperate regions.

Male hazel catkins are designed to be blown by the wind.

Tiny female flowers of the hazel need male catkin pollen grains to land on them for fertilisation.

Hazelnuts are picked when brown. They are rich in vitamins B1 and C, and also in Calcium and protein.

Details

Species family information

This is a family of nut-bearing trees and shrubs, largely found in temperate regions.

Category information

Nucleic multicellular photosynthetic organisms lived in freshwater communities on land as long ago as a thousand million years, and their terrestrial descendants are known from the late Pre-Cambrian 850 million years ago. Embryophyte land plants are known from the mid Ordovician, and land plant structures such as roots and leaves are recognisable in mid Devonian fossils. Seeds seem to have evolved by the late Devonian. The Embryophytes are green land plants that form the bulk of the Earth’s vegetation. They have specialised reproductive organs and nurture the young embryo sporophyte. Most obtain their energy by photosynthesis, using sunlight to synthesise food from Carbon Dioxide and Water.

The earliest known plant group is the Archaeplastida, which were autotrophic. Listing just the surviving descendants, which evolved in turn, we have the Red Algae, the Chlorophyte Green Algae, the Charophyte Green Algae, and then the Embryophyta or land plants. The earliest embryophytes were the Liverworts, followed by the Hornworts, and the Mosses. Then we have the Vascular Plants, the Lycophytes and Ferns, followed by the Spermatophytes or seed plants, the Gnetophytes, Conifers, Ginkgos, and Cycads, and finally the Magnoliophyta (Angiosperms) or flowering plants.

Further information

Recipe for Hazelnut Spread

6 oz (150g) nuts 1 lb (450g) butter.Blanch the nuts in boiling water, remove and crush to a smooth paste, adding drops of water as required. Cream with the butter and pass through a sieve. Spread on fresh bread it is irresistible.

Hazel nuts are also excellent in salads, cake mixtures, and, when ground, in sauces and tart mixtures.

Recipe for Carrot and Hazelnut Cake

¼ pint (150ml) sunflower oil 8 oz (225g) soft brown sugar4 eggs, beaten 2 tsp mixed spice9 oz (250g) plain flour 2 tsp baking powder3 oz (75g) carrot, grated 3 oz (75g) parsnip, gratedgrated zest and juice of ½ lemon 3 oz (75g) toasted, ground hazelnuts3 oz (75g) fresh white breadcrumbs.Heat the oven to 350F/180C/gas mark 4. Lightly oil a 10 in (25cm) cake tin and line the base with non-stick parchment. Put the oil, sugar and eggs in a bowl and whisk until the sugar is blended in. In another bowl sift the mixed spice, flour and baking powder, then add to the egg mixture. Then add the grated vegetables, lemon zest and juice, nuts and breadcrumbs. Fold in thoroughly to disperse the ingredients. Tip the mixture into the cake tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for five minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Hazel