Also called filberts According to a manuscript found in China, from the year 2838 B C , the hazelnut took its place among the five sacred nourishments God bestowed to human beings The cultivation of hazelnuts has been going on for over 4500 years In olden times, the nut was used as a medicine and tonic Up until 1940, most hazelnuts were imported to the United States from Sicily and Naples Now the nuts are grown in Oregon and Washington Nuts begin forming on the trees in the early spring They mature during the summer months and are harvested in the early fall The nuts usually grow in clusters of two or three, each nut covered with an open ended husk that extends beyond the rounded nut itself When the nuts mature, they fall free from the husks to the ground where they are harvested
Hazelnuts are nuts from a hazel tree, which can be eaten. or hazel(nut) Any of about 15 species of deciduous trees and shrubs that make up the genus Corylus, in the birch family, native to the northern temperate zone; also, the edible nuts they produce. Choice nuts are produced by two Eurasian trees, the European filbert (C. avellana) and the giant filbert (C. maxima), and by hybrids of these species. Some varieties are valuable hedgerow and ornamental trees. An oil from C. avellana is used in food products, perfumes, and soaps; the tree yields a soft, reddish-white timber that is useful for small articles such as tool handles and walking sticks
nut of any of several trees of the genus Corylus any of several shrubs or small trees of the genus Corylus bearing edible nuts enclosed in a leafy husk