• Corylus americana (Hazelnut) native plant in bloom
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Corylus americana (Hazelnut)

Corylus americana (Hazelnut)

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American hazelnut forms a densely branching shrub, usually with several stems at the base. It accommodates varied soils and light levels, with space needed for its eventual breadth.

For Corylus americana, choose full sun to light shade and moist to dry-mesic soil. Recorded habitats include open woods; Thickets; Hillsides; Drier savannas; Riverbanks; Forest understories. Reported height: 4-15 ft.

Growth habit: usually multi-stemmed, densely branching shrub; rhizomes often produce colonies. Allow space for this growth between neighboring plants over several seasons, rather than spacing only for the size of a young plant.

Plant specifications & ecological relationships

Key growing facts

Sunlight Full sun to light shade
Soil moisture Moist to dry-mesic
Height 4-15 ft
Bloom season Early to mid-spring

Native landscape companions

For partial sun / light shade and mesic soil, consider these native plants alongside Corylus americana:

Companion plant Height
Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium) Up to 15 ft
Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans) 3-7 ft
Curly-styled Wood Sedge (Carex rosea) 8 to 36 inches
Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) 1½–2½ ft

These landscape suggestions combine overlapping growing needs with documented plant associations. Match soil, seasonal wetness and mature spread to your site. Remnant records are described separately under Plant communities & associates.

Show / hide ▾Growing & planting details
Growth habit Usually multi-stemmed, densely branching shrub; rhizomes often produce colonies
Root form Rhizomes
Soil pH Published cultivation guidance lists acidic, neutral soil conditions; no optimal numeric interval is established.
Cultivation hardiness zones Zones 4a–9b (general cultivation guidance)
Drought tolerance Medium
Salt tolerance None

Plant identification & seed reference

Botanical name Corylus americana
Other common names american hazelnut; American Filbert; American Hazelnut; Hazelnut
Seed germination USDA lists cold stratification as required; duration is not specified.
Plant family Betulaceae
Seeds per pound — reference estimate 491

Plant characteristics

American hazelnut bears separate male and female flowers on the same shrub. For dependable nut production, plant two or three seed-grown American hazelnuts for cross-pollination. The nuts also feed wildlife.

  • Flower Color Yellow
  • Flower Time March


    • Show / hide ▾Plant communities & associates

    Documented Illinois communities

    Second-growth dry-mesic upland sand forest — woody layer

    Lost Mound — Jo Daviess County, Illinois; 2005 survey.

    Other native plants recorded in this survey area: Betula nigra, Carya cordiformis, Carya ovata, Celtis occidentalis, Juniperus virginiana, Prunus serotina, Quercus alba, Quercus rubra, Quercus velutina, Ribes missouriense, Tilia americana, Acer negundo.

    Selected species from the woody layer. The survey includes disturbance and succession; these records do not specify immediate neighbors or planting proportions.

    Illinois woodland and stream communities

    Middle Fork Woods, Vermilion County (1999–2002 survey). Recorded in: dry-mesic upland forest — immature second growth; perennial stream corridor.

    Dry-mesic upland forest — immature second growth — selected native associates: Carex pensylvanica, Carex rosea, Elymus villosus.

    Perennial stream corridor — selected native associates: Phlox divaricata, Sorghastrum nutans, Acer saccharinum.

    These plants share a recorded habitat; they were not necessarily found in the same small plot.

    Other regional plant communities

    These plants are named with this species in published vegetation accounts. Each list keeps its community and region; some records describe a shared vegetation type rather than neighboring plants in a measured plot. They are ecological records, not a planting recipe, and may include plants unsuitable for a particular garden.

    Spring Bay Fen Nature Preserve — tall shrub fen

    Surveyed in 2007, 2008 and 2011. Tall shrub fen on Lena muck, recorded separately from the adjoining forest and filled upland. These dated records do not establish presence today.

    Other native plants recorded in this surveyed community: Acer saccharinum, Amorpha fruticosa, Asclepias incarnata, Blephilia hirsuta, Bolboschoenus fluviatilis, Caltha palustris, Carex hystericina, Carex stipata, Cephalanthus occidentalis, Chelone glabra.

    Murphy, Phillippe & Ebinger 2021, Appendix 1. Selected associates from the same community; records do not show immediate neighbors or prescribe planting ratios.

    Show / hide ▾Native range & C-value

    State nativity describes a broad range. Use the Chicago-region assessment for local context; a state listing does not establish county nativity.

    Wetland indicator — NWPL 2022 Midwest FACU
    C-value — Chicago region, Flora 2017 5
    Chicago-region native — Flora 2017 Yes
    Native range — U.S. states Alabama; Arkansas; Connecticut; Delaware; Georgia; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; Minnesota; Mississippi; Missouri; Nebraska; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Carolina; South Dakota; Tennessee; Vermont; Virginia; West Virginia; Wisconsin
    County nativity Not yet verified; occurrence records do not establish nativity.
    Show / hide ▾Pollinators & wildlife

    Caterpillars & other plant-feeding insects

    This plant has published caterpillar host records for the butterflies and moths listed below. These are larval feeding relationships, separate from adult nectar visits. The records span a North American literature compilation and do not establish that every insect occurs locally or uses only this plant.

    Moths

    • Acrobasis normella
    • Anacampsis tristrigella
    • Cameraria corylisella — Hazel Blotchminer
    • Coleophora corylifoliella — Pecan Cigar Casebearer
    • Ectoedemia quadrinotata
    • Ectoedemia virgulae

    Leafhopper hosts

    The INHS revision lists this plant as a host for the following Eratoneura leafhoppers. These plant-feeding insects are distinct from caterpillars and flower visitors.

    • Eratoneura aculeata
    • Eratoneura arenosa
    • Eratoneura citrosa
    • Eratoneura concisa
    • Eratoneura corylorubra
    • Eratoneura dimidiata
    • Eratoneura dira
    • Eratoneura eversi
    • Eratoneura rangifer
    • Eratoneura spala
    • Eratoneura uncinata

    Host names follow the 2010 taxonomic revision. Its distribution records do not establish a host observation at your planting site.

    Show / hide ▾Frequently asked questions

    What are the ideal growing conditions for Hazelnut?
    Light: Full sun to light shade. Soil moisture: Moist to dry-mesic.

    How do I germinate and establish Hazelnut from seed?
    USDA lists cold stratification as required; duration is not specified.

    Is Hazelnut deer and herbivore resistant?
    Deer browse American hazelnut leaves, twigs and catkins. Even plants described as resistant may be browsed. Use physical protection where deer damage is a concern.

    When should I expect Hazelnut to bloom?
    Typical flowering period: Early to mid-spring. Timing varies with location and weather.

    Should I plant more than one American hazelnut for nuts?
    For dependable nut production, plant two or three seed-grown American hazelnuts to provide cross-pollination. A lone shrub is not a dependable plan for a crop.

    Show / hide ▾Sources & ecological notes

    Landscape companion selection: Natural Communities compared the growing requirements shown on these species pages with selected source records: Dry-mesic upland forest — immature second growth — East-central Illinois. The shortlist is a planting-design inference. A shared record does not establish adjacency, identical soil requirements, local seed origin, or a tested planting combination. Regional synthesis records retain their documented focal-to-associate scope.

    Illinois woodland records: Larimore, Phillippe & Ebinger (2008), Middle Fork Woods flora, Appendix I. © 2008 University of Illinois Board of Trustees, CC BY 4.0. Habitat records transcribed, selected and linked to catalog names by Natural Communities. Survey: 1999–2002.

    Native range & ecological ratings: Flora of the Chicago Region (2017), via Universal FQA; USACE Chicago FQA (2017); Kew WCVP / Plants of the World Online; USACE National Wetland Plant List.

    Growing conditions & other references: Illinois Wildflowers, John Hilty; USDA Forest Service: Cornus alternifolia; USDA Forest Service: Corylus americana; USDA Forest Service: Dalea purpurea; USDA Forest Service: Prunus americana; USDA Forest Service: Prunus virginiana; USDA Forest Service: Quercus ellipsoidalis; USDA NRCS PLANTS; Patrick Goggin: Wisconsin native plant guide, p. 75; USDA Forest Service: species review; NC State Extension Plant Toolbox.

    Wildlife records: Shropshire & Tallamy: caterpillar hosts (2025); INHS: Eratoneura leafhopper host records.

    Native range does not identify the origin of the seed or plants offered. Community and wildlife records apply to the locations and conditions described.

    Research notes & credits

    USACE/ERDC fqadata — Chicago Region FQA 2017. Herman, B., Sliwinski, R. & Whitaker, S. (2017), Chicago Region FQA Calculator; distributed by USACE/ERDC in fqadata under CC0. Values may differ from Flora of the Chicago Region (2017). CC0 dedication. Retained for comparison; the displayed C-value follows Flora database 80.

    Range data: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; 4 June 2026 release, accessed 7 September 2026. © The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. CC BY 3.0; selected and reformatted. Kew cannot warrant the quality or accuracy of these data. This use has no Kew endorsement.

    Caterpillar host records: Shropshire, K.J. & Tallamy, D.W. (2025), Lepidoptera of North America, Supplement 1. Contains information from this database made available under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0). Natural Communities selected species-level records and screened source qualifications. The complete selection and transformation instructions for this page are available below under the same license.

    Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin — Eratoneura paper. Dietrich, C.H. & Dmitriev, D.A. (2010), Review of the Species of New World Erythroneurini, IV. Genus Eratoneura. Copyright University of Illinois Board of Trustees. CC BY 4.0; selected host records summarized and reformatted. No endorsement implied. CC BY 4.0.

    Flora rating attribution: Kenneth Johnson (2018), Flora of the Chicago Region UFQA Database, following Gerould Wilhelm and Laura Rericha (2017), Flora of the Chicago Region: A Floristic and Ecological Synthesis. Individual rating facts are presented with original commentary; the calculator’s software license is not treated as a license for the underlying Flora publication.

    Detailed record links: Eratoneura aculeata; Eratoneura arenosa; Eratoneura citrosa; Eratoneura concisa; Eratoneura corylorubra; Eratoneura dimidiata; Eratoneura dira; Eratoneura eversi; Eratoneura rangifer; Eratoneura spala; Eratoneura uncinata; Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin — Eratoneura paper.

    Caterpillar research records

    Plant: Corylus americana

    Record scope: Host literature synthesis; no county nativity or local insect occurrence inferred.

    Shropshire & Tallamy (2025) · Original research dataset · Reuse license: ODbL-1.0

    Plant names in the source Source insect record IDs
    Corylus americana 200196, 200769, 202223, 203173, 204388, 204393

    How these records were selected

    To reproduce this selection, use the “UDELep May 2025” worksheet in the original research dataset.

    1. Match the insect record IDs above to column A (UDLepID). Within each table row, pair every listed insect ID with every listed source plant name.
    2. Use the first two words in column H for the insect’s scientific name, column E for its common name, and column AB for its source category.
    3. Treat the selected pairs as reported caterpillar host records. Keep all other source fields unchanged and outside this selected table. Include no other rows or host pairs.
    4. Group butterflies and skippers together, and the other categories as moths. Retain the source’s exotic-category labels and sort display names by scientific insect name.

    Survey communities: Ebinger et al. (2006), Tables 1–12, Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin. CC BY 4.0; adapted as dated presence lists, with the source’s non-native records excluded from the displayed native lists.

    Growing guidance: Illinois Extension — Keeping deer out of the yard and garden; USDA Forest Service FEIS — Corylus americana; Utah State University Extension — Hazelnuts in the Home Orchard. Selected facts in original wording. General deer advice is not a species resistance rating.

    Additional community records: Murphy, Phillippe & Ebinger (2021), Spring Bay Fen flora and vegetation. Selected facts and taxonomic links; source spellings and historical survey dates retained.

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            What to Do With Your Plants After  Receiving Your Delivery

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              • Make sure each plant is receiving the appropriate amount of light.
              • Continue to water daily each morning and possibly again in the afternoon
              • No additional fertilizer is needed
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