Winter Tree ID: Hazel (Corylus avellana) — How to Identify It Without Leaves

This month's tree identification guide covers the bushcrafter's favourite gadget tree — how to ID hazel in winter and its many practical uses.

With the New Year in full force, and probably more than one unrealistic resolution broken already, it's time to look at our own skillset and set our goals for the year ahead.

Skill is often a tricky one to audit — how do you benchmark how good you are at something? But I think with tree identification it's pretty clear. Can you ID the tree in winter?

Many of us rely on the leaf formation or even fruit and nuts for a positive ID, but to be confident without these, we need a new frame of reference.

• 1. Silhouette & Shape
• 2. Bark Colour & Texture
• 3. Twigs
• 4. Buds
• 5. Catkins or Cones
• 6. Leaves & Fruit

Why Hazel Matters to Bushcrafters

Hazel (Corylus avellana) is probably the most useful gadget tree to an outdoors person due to its straight-growing branches, the ease of carving, and its natural ability to replenish itself when harvested properly.

Identification Guide — Hazel (Corylus avellana)

1 Silhouette & Shape

How hazel differs from most trees is its tendency to have multiple trunks as opposed to a single trunk. The more it's managed or coppiced, the more trunks it can develop. From its main trunks, the leaf cover and branches form a domed appearance.

Hazel (Corylus avellana) — multiple trunks with a domed canopy, typical of coppiced specimens.

2 Bark Colour & Texture

It has smooth, dark greenish-brown bark with pale speckles (lenticels) when young, often slightly flaking. As it ages, it becomes rougher with a slightly vertically fissured appearance, though horizontal bands are sometimes visible.

Young bark — smooth with pale lenticels

Older bark — rougher with vertical fissures

3 Twigs

Young twigs are light brown and often "furry" in appearance, with the speckles visible. The branches split in series, meaning one branches off on one side, then a little further up another branches on the opposite side, terminating in a "Y" shape.

Hazel twigs — light brown, furry, with visible lenticel speckles.

4 Buds

Hazel is early to bud, with green buds layered with a hint of red on the edges. If you look closely in January and February, you will notice tiny little red female flowers poking outwards, almost anemone-like. These are what will grow into the nuts.

Green buds with a hint of red on the edges

Tiny red female flowers — these become the nuts

5 Catkins

The male catkins form as tight purplish bundles from late autumn, but as they grow and loosen to release pollen in late winter and spring, they take on a yellowish-green hue as they prepare to spread the pollen. These later turn woody and fall off.

Early catkins — tight purplish bundles

Mature catkins — yellowish-green, loosened for pollen

6 Leaves & Fruit

The leaves are soft to the touch, almost fuzzy, and have a broad and serrated shape, terminating in a pointed tip. I have found that they are very similar in appearance to bramble leaves, which are prevalent almost all year round and can be used as a handy shape reference.

Hazel leaves — broad, serrated, and soft to the touch.

We are all familiar with the hazelnut, and if you can beat the squirrels, it is worth harvesting around September as the green nuts start to take on the first hints of brown. If you can free them from their outer husk, the nuts can be ripened and dried at home.

Hazelnuts on the branch — harvest around September as they begin turning brown.