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Seattle - July 21, 2011
Western Hazlenuts (Corylus cornuta) dominate the lower canopy in the forest. They throw out male catkins in late December or early January. By late January these have elongated into long dangly earrings. A week or so later the allergy season begins. Their female flowers appear late in the game, tiny bright magenta ribbons very like the flowers of their cousins, the Witch Hazel. By mid-April their leaves have begun to dapple the forest floor.
Finding incipient hazlenuts is hard. The ripening nuts are encased in a green husk that matches the green of their leaves and the surrounding canopy. Mid-July is the best time to start looking, when the husks have swollen and the sun finds their shadows amidst the green.
July 13, 2011. Ripening Western Hazlenut.
In all of the time that I have walked in the forest I've never collected or eaten a Western Hazlenut. The Jays always beat me to them, find them as soon as they appear. I've seen Jays with goiter sized crops of hazlenuts returning to the source for more. What few nuts remain are taken by the local squirrels.
July 21, 2011. Remains of a Western Hazlenut.
July 21, 2011. Found the first scattered remains of ripe Western Hazlenuts.
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