Corylus heterophylla, the Asian hazel, is a species of hazel native to eastern Asia in northern and central China, Korea, Japan, and southeastern Siberia.[1]
It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 7m (23feet) tall, with stems up to 20cm (10inches) thick grey bark. The leaves are rounded, 4– long and 2.5– broad, with a coarsely double-serrated to somewhat lobed margin and an often truncated apex. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins; the male (pollen) catkins are pale yellow, 4cm (02inches) long, while the female catkins are bright red and only 1– long. The fruit is a nut produced in clusters of 2–6 together; each nut is 0.7– diameter, partly enclosed in a 1.5– long, bract-like involucre (husk).[1] [2]
It is very similar to the closely related common hazel (C. avellana) of Europe and western Asia, differing in the leaves being somewhat more lobed.[2]
The nut is edible, and is very similar to the common hazel nut; it is cultivated commercially in China.[1]