Filbert
Scientific name: Corylus maxima Mill.
Diagnostic features
Several-stemmed shrub or sometimes small tree to 10m.
Differs from Corylus avellana in the ovoid nuts usually more than 2cm, with the fused surrounding bracts much longer than nut and contracted beyond its apex.
Chromosome number: (2n=22, 28).
Habitat
Introduced-naturalized; grown for its nuts (Kentish Cobs) in orchards in Kent and in gardens elsewhere, sometimes found as a relic and rarely self-sown.
Distribution
SoutheastEurope and Southwest Asia.
Note
Fertile fruits develop equally well following pollination by Corylus maxima or Corylus avellana.
This species is keyed out on Page 1714: Corylus in the Text Key.
Hybrids
- Corylus avellana x Corylus maxima, with intermediate fruits, has been reported from Suffolk; some Kentish Cobs are of this parentage. |
