Alder or hazel?

Both have rounded leaves and both hang catkins in late winter.

The quickest check

The quickest check is the tip of a leaf. Alder: rounded, often with a small notch. Hazel: a sudden sharp point on a round leaf. No leaves on the tree? Check the fruit.

At a glance

Look at	Alder	Hazel
Tip of a leaf	Rounded, often with a small notch	A sudden sharp point on a round leaf
Fruit	Small woody cone, blunt at both ends	Nut in a ragged leafy husk

Two ways to tell them apart

Tip of a leafLeaves

Alder: tip of a leaf — AlderRounded, often with a small notch

Hazel: tip of a leaf — HazelA sudden sharp point on a round leaf

FruitCones

Alder: fruit — AlderSmall woody cone, blunt at both ends

Hazel: fruit — HazelNut in a ragged leafy husk

Think you can tell them apart now? Try the tree quiz: real photographs, and what gives each tree away.Take the quiz

The two trees

Alder

Alnus glutinosa

Alder grows by rivers and on wet ground. Its leaves are dark and rounded, and small woody cones hang on its twigs in every month of the year.

How to identify alder →

Hazel

Corylus avellana

Hazel is a shrub or small tree with many stems rising from the ground, common in hedges and woods. Its soft leaves are nearly round and end in a sudden sharp point.

How to identify hazel →

Their other lookalikes

Alder or silver birch?Quickest check: the older trunk

Alder or common beech?Quickest check: the tip of a leaf

Alder or downy birch?Quickest check: the older trunk

Hazel or common beech?Quickest check: the tip of a leaf

Hazel or wych elm?Quickest check: the base of the leaf

Hazel or hornbeam?Quickest check: what holds each nut

In the app

See them side by side in Treely

Both trees, part by partLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed through the year
Every lookalike side by sideThe checks that settle it, for every pair people mix up
A short round each dayUntil you can tell them apart at a glance
The full GuideBoth trees written up in full, with where to find them

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Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.

Photographs: Chase Mathey (CC BY 4.0), Aaron Liston (CC BY 4.0), nick88 (CC0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0), scallions (CC BY 4.0), David Ashcroft (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.