Native · Up to 15 m

Hazel

Corylus avellana · Betulaceae

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.

Often mistaken for wych elm. How to tell them apart →

Know it by

LeavesNearly round and soft, ending in a sudden point.

CatkinsLong yellow catkins on bare twigs, January to March.

ShapeMany stems from the ground, clearest in winter.

Then check · NutsFrom late summer, the nuts come singly or in bunches of up to four, each in a ragged leafy husk about as long as the nut.

How to identify a hazel

Leaves

Hazel leaves are nearly round and soft to the touch, and end in a sudden short point. The edge has big teeth with smaller ones in between.

ahabo, CC BY 4.0

Catkins

From January to March, long yellow catkins hang in small clusters from the bare twigs. Beside them, tiny red threads, the female flowers, show on fat buds.

Andreas Schneider, CC BY 4.0

Shape

Many slender stems rise together from the ground and spread out above into a wide, rounded bush. Where it has been cut back, the stems grow straight and upright.

Learn the hazel in TreelyEvery part through the year, and a short round each day until you know it.Get Treely

Every part, in photographs

Hazel leaves: nearly round, soft and floppy, tip suddenly pointed — LeavesNearly round, soft and floppy, tip suddenly pointed

Hazel flowers: a few red threads on a fat bud — FlowersA few red threads on a fat bud

Hazel catkins: yellow catkins on bare stems in February — CatkinsYellow catkins on bare stems in February

Hazel nuts: nuts in a leafy husk their own length — NutsNuts in a leafy husk their own length

Hazel twigs and buds: fat green buds on rough, hairy shoots — Twigs and budsFat green buds on rough, hairy shoots

Aaron Liston, CC BY 4.0

ShapeMany stems from the ground, rounded and low

When to look

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In leaf

Catkins

Nuts

In leaf: March to November · Catkins: September to April · Nuts: June to October

Every tree on the calendar · How to identify trees in winter

Where you’ll find it

Hedges, and woods under oak, ash and birch, across Britain and Ireland. It is often the main shrub in both. In the ancient hazel woods of western Scotland it is the main tree. It avoids poor and waterlogged soils.

What it’s mistaken for

Hazel or wych elm?Young, bushy wych elm has much the same rounded, hairy leaf, in the same woods and hedges.Base of the leaf

Hazel or alder?Both hang catkins on bare twigs in late winter, and both have rounded leaves.Tip of a leaf

Hazel or hornbeam?Both grow in the same woods, with toothed leaves.What holds each nut

Hazel or common beech?Young beech grows in the same woods and hedges, with oval, pointed leaves.Where the stems leave the ground

More birches, alders, hazel and hornbeam

AlderAlnus glutinosa

Downy birchBetula pubescens

HornbeamCarpinus betulus

Silver birchBetula pendula

In the app

There’s more of the hazel in Treely

Every part, through the yearLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed in every season
Its lookalikes, side by sideThe checks that settle it, part by part
A short round each dayUntil you know the hazel on sight, from any side
Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely tells you which tree

App Store Google Play

Free to download.

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: Aaron Liston (CC BY 4.0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0), ahabo (CC BY 4.0), Andreas Schneider (CC BY 4.0), empressmoth (CC0), Dave (CC BY 4.0), David Ashcroft (CC BY 4.0), Rosy Thomson (CC BY 4.0), nick88 (CC0), anniet39 (CC0), Juraj Ahel (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.