This uncommon large shrub of woodlands is found in the western half of North Carolina, from the Triangle area to the Mountains. The edible nuts, also called filberts, ripen in late fall.

The Beaked Hazelnut has a long, tubular beak surrounding the nut and villous (finely soft-hairy) perioles and young twigs, while the similar American Hazelnut (C. americana) has flatter, more fringed involucral bracts (surrounding the nut) and stipitate-glandular petioles and twigs.

Alleghany Co. NC 8/31/03.