Corylus colurna L.

Horticultural & Botanical History

‘Constantinople hazel. Leaves roundish ovate, heart-shaped; husk double, the inner one divided into three deeply cleft divisions, the outer with many long, slender, curved segments, giving to the calyx or husk a fringed appearance, but leaving the end of the nut fully exposed. Nuts small, and for this reason rarely cultivated. Native of Asia Minor, where the tree attains a bight of from fifty to sixty feet. It is, however, hardy in France and England, and was introduced into the latter country some three hundred years ago, probably by Clusius, who received either nuts or plants from Constantinople, hence its present name.’ [Fuller – The Nut Culturist p.128/1896]. Figured in Flore es Serres [FS f.2223-4/1875].  Grown in Britain since before 1665.  [JD].

History at Camden Park

Corylus colurna is marked with a ‘c’ in an 1836 edition of Loddiges’ catalogue held at Camden Park [CPA].  In William Macarthur’s code, used and explained elsewhere, this means grown at Camden.  It is almost certain that it was grown in the gardens around this time but it did not appear in the catalogues.

Notes