Canada and the southern extremity of the Appalachians, and from the
central Mississippi valley to the Atlantic coast.

This species bears nuts of excellent quality for the most part, but of
rather small size and thick shell, excepting in individual plants. The
common American hazel, while valuable for hybridizing purposes, will
probably never be cultivated to any great extent, because of its habit
of growth.

The characteristic life history in the Eastern States is as follows: A
hazel plant bears a few nuts in its third year, a fairly large crop in
its fourth year, a heavy crop in its fifth year, a very few nuts in its
sixth year and it dies at the seventh or eighth year of age. Meanwhile,
the plant has been sending out long stoloniferous roots which have
surrounded the original plant with a chaplet of progeny, each one of
which follows the life course of the parent.

One hazel plant when left free to its own devices may increase in this
way rapidly enough to drive cows out of a pasture lot. I have trimmed
off stoloniferous roots experimentally from a number of hazel plants,
for the purpose of throwing all of the strength into the original
stocks, hoping, thereby, to prolong their lives. This, however, appears
not to be effective, as the stocks died at their appointed time.

Like many other wild plants, not yet subjected to processes of
cultivation, the common American hazel does not respond very readily to
cultivation, and too much attention on the part of the horticulturist
leads it into confusion.

Some years ago I expended about six weeks in making a study of fruiting