Hazelnuts-in-the-Making

Since I discovered the Picture This app this past spring, I have been having lots of fun identifying things. It's especially helpful to me in identifying trees and shrubs because my knowledge of them is so sparse. But when it told me that an interesting-looking shrub out in my field was an American Hazelnut, I was skeptical — it was mid-spring, I had missed the distinctive blooming stage (which comes very early in spring), and the shrub didn't look as if it had the potential to ever produce anything, much less hazelnuts. I told myself I would believe Picture This when the shrub actually produced some hazelnuts.

Well, now it's producing hazelnuts.


(Click on images to enlarge)

I hope I get to see the mature nuts before the wildlife gets them.

This is the shrub. You can see I marked it with fluorescent tape so I won't run over it with my brush mower next spring.




I can't believe I have something this awesome in my field, and I didn't even plant it! More info here.