Corylus heterophylla

The Asian hazel is in the birch or Betulaceae family and is native to northern and central China, Korea, Japan and southeastern Siberia. It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 7 m in height.

• Leaves are rounded, 4–13 cm long and 2.5–10 cm broad, with a coarsely double-serrated to somewhat lobed margin and an often truncated apex.
• Plant is dioecious; male catkins are pale yellow, 4 cm long; female flowers are bright red and only 1–3 mm long.
• Fruit is a nut produced in clusters of 2–6; each nut is 0.7–1.5 cm in diameter, partly enclosed in a 1.5–2.5 cm long bract-like husk. The nut is edible, and is very similar to the common hazel nut; it is cultivated commercially in China.
• It is very similar to the closely related common hazel (C. avellana) of Europe and western Asia, differing in the leaves being somewhat more lobed.