American Hazelnut is a native thicket-forming shrub of forest edges and open woodlands that produces edible nuts enclosed in leafy husks. It blooms very early in spring with pendulous yellow catkins before the leaves emerge. The nuts are a prized food source for squirrels, deer, grouse, and wild turkeys, and humans have eaten them for thousands of years.
Habitat
Forest edges, thickets, and open woods in eastern and central North America
Diet
Nuts eaten by squirrels, deer, grouse, and wild turkey
How common
Common
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