Improved Hazelnut Hybrid –
Members Lend Hand to Pioneering Research
Deep roots anchor erodible soil year after year. Plowing and replanting is unnecessary, so nutrient-rich topsoil is held in place while lakes, rivers and streams remain clean and healthy.
L Hazelnut plants are drought-resistant and can withstand floods, making this a crop that will thrive despite potential climate changes.
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uther Burbank, the great plant breeding pioneer, would be proud of the Arbor Day Foundation’s Hazelnut Project and our members who are making this possible. As far back as 1929, another pioneer, Professor J. Russell Smith, an economic geographer at Columbia University, saw the promise of what hazelnuts can do for our environment. He envisioned thousands of acres of gullied farmland transformed into green fields of this perennial woody crop that can not only save the land but feed the masses. Professor Smith’s vision is being kept alive by the Arbor Day Foundation and its Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium partners—Rutgers University, Oregon State University, and the University of Nebraska. This partnership is using Burbank’s genius for plant observations and breeding to find improved hybrids. The goal is to develop blight-resistant, hybrid hazelnuts that will thrive across much of the country under a wide variety of soil and climatic conditions. Helping to produce this improved hazel are thousands of Foundation members who are planting hazelnuts one by one in their fields and yards – and reporting their observations each year.
Bird nests and hiding cover remain intact allowing wildlife to thrive.
Wanted – Wild Hazelnuts To help expand the genetic diversity of hazelnuts in this important project, members are also asked to be on the lookout for American hazelnuts (Corylus Americana) that are growing naturally. These will most likely be found within their natural range which is from the Great Plains eastward except Florida. You can find detailed illustrations and a description of what to look for at arborday.org/hazelnuts. If the bush is 8 – 15 feet tall, please email us at hazelnuts@arborday.org with a subject line: Wild American Hazelnut Found. Include your name, location where the hazelnut is growing, height and width of the bush, diameter and weight of typical nuts if found, and any photos you can send showing flowers, leaves, nuts or other defining characteristics. After reviewing your information, we will contact you and let you know if we would like a sample of your wild hazelnut and the proper procedures to follow when sampling. For more information about this project or how to join the collaborative effort—perhaps by planting a few hybrid hazelnut bushes in your yard— please visit arborday.org/hazelnuts.
Protein-rich nuts provide a healthful source of food for our expanding population. We enjoy them today in nutritious and delicious desserts or as a supplement in many dishes. One day, they could help feed hungry nations.
The leafy bushes are ideal for absorbing carbon dioxide through a large part of the year. The wood and root systems naturally sequester the carbon.
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ocating and reporting wild hazelnuts is another part of the Hazelnut Project. Elizabeth Wilson was delighted to find some wild hazels growing on land she recently acquired in Pennsylvania. Elizabeth has been participating in the Hazelnut Project since 2001 by planting, measuring and reporting plants provided by the Arbor Day Foundation. Now she is also gathering mature nuts from her wild plants and sending them for testing by scientists in the Hybrid Hazelnut Consortium. Through the efforts of members like Elizabeth, the expanding database is being used to start unlocking genetic secrets that can lead to an improved hazelnut hybrid.