It is a
deciduous shrub or small
tree growing to tall, with
stems up to thick grey
bark. The
leaves are rounded, long and broad, with a coarsely double-serrated to somewhat lobed margin and an often truncated apex. The
flowers are
wind-pollinated catkins; the
male (
pollen) catkins are pale yellow, long, while the
female catkins are bright red and only long. The
fruit is a
nut produced in clusters of 2–6 together; each nut is diameter, partly enclosed in a long, bract-like
involucre (
husk). 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. ==Uses==