There
is a view that this plant gave the Roman name to the country before
the Scots arrived from Ireland, Caledonia, that it comes from
Coll-Dun, meaning 'hills of Hazel'. The problem with this is that
nobody living in Caledonia at the time spoke Gaelic and the Romans
mostly named countries after their name for the residents, (Caledonians).
The modern Welsh for Hazel is collen so perhaps the Romans took
the name from 'Strathclyde Welsh'. I cannot find another etymology
for the Latin so it may be true, I doubt it, but it is still a
most important plant in relation to our cultural origins.
At the end of the ice age, as the ice left the Hazel
arrived and following it were our ancestors. In this upside down,
protein poor and fat rich, world we now live in, where being fat
has become an indicator of poverty and emaciation one of wealth.
It is hard to remember that in the world of hunter gatherers carbohydrate
is rare and fat is precious, especially in a storable form. The
shellfish, venison, wild ox and boar meat of Mesolithic Scotland
was mostly low in fats. Wild carbohydrates are mostly found in
the hard won underground or underwater roots, rhizomes and tubers
of plants such as, water lilies, silverweed, orchids, pignut and
the roots of umbelliferae, that are very hard to distinguish from
deadly poisonous relatives. The hazelnut has 61 or more grams
of fat in 100g as well 17g carbohydrate and 15g protein, also
an important list of B vitamins and minerals. It can be identified
and safely and easily gathered by almost any child or adult. It
is easily stored and transported and at that time was common and
widely distributed. Thank the hazel for without it those ancestors
of ours may not have survived the northern winters and we would
not exist.
The Hazel is now a little rare in most of Northeast
Scotland we need to plant more. The recent change in the Common
Agricultural Policy with the new emphasis on stewardship has already
done a lot to help.
To later generations the Hazel coppice was a sort
of subsistence peasants' 'B&Q', the place they went when they
needed a bit of wood to make, mend or burn. Both as a hedge plant
and as hurdles it enclosed much of the livestock of the pre-industrial
world. From the Stone Age until the early 20th century as lathes
and wattles it was an important part of our walls, whether to
hold plaster or daub. In the coppice system one seventh of the
wood was cut each year to give a constant supply of poles for
firewood, wattle and daub building, thatching spars, fences, creels
and garden plant supports etc.
It is the Celtic tree of knowledge. Around the sacred
pool grow the nine hazels whose nuts of knowledge feed the 'Salmon
of Wisdom' (the Salmon itself being the other major source of
fat particularly the fashionable Omega 3). Whatever you have read
in 'Harry Potter' in reality it is hazel wood that magic wands
are made from, as was the caduceus of Hermes, and from the druid's
staff to the wands of modern followers of ritual magic.
The nut is still considered an essential ritual
adjunct to Halloween and Christmas feasts (or Samhain and Yeel
if preferred) but nowadays instead of coming from the nearest
hedge, it is likely to be from a cultivated hazel orchard in Turkey
(Turkish hazelnut production of 625,000 tonnes accounts for approximately
75% of worldwide production). It is also probably at least a year
old, and dust dry and bitter, instead of moist and sweet as a
local one a few weeks old would be. That’s progress?
It is in flower from January to April, and
the seeds ripen from September to October. The flowers are monoecious
(individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes
can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by wind. We
are all familiar with the male yellow catkins but have not perhaps
noticed the tiny female flowers. It is worth a walk in the snow
and a carefull look, on a grey late winters day they are one of
the most intensly red things you will ever see and once you spot
their petals, like tiny sea anemonies, a glimpse into reality
on a scale we usualy disregard.
Non-medical uses of hazel
Seed - raw or roasted and used in breads, cakes,
biscuits, sweets etc. An excellent nut for raw eating. Cultivated
Hazelnuts are extensively used in confectionery to make praline
and also used in combination with chocolate for chocolate truffles
and products such as Nutella. In Austria and especially in Vienna
hazelnut paste is an important ingredient in the world famous
torts (such as Viennese hazelnut tort). They can also be liquidized
and used as a plant milk. Rich in oil. The seed ripens in mid
to late autumn and will probably need to be protected from grey
squirrels where they are common (or eat the squirrels, which are
excellent particularly as 'Squirrel Maryland' I have not tried
deep frying squirrel in hazelnut oil but that might be truly amazing).
When kept in a cool place, and not shelled, the seed should keep
for at least 12 months. A clear yellow edible oil is obtained
from the seed. It is used in salad dressings, as cooking oil,
baking etc. The young leaves are an ingredient in various medieval
recipes.
The seed contains up to 65% of a non-drying
oil, also usable in paints, cosmetics etc. The whole seed can
be used to polish and oil wood. The finely ground seeds are used
as an ingredient of face masks in cosmetics. Plants can be grown
as a tall hedge. They need to be left untrimmed or only lightly
trimmed if nuts are required. The bark and leaves are a source
of tannin. The wood is soft, easy to split, not very durable,
beautifully veined. Used for inlay work, small items of furniture,
hurdles, wattles, creels, pea sticks, ties for thatch and etc.
The twigs are traditionally used as dowsing rods by water diviners
although dry cleaners' wire coat hangers seem more common nowadays.
The wood also yields a good quality charcoal, which can be used
by artists. The catkins give a dull brown/yellow dye.
Medicinal uses of hazel
Anthelmintic, Astringent, Diaphoretic, Febrifuge,
Nutritive, Stomachic, Tonic.
Definitons
of medical actions
The bark, leaves, catkins and fruits are
sometimes used medicinally. They are astringent, diaphoretic,
febrifuge, nutritive and odontalgic. The seed is stomachic and
tonic. The oil has a very gentle but constant and effective action
in cases of infection with threadworm or pinworm in babies and
young children
Sources:
Plants For A Future,
www.pfaf.org/index.html,
Flora Celtica, www.floraceltica.com/,
Flora Celtica is an international project based at the Royal Botanic
Garden Edinburgh, documenting and promoting the knowledge and
sustainable use of native plants in the Celtic countries and regions
of Europe.
Wikepedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Hazel
