ABSTRACT

This chapter provides information on the uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of European Filbert. Long-cultivated, this is the main source of filberts of commerce. Hazelnut or filbert oil, a clear, yellow, non-drying oil is used in food, for painting, in perfumes, as fuel oil, for manufacture of soaps, and for machinery. A salve, derived from the leaves and nuts, in a plaster with honey, is said to be a cure for cancer. Reported to be fumitory and vasoconstrictor, European filberts are a folk remedy for hypotension and parotid tumors. Filberts generally respond readily to fertilizer applications, although no recommendation would apply to all conditions. All filberts except Turkish tend to grow as bushes by suckering from roots. Most filbert varieties are self-unfruitful, and cross-pollination must be provided for satisfactory fruit-production.