虎榛子 hu zhen zi

Corylus davidiana (Decaisne) Baillon.

Shrubs to 3 m tall. Branches gray, glabrous; branchlets brown, striate, densely pubescent. Petiole 3-12 mm, densely pubescent; leaf blade ovate or elliptic-ovate, rarely broadly ovate or broadly obovate, 2-6.5 × 1.5-5 cm, subleathery, abaxially bearded in axils of lateral veins, densely white pubescent, with yellow or brown resinous glands, adaxially sparsely pubescent, base cordate, obliquely cordate, or subrounded, margin doubly serrate and usually incised above middle, apex acuminate or acute; lateral veins 7-9 on each side of midvein. Male inflorescence 1; bracts pubescent. Female inflorescence terminal, racemose-capitulate; peduncle to 2.5 cm, slender, densely pubescent, sparsely hirsute; bracts forming a tubular sheath, 1-1.5 cm, leathery, densely pubescent, striate, lobed at apex. Nutlet brown, ovoid or subglobose, 4-6 × 4-5 mm, shiny, sparsely pubescent, ribbed. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Aug.

* Sparse forests, thickets; 800-2800 m. Gansu, Hebei, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, W Sichuan

Commonly planted for erosion control; the branches are used for making agricultural tools.