the Hazle: A genus of the polyandra order, belonging to the monoecia class of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 50th order, Amentaceae. The male calyx is monophyllous, scale-like, trifid, and uniflorous; there is no corolla; the stamens eight in number: The female calyx diphyllous and lacerated; no corolla; two styles; and an egg-shaped nut. Mr Miller reckons three species, though other botanists make only two. They are all of the large shrub kind, hardy and deciduous; and have several varieties valuable for their nuts, as also for their variety in large wildernesses and shrubby works. They will prosper in almost any soil or situation, and turn out to good account when growing in coppices to cut as underwood, and as poles for various uses, as hoops, jars, hurdles, handles to husbandry implements, walking sticks, fishing rods, &c. for which purposes they may be cut every 5th, 7th, or 8th year, according to the purposes for which they are designed. The best method of propagating them is by layers, though they may also be raised from the nuts.

The kernels of the fruit have a mild, farinaceous, oily taste, agreeable to most palates. Squirrels and mice are fond of them, as well as some birds, such as jays, nutcrackers, &c. A kind of chocolate has been prepared Corymbifere prepared from them, and there are instances of their having been formed into bread. The oil expressed from them is little inferior to the oil of almonds; and is used by painters, and by chemists, for receiving and retaining odours. The charcoal made of the wood is used by painters in drawing. Some of the Highlanders, where superstition is not totally subsided, look upon the tree itself as unlucky; but are glad to get two of the nuts naturally conjoined, which is a good omen. There they call eno chombleich, and carry them as an efficacious charm against witchcraft.

Evelyn tells us, that no plant is more proper for thickening of copes than the hazel, for which he directs the following expeditious method. Take a pole of hazel (ash or poplar may also be used), of 20 or 30 feet in length, the head a little lopped into the ground, giving it a chop near the ground to make it succumb; this fastened to the earth with a hook or two, and covered with some fresh mould at a competent depth, (as gardeners lay their carnations), will produce a great number of suckers, and thicken and furnish a cope speedily.

CORYMBIFERÆ, in botany, the name of an order or division of the compound flowers adopted by Linnaeus after Ray and Vaillant, in the former editions of his Fragments of a Natural Method. This title in the later editions is changed for Difcoideæ, another name borrowed from Ray’s Method, but used in a somewhat different sense.