It has a straight trunk with spreading, ascending branches, and can form dense thickets. The female flowers are tiny, almost completely enclosed by bracts, and near the end of the twigs. American hazel reproduces both sexually and asexually. It begins producing seed after the first year, and produces good seed crops every 2 to 3 years.
American hazel occurs along streams, hedgerows, meadows, woodlands, roadsides, and forest margins.
The flowers of American hazel are formed in the summer and open the following spring, before the leaves emerge.