Hazelnut is a shrub, not a tree, and grows in more open areas or at the edges of woodlands. C. cornuta has a husk of sorts, and this may have been preserved archaeologically at 12 Jo 5. Hazelnut is the earliest of the Indiana nuts and is harvested from August through October. Its stems were used for baskets and brushes and to make a black dye by the Ojibwa. Acorn is a starchy, not an oily nut.
Processing is required to remove tannins before eating.
The shell is thinner and more fragile than hickory, walnut or hazelnut and so is less likely to preserve archaeologically. Chestnut meats are similar to those of acorn, with which it shares a botanical family designation. Chestnut shell is even thinner than acorn shell, which may, in part, account for its rarity in archaeological assemblages. The bark and foliage were used by early Europeans in tanning hides. The peeled shoots are eaten raw in spring.