The Turkish hazel stands beside the South Walk, and is dripping with attractive catkins.
One of 15 species, the Turkish hazel (Corylus colurna) is a conical tree usually with a single, straight stem, and reaching 20m in height. The timber is pink-tinged and used in joinery. It has ovate to obovate, double-toothed leaves, each with a pointed apex. Slender male catkins are borne in autumn and winter and reach approximately 7.5cm in length. Nuts are produced in distinctive fringed husks in clusters of two or more. Flourishing in hot summers and cold winters, C. colurna is a native of south eastern Europe and south west Asia, where it grows in mountainous forests, canyons and plateaux up to 1500m above sea level. This species was introduced into cultivation in England in the mid-sixteenth century.