Knowra Betulaceae Betulaceae Betulaceae is a family of flowering plants that includes birches, alders, hazels, hornbeams, and hop-hornbeams. Its members are mostly woody trees and shrubs, many bearing distinctive catkins.
Betula : A genus of deciduous trees and shrubs commonly called birches, with peeling bark and toothed leaves. Birches are one of the family’s defining and most widespread genera.
Catkin : A slender, often pendulous flower cluster in which the flowers are usually small and inconspicuous. Many Betulaceae bear their flowers in catkins, often before leaves emerge.
Hazelnut : The edible nut of hazel species, especially the cultivated common hazel, Corylus avellana. It is the family’s best-known food crop and a major commercial nut.
Fagales : An order of flowering plants that includes Betulaceae, Fagaceae, and several other woody families. Betulaceae belongs to this order of mostly trees and shrubs.
Alnus : A genus of trees and shrubs commonly called alders, often associated with moist habitats. Alders are a major Betulaceae lineage with distinctive woody female catkins.
Wind pollination : The transfer of pollen between flowers by air currents rather than animal pollinators. Pollen released from the family’s catkins is commonly carried by wind.
Birch wood : Timber from birch trees, used in products such as plywood, furniture, and paper. Birch species are harvested for versatile wood across northern forests.
Fagaceae : A flowering-plant family that includes oaks, beeches, and chestnuts. Fagaceae is a nearby Fagales family whose members also bear nuts and catkins.
Corylus : A genus of shrubs and small trees commonly called hazels, including the species that produce hazelnuts. Hazels show the family’s range beyond forest trees and provide its familiar edible nuts.
Nut (fruit) : A dry, one-seeded fruit with a hard wall that does not split open at maturity. Hazelnuts and several other Betulaceae fruits are nuts in the botanical sense.
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