Chilean hazelnut

Photo: Franz Xaver — CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Survives zone 8 through 9

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Nut between hazelnut and macadamia — creamy and oily (a true macadamia relative, not a hazel) Evergreen; no chill requirement. Care: Winter protection — mulch, fleece, or a warm wall.

Hardiness

Zone 8–9

Habit

Tree

Edible part

Nut

Ripens

Autumn

Mature size

Evergreen 5–8 m; needs shelter

Light

Partial when young (needs shade) — more light once established

Soil pH

5.0–6.5 — ⚠ PHOSPHORUS-SENSITIVE (Proteaceae): low/no-P fertiliser only

Environment

Temperate rainforest

Native range

Southern Chile and adjacent Andean valleys of Argentina, from about 35°S to 44°S, sea level to 700 m — the cool, wet, evergreen Valdivian rainforest, which is exactly the climate it needs: mild, humid and never baking.

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

5+ yrs (poorly documented)

Growth speed

Slow to moderate

Spacing

500 cm (197 in) apart — about 25 m² (269 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Evergreen, pinnate to bipinnate, 20–45 cm, with glossy dark green, sharply toothed leaflets — handsome enough that the tree is grown as an ornamental in mild-climate gardens that will never see a nut.

Root system

Proteoid (cluster) roots — dense brush-like mats of rootlets that the plant throws out to mine phosphorus from the impoverished volcanic ash soils of southern Chile. ⚠ This is the reason for the phosphorus warning: cluster roots are so efficient that ordinary fertiliser poisons the plant. Use low- or no-phosphorus feed only.

Fruit description

A round nut 2–2.5 cm in a hard shell, ripening from coral-red to glossy black on the tree over months. The kernel is creamy, oily and sweet, sitting between a hazelnut and a macadamia — which is no coincidence, since macadamia is the near relative and hazel is not.

Propagation

Fresh seed, sown as soon as ripe and never allowed to dry, germinating slowly over months. Semi-ripe cuttings are possible but difficult. Grafting is used in the small Chilean commercial plantings.

Pollination

SELF-INCOMPATIBLE — needs a 2nd plant

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.