I am quickly becoming a huge fan of Harry Lauder Walking Sticks. I have a 30 year old one in my front patio that is about 16'-18' Tall with a spread of about the same. When I bought my house it was already there and I immediately became enamored with it. It was all buried by surrounding evrgreen trees and bushes, and was struggling to survive with the faster growing evrgreens. I immediately removed all of the surround evergreens, and it has flourished, and more than doubled in size in the 12 years I have been here. My question is as follows. My wife knowing that I have this affinity for the tree, purchased, as a gift, one that has maroon red leaves. After researching a bit, I believe that it is a Red Majestic. The odd part is when I went to a very large local nursery, and saw contorted philberts that were the same color as my Red one, but instead of red on both sides of the leaf, these ones have the same red on one side, and yellowish green on the back side. Is this another species, or did I happen to catch it in a changing state? I have read that if it is a Red Majestic, that the leaves will turn between the red, and the green, but I was surprised to see the leaves so aggressively opposite in color, based on which side , and how precise the color break was. Any ideas? I appreciate any info that you guys mat have. Thank you. Will (Death to all Japanese Beetles) Pitts
A bit of clarification needed first - the "Harry Lauder Walking Stick" is actually a contorted cultivar of Hazel (Corylus avellana), not a Filbert (Corylus maxima). The purple-foliage plant is a cultivar of Filbert. Hazel and Filbert can however hybridise, so crossing a contorted Hazel with a purple Filbert may yield a hybrid with purple leaves, and contorted stems.
>Hazel and Filbert can however hybridise, so crossing a contorted Hazel with a purple Filbert may yield a hybrid with purple leaves, and contorted stems< Which is what the plant asked about is. The leaves go partly green during summer.
so this hybrid between the purple filbert, and the hazel, is this what is called a Red Majestic, or is the Red Majestic a different tree altogether? And speaking of which, is the hazel and filbert considered a tree, or shrub? I am sorry if I sound dumb, but I am new to this, but really seem to be digging it!...LOL
Both can be either. There's no biological difference between a tree and a shrub, they are human concepts which don't have any significance in the plant world ;-) Worth adding though that another species the Turkish Hazel (Corylus colurna) can be a large tree, up to 30m tall with a trunk a metre thick . . . not quite what one normally thinks of with hazels!
