looduskalender.ee

 

Hazelnut grove. Otepää hillocks

 

 

Called "sarapuu" in North Estonia and "pähklipuu", nut tree, in South Estonia – a much branching tall shrub. The bracts surrounding the nuts have developed into a bell-like fringed husk. The single-seeded nuts become brown-coloured and can grow in groups of up to five..  

 

Abundant nut years repeat every three to five years.

 

Mice as well as squirrels appreciate the fruits. Nutcrackers are diligently busy in hazelnut groves. They find and scratch out their hidden nuts in winter even from under a thick snow cover – how the nutcracker stores the locations of all the nuts hidden during the autumn on the „hard disk“ in its little head is indeed a mystery.