This hazelnut is widespread across eastern North America, except on the Gulf Coastal Plain. [The more northern C. cornuta Marsh extends south into the southern Appalachians as far as c. Ala., but it remains unknown in Ky. despite records from a few adjacent counties of Ohio, W.Va. and Tenn. (K).] Included here as open dots are the unverified historical data from Gm, B and other sources. Although americana is still scattered across most of Ky. except on the richest calcareous soils, the species is rarely abundant and good nut crops are uncommon due to shade and squirrels. A curious rare character is the presence of grey-blackish mottles or "chevrons" on leaves, especially on low sprouts after disturbance; this has been seen in LYON and TRIG but not reported elsewhere in the state (also rarely observed on C. avellana L. near Newmarket, England; and see Alamy Image FJ56KY from Bavaria). As elsewhere in the Midwest (e.g. Y), Corylus used to be locally dominant in more open woodland and brushy grassland of Ky. early after settlement, especially in western regions (Flint 1822, Short 1828-9, Allen 1899). In the "barrens" around Green Rv. or Salt Rv., during a period with declining fire frequency, Flint noted: "Small hazel bushes from two to three feet in height abound in these; and the quantity of nuts produced exceeds any thing of the kind which I have ever seen." In the central Bluegrass, Short reported this species as follows: "...although originally a native of this country, is no longer found growing wild in this immediate neighbourhood, yet it is frequently met with in gardens and shrubberies. In the western part of the state it abounds, often forming on the richest barrens almost impenetrable brakes. In these situations the bush attains the greatest perfection; its stems often measuring near the root more than an inch in diameter, rising 10 or 12 feet high, and bearing a profusion of large well-flavored nuts." The only extensive viable remnants of such vegetation anywhere in North America are now reported from n. Ind. and n. Ill. (NS; CEGL 5072 and 5073).