Nocciuolo

The hazel was once the king-pin of English hedgerows. The destruction of the hedges provokes the most melancholy thoughts as does the disappearance of the tree and the wattles made from it. Looking back, the bazel in Irish lore was the Tree of Knowledge. That it is also the tree from which divining rods are cut is significant. Water divining remains a normal activity in the Salento, where the rods are sometimes made of vine. Here the hazel nuts come down from the Abruzzi, and appear on market stalls on feast days.