Turkish Hazel - Botanical poster 50x70cm

Corylus byzantina – Byzantine Hazel

Long confused with its cousin the Levant Hazel, the Byzantine Hazel is nevertheless a distinct species, having arrived from Constantinople during the Age of Enlightenment.

Introduced in France by the physician to Kings Louis XV and XVI, this large tree with velvety leaves and silvery-grey bark remains little known to botanists. Poiteau provides us here with one of the rare scientific illustrations of his time, testifying to the fascination with these oriental species that then enriched royal gardens.

This hazelnut tree is distinguished by its majestic habit, less pyramidal than that of C. colurna, and by its thick, rough-to-the-touch leaves, noticeably hairy on their underside.

Its fruits, enclosed in an involucre with remarkably intricate cuts, ripen from the tree's young age, a peculiarity that Poiteau attributes to the layering propagation practiced in Parisian nurseries.

Native to Greece and Asia Minor, this tree grows rapidly in the French climate and reaches a great height. Its wood, renowned in Constantinople for naval and civil construction, made it a prized species for carpenters. However, in our latitudes, its fruits remain hard and dry, unfit to compete with common hazelnuts or Spanish filberts.

This plate is taken from the Traité des Arbres Fruitiers by Pierre-Antoine Poiteau and Pierre Jean François Turpin, a botanical encyclopedia published between 1807 and 1835, a major reference in 19th-century naturalist illustration.

It combines the rigor of scientific drawing with a rare artistic sensibility, characteristic of the great plates from the golden age of illustrated botany.

• Each poster is printed in 12-color giclée printing, the reference for art workshops for the rendering of fine tones, subtle gradients, and the most delicate botanical details.
• 200 gsm paper, soft matte finish, 0.26 mm thick: a result close to the original engraving, sharp, without reflections, designed for display.
• Printed on FSC certified paper, printed individually to order.
• Shipped in a rigid protective tube.