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Tag Archives: catkins

Flowers and catkins

15 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by sconzani in trees

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catkins, female Hazel flowers, Hazel, Hazel catkins, Hazel flowers, male Hazel catkins

On most of the Hazels I’ve checked, the male catkins look almost fully formed but are still tightly closed and the female flowers are mere buds but, during Friday’s meander, I found one Hazel that’s ahead of the rest in its development. The male catkins were open and shedding cloud-like bursts of yellow pollen when the wind caught them, and the tiny crimson-pink female flowers, looking for all the world like miniscule sea anemones, were open and receptive. Hazel nuts in the making!

230115 Hazel flowers and catkins

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Furry flowers

30 Sunday Jan 2022

Posted by sconzani in trees

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Alder, Alder catkins, British trees, catkins, female Alder flowers, female Hazel flowers, Hazel, Hazel catkins

The catkins of Hazel (left) and Alder (right) are now swinging from their respective tree branches like furry pussycats’ tails – the male catkins, that is.

220130 male hazel
220130 male alder

The female flowers are rather different, the Hazel females (left) totally different, that startlingly hot pink, and the Alder flowers (right) a little catkin-ish but much smaller (my last photo shows both male and female Alder to show the size comparison).

220130 female hazel
220130 female alder

220130 alder male and female

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Alder flowers

07 Sunday Mar 2021

Posted by sconzani in flowers, spring, trees

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Alder, Alder catkins, Alder cones, Alnus glutinosa, British trees, catkins, female Alder flowers, male Alder flowers

I’m off on a flower tangent this week. With no new wildflowers to add to last week’s collection and because I’ve been seeing lots of nice birds (especially Siskin) in Alder trees this week, I thought I’d focus on Alder for my Sunday flower post.

210307 alder flowers (1)

As the Alder (Alnus glutinosa) is monoecious, you can find both the male and female flowers on the same tree. I’ve frequently noticed the male flowers (commonly known as catkins), as they’re the most obvious and are very similar to Hazel catkins. Give them a flick at this time of year and you’re sure to see a shower of yellow ‘dust’ released into the air: that’s the pollen.

210307 alder flowers (2)
210307 alder flowers (3)

However, I hadn’t really paid any attention to the female flowers before and, I admit, I hadn’t really made the connection between the female flowers and the little woody cones they grow in to once fertilised. The female flowers are much smaller and found in little bunches on the stem, usually above the male catkins.

210307 alder flowers (4)
210307 alder flowers (5)

Interestingly, the Woodland Trust website says that ‘The green dye from the flowers was used to colour and camouflage the clothes of outlaws like Robin Hood, and was thought to also colour the clothes of fairies.’ And, of course, in the winter months the seeds from the cones provide essential nourishment to the Siskin, the Goldfinch and the Redpoll. What a bountiful tree the Alder is!

210307 alder flowers (6)

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93/366 Cat’s-paw

02 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in nature, spring, trees

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British trees, catkins, Pussy willow, willow, willow catkins

By sheer coincidence, author Robert Macfarlane’s ‘word of the day’ today on Twitter is cat’s-paw.

200402 cats paw (1)

He writes about them: ‘nickname for catkins of the smaller willows/sallows (Goat willow, pussy willow, grey willow); among the earliest signs of spring; first grey & silky, then growing a glowing aura of tiny flowers. Often brought into houses at Easter/on Palm Sunday.’

200402 cats paw (2)

I had already decided that today’s post would be on this same topic so here are the photos I’ve been collecting over the past week or so. These are of different trees so it’s quite likely they are not all the same species of willow (and I’m useless at working out which is which), but I love the way the catkins develop from soft furriness to beautiful bursts of yellow, and the insects love them too.

200402 cats paw (3)

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69/365 The sex life of Hazels

10 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, nature, trees

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

British trees, catkins, Corylus avellana, Hazel, Hazel catkins, Hazel female flowers, Hazel male flowers

The catkins of the Hazel tree (Corylus avellana) have almost finished now, which is shame as they are such lovely things, such a pretty symbol of springtime. The catkins, often known as ‘lambs’ tails’, are the male flowers, shedding their pollen as a fine yellow dust as they blow in the wind. The female flowers are less conspicuous, tiny compared to the catkins but also very pretty, a bright lipstick pink. Although the Hazel is monoecious, which means both male and female flowers can be found on the same tree, the female flowers must be pollinated by pollen from a different tree if they are to go on and produce Hazel nuts.

 

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Cycle of life

28 Wednesday Nov 2018

Posted by sconzani in autumn, nature, trees

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

catkins, cycle of life, Pussy willow

As I look around me on my daily walks, I see dying leaves falling from skeletal trees, I note that the butterflies and most other insects have now disappeared, I watch the winter bird migrants munching on the final berries, and I notice how short the hours of daylight are becoming. Yet, in the midst of all this death, decay and gloominess, I am cheered to notice signs of life and renewal. It seems awfully early for Pussy willow – maybe it’s not that. Whatever it is, it’s lovely.

181128 new life (1)181128 new life (2)

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About me

sconzani

sconzani

I'm a writer and photographer; researcher and blogger; birder and nature lover; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and biodiversity recorder.

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