Galls: Phytoptus avellanae

20 Monday Feb 2023

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British galls, bud galls, gall mites, gall-causing mites, galls on Hazel, Hazel, mite galls, mites, Phytoptus avellanae

These are my latest gall finds, caused by the mite species Phytoptus avellanae, shown here on Hazel (Corylus avellana) though they can also affect the buds of Filbert (Corylus maxima). The feeding of the mites on the plant cells within the buds causes those buds to swell and multiply. You can see a comparison in my photo below, the mite-infected gall bud on the left, the normal bud on the right.

230220 gall Phytoptus avellanae (1)

The mites that cause these galls are tiny, so rarely seen, but the Dutch Bladmineerders website has some excellent photos showing them in minute detail. As with so many galls, they are thought to be widespread in Britain but are not well recorded. So, if you’re out and about enjoying a spring walk and spot some Hazel, do please cast an eye over the buds, and record any galls you see. Citizen scientists really do make a difference to our knowledge of the natural world around us.

230220 gall Phytoptus avellanae (2)

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

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.

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 alder male and female

Caterpillar in a tent

15 Saturday May 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, leaves, trees

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British moths, damage to Hazel leaves, Hazel, Hazel leaves, moth caterpillar, Operophtera brumata, Winter moth

While wandering through my favourite woodland earlier this week, I noticed small areas of damage on some Hazel leaves. It looked like a little critter had been munching on them and, checking further, I soon discovered a lot of leaves had suffered similar damage.

Closer inspection of one particular leaf soon revealed the culprit, a caterpillar, tucked away in a snug little tent it had created by binding two leaves together with silken thread. From there it could easily venture out to eat, yet retreat when threatened by predators or bad weather. Smart thinking!

210515 winter moth (2)

I think the caterpillar may be the larva of a Winter moth (Operophtera brumata) but I haven’t yet been able to confirm my identification (Update 16/5: ID now confirmed as Winter moth). Once I was alert to their presence, I noticed more leaf damage and several more ‘tents’, as well as a smaller caterpillar feeding out in the open.

New year, new hope

01 Friday Jan 2021

Posted by sconzani in trees

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British trees, Hazel, Hazel female flowers, Hazel flowers, Hazel tree

A new day, a new year, new life, new hope! One of the first things I noticed during today’s long New Year’s Day walk was these Hazel flowers, the tiny pink female flower and, nearby, the long droopy male catkin. And it made me feel hopeful. Though we humans enter 2021 beset by the devastation and grief of a global pandemic, the looming disasters of climate change and environmental destruction, and, in the UK, the self-inflicted damage of Brexit, yet Nature continues its cycles of life, shining a little glimmer of light in the darkness and gloom. Let’s cling to that light and let it inspire us to make 2021 a greener, more environmentally friendly year, for the future of our planet and ourselves.

210101 hazel flowers (1)

347/365 Early catkins

13 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by sconzani in nature, trees, winter

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

As I always do when I need to be ‘soothed and healed’, I went for a long walk with Nature as soon as I could get away today. There was a bitterly cold wind blowing but I was well wrapped up and, to my delight, I found a few wildflowers still in bloom, fed sunflower hearts to the hungry small birds, and then, much to my surprise, found some Hazel catkins out already – and not just the male catkins, but several of the tiny pink female flowers, which seems quite early.

191213 hazel catkins

69/365 The sex life of Hazels

10 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, nature, trees

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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.