What’s in a catkin?

January can be a frankly pretty drab time when it comes to wildlife, with a large number of both animals and plants in the middle of their annual hibernation period. However, look a little more closely and you will start to notice the first stirrings of life as the new year begins and the day lengths start to extend, ever so gradually.

One of the most striking examples of this annual reawakening is the humble hazel catkin whose bright yellow/green makes a wonderful contrast against the otherwise bare grey twigs and branches in the tree canopy. Hazel (Corylus avellana) is abundant in our local Bedelands nature reserve and now is a great time to view it. But what exactly is a catkin? Well, many tree species have separate male and female flowers, often on the same tree (as with hazel), less often (for example, holly) on different trees. And a catkin is the male flower which produces pollen. These minute pollen grains get blown on the wind in their millions to hopefully chance upon a female flower which they fertilise; and it is that fertilised female flower which ultimately develops into a delicious hazelnut! Incidentally, the female hazel flower, although tiny, is a thing of ephemeral beauty! Like a miniature sea anemone, bright red filaments, barely 2mm long, emerge from a brown vase-shaped bud, only to wither away shortly after fertilisation.

Other species also have catkins, for example alder, which you can see growing in the damper areas of Bedelands, for example along the banks of the Adur as it exits the Mill Pond. The Alder’s catkins are a lovely deep shade of purple in their earlier stages before turning a darker yellow.