Monday 11 March 2019

Hazel Catkins in the Serpentine Walk



Hazel (Corylus avellana ) catkins, the lambs tails, in the Serpentine Walk. These are the male catkins which produce the  pollen.

These are the female flowers with the red styles and stigmas.The stigmas catch the pollen and eventually form the hazel nuts in the Autumn, however, the pollen has to be from another hazel tree.


There was a lot of lichen on the branches of the tree. The greenish yellow lichen is I think Xanthoria parietina but there are also some other species present.

1 comment:

JudithK said...

I hope you can/will provide photos of later development....including final achievement!
There are no hazelnuts in my experience of life. I am puzzled by the flowers being on such a big branch.....but the only nuts I know (of the botanical sort) are pecans, and their flowers, etc all are on the tips of the branches......
Anyway, thanks for posting.