Catkins

Dangling prettily from curly branches, nestled between twisted leaves, the catkins on the Contorted Hazel dropped from the corkscrewing twigs in the near twilight this afternoon.

Also known as Harry Lauder's Walking Stick after a Scottish entertainer who had a walking stick, possibly made of hazel.

It only grows to about 3m, is grafted and as a result throws out a few straight stems amongst the winding ones. Quite an interesting feature in the garden with it's cob nuts (a type of hazelnut) in the early autumn which can be eaten having a coconutty flavour. I think some thieving animal may have had all ours this year because the tree was full of them earlier!!!