Lambs' Tails

We used to call the long catkins of the hazel tree ‘lambs’ tails’ and they make a very welcome appearance in early spring in our hedges, blossoming and bringing colour long before any other greenery becomes apparent. Bobbing and swaying gracefully in the breeze, they are the male flowers, while the little, almost insignificant female flowers often go quite unnoticed. As anyone who is familiar with the works of D. H. Lawrence knows, the female flowers are the tiny, spiky little red flowers that you really have to look for on the twigs. Eventually, when pollinated, they will go on to produce hazel nuts. This picture shows the relative sizes of the two flowers, but you might need to go large just to see the miniscule red flowers near the top right.