Whilst we can't help but see the male Hazel catkin we often overlook the tiny female flower which appears on the same tree.
This is actually much more like a conventional flower as it contains the seed box. The red 'petals' are actually multiple stigmas that catch the pollen released by the Catkins of neighbouring trees. The pollen then fertilises the seeds which grow and develop in to the Hazel nut, a favourite food of the squirrel and, of course, the Dormouse which is why, if you are looking for Dormice, you should look in Hazel coppice!
The Hazel, of course, is rarely allowed to grow naturally. It has always been a favoured source of wood for hurdles, fencing, thatching spurs, charcoal, even chair-bodging! As a result Hazel was invariable coppiced and cut down to ground level so that it re-shoots multiple thin stems, ideal for these old country crafts.
These days these crafts have all but died out and so coppicing is not practised as it used to be and often it is either left to becoming overgrown and straggly or it is just cleared and burnt to allow other plants to prosper.
Hazel coppice is such a rich habitat; especially in spring, when primroses, wood anemones, violets, bluebells and so on all thrive on the coppice floor.
This is actually much more like a conventional flower as it contains the seed box. The red 'petals' are actually multiple stigmas that catch the pollen released by the Catkins of neighbouring trees. The pollen then fertilises the seeds which grow and develop in to the Hazel nut, a favourite food of the squirrel and, of course, the Dormouse which is why, if you are looking for Dormice, you should look in Hazel coppice!
The Hazel, of course, is rarely allowed to grow naturally. It has always been a favoured source of wood for hurdles, fencing, thatching spurs, charcoal, even chair-bodging! As a result Hazel was invariable coppiced and cut down to ground level so that it re-shoots multiple thin stems, ideal for these old country crafts.
These days these crafts have all but died out and so coppicing is not practised as it used to be and often it is either left to becoming overgrown and straggly or it is just cleared and burnt to allow other plants to prosper.
Hazel coppice is such a rich habitat; especially in spring, when primroses, wood anemones, violets, bluebells and so on all thrive on the coppice floor.
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