Hazel Corylus avellana (Fr. noisetier) is a plant you will easily encounter in our forests. hedges and woodland edges. Most people know the nuts, but may pay less attention to other parts of the tree. It flowers at the end of winter, often ignored.
Hazel catkins photographed last Friday near Yzeures sur Creuse.
These flowers are called catkins (Fr. chatons) and are in fact the male flowers. They are rather delicate and unspectacular, dangling in the winter winds. Grouped in twos and fours they are browny grey to start with but develop a yellow colour as the pollen develops and is liberated. The female flowers are nearly invisible, just some tiny red filaments.
Hazels favour woodland understoreys and clearings. You will often find them on the edges of forests or in the hedges around bocage (damp pasture). These flowers, with their nutritious load of pollen, are one of the most important food sources for early emerging solitary wild bees.
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