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A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in Salix). It contains many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged closely along a central stem that is often drooping.
Amentotaxus is a genus of conifers (catkin-yews) comprising five species, treated in either the Cephalotaxaceae, or in the Taxaceae when that family is considered in a broad sense. The genus is endemic to subtropical Southeast Asia, from Taiwan west across southern China to Assam in the eastern Himalaya , and south to Vietnam .
Two flowering male catkins from a goat willow tree (Salix caprea).Pussy willow used as Lunar New Year decoration. Easter postcard (Germany, 1902) Pussy willow is a name given to many of the smaller species of the genus Salix (willows and sallows) when their furry catkins are young in early spring.
'Melanostachys', also known as the black pussy willow, is known for its jet-black male and female catkin blooms which appear in early spring. Its male catkins also have red anthers, which slowly turn soft yellow from pollen. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [3] [4]
Female alder catkins after shedding their seeds Alnus serrulata male catkins. Alders are trees of the genus Alnus in the birch family Betulaceae.The genus includes about 35 species [2] of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species extending into Central America, as well as the northern and southern Andes.
Betulaceae flowers are monoecious, meaning that they have both male and female flowers on the same tree. Their flowers present as catkins and are small and inconspicuous, often with reduced perianth parts. These flowers have large feathery stamen and produce a high volume of pollen, as they rely on wind pollination.
Male catkins The fruit is a small capsule 5–10 mm long containing numerous minute seeds embedded in fine, cottony hairs. The seeds are very small (about 0.2 mm) with the fine hairs aiding dispersal; they require bare soil to germinate .
The leaves turn yellow in Autumn. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins 3–6 centimeters (1 + 1 ⁄ 4 – 2 + 1 ⁄ 4 in) long, the male catkins pendulous, the female catkins erect. The fruit is unusual among birches in maturing in late spring; it is composed of numerous tiny winged seeds packed between the catkin bracts. [2] [6] River birch ...