Local March Catkins

     Catkins are one of the least known beauties of nature in the Middle Atlantic States, as elsewhere in the world.  They are male flowers that produce pollen, which is carried on the wind and fertilizes the female blooms of their respective species.  Three common kinds of shrubs, including pussy willows, speckled alders and hazelnuts, plus large-toothed aspens, which is a type of tree, bear catkins in March in this area, as elsewhere in the eastern United States.  Those attractive catkins add beauty to their habitats and that spring month.
     Pussy willows are alien shrubs from Europe that are commonly planted here.  Twigs of male bushes can be soaked in water until they produce roots and leaves from their stems.  Then those twigs can be planted in sunny environments where they will flourish. 
     Male pussy willow shrubs are noted for their short, upright catkins that are gray, furry and sprout from buds on the ends of their twigs.  Those catkins, which are popular among many people, open in this area toward the end of February and continue into March.  Some people take twigs of opened fuzzies to be used as indoor décor.
     Speckled alders are native shrubs that mostly grow on the banks of smaller waterways and ponds.  They are so-named for the light-colored speckles on their smooth bark. 
     Speckled alders' inch-long, deep-purple catkins open in March and hang about an inch and a half long and decoratively from the ends of twigs.  Female flowers on the same trees produce attractive, half-inch long, woody cones that protect the developing seeds.  Like the scales of conifers, the overlapping scales of alder cones eventually open to release mature seeds on the wind, which scatters them.  Some of those little seeds are eaten by mice and small, seed-eating birds.
     Hazelnuts are native, ten-foot-tall shrubs in sunny woodland edges.  The male catkins of this plant open in March and are a couple inches long, supple and undulate in the wind.  Each female bloom is a group of several tiny, red stigmas protruding beautifully a quarter of an inch from one of many scaly, gray-brown buds along the woody stems of the same plants.
     The resulting nuts on hazelnut bushes are acorn-like and brown inside two leafy, coarsely-toothed husks.  In fall, those nuts are eaten by people, and white-tailed deer, black bears, a variety of rodents, ruffed grouse, wild turkeys and other critters.  Deer and cottontail rabbits eat their twigs and leaves.
     Large-toothed aspen trees are native to this area and pioneer burnt woods and abandoned fields.  But, eventually, they are replaced by forest trees except along the sunny edges of the woods.
     Male and female blossoms are on separate aspen trees during March and into April.  Male flowers are three-inch-long, dangling  catkins that appear to be hairy caterpillars hanging from the ends of the male trees' stems.  Pollen from the male catkins blows in the wind and pollinates female catkins that are shorter than male ones.  Seeds from female catkins blow on the wind and are scattered across the countryside.              
     This type of aspen has olive-green bark, which is often eaten by beavers, cottontails, mice and other woodland animals.  Aspens have large "teeth" on the edges of their leaves and flat leaf petioles that make the leaves flutter in the wind.
     Look for the lovely and interesting catkins of these plants during March.  They add beauties to their respective environments at that time.