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And it is time too, at the same time crab-apple trees open up their flowers in light-filled locations. Oaks have early-as well as late-flowering varieties, and the latter are basically better protected from nips of frost, but that depends on the weather of the year.

 

Fragile flowers on mighty trees that only start flowering at some twenty years of age; in forests it can take up to half a century. The up to six centimetres long sparse catkins at once catch the eye in the bundles of young oak leaves, with some ten male flowers and tending to fall off quite fast.

 

Female inflorescence of oak

 

Finding the small and modest female flowers on the large tree is not at all easy. Look for the little three-pronged red stigma at the tips of shoots where they are located,  one up to three together.

 

Wind pollinated trees do not have to show off flower beauty, the important thing is to produce a large amount of pollen. Among our deciduous trees birch, alder and hazel are wind pollinated too.