Nature wakes up! Munich, Germany, February 2016

Today in Munich it was a sunny and warm day (~ 11°C). There were already some signs of the early spring such as singing birds and some blooming flowers ;)

One of the blooming plants I observed today were hazelnut trees (Corylus avellana, family Betulaceae). Blooming hazelnut trees contain yellow male flowers (catkins) and red female flowers that are growing on the same tree. Therefore, hazelnut trees represent so called monoecious species, in contrast to dioecious species that produce male and female flowers on separate plants. Male flowers I saw today were ~5–10 cm long, whereas female flowers were extremely small (~3 mm long) and bud-like. Interestingly, a windy day is beneficial for the hazelnut trees (and people who like hazelnuts ;) because this enables the pollination.

Male (yellow) and female (red) flowers of the Corylus avellana.