The flowers are small single-sex (monoecious), the female flowers rise upright in pairs near the growing end of the stem with the long stalked drooping clusters of male catkins.
Here you can just make out the female flower above and to the rear of the leaves while the five male catkins hang below.
Not very exciting this one, carpets of husky Beech bud scales scattered on the ground beneath the canopy.
The emerald green, strongly veined leaves catch the light beautifully.
Pictured here are two of the Beech trees, the first pictured this week and the following example back in January.
Thanks Linda
ReplyDeleteI'm learning all the time.
Fantastic photographs of some fantastic trees, Linda. The leaves are just so glorious, especially at this time of year, and you have captured them so well. I must have a look on the grass beneath my trees to see if I can find the leaf bud scales - I have never noticed them on the ground before.
ReplyDeleteHello City birding and Jessica, thanks for your comments, Ive enjoyed watching the transformation of these Beech trees on almost a daily basis and am glad Ive managed to capture a few examples of the processes in action. Best wishes, Linda
ReplyDeletewow! A detailed and informative post, ive learned a lot, I thought the beech scales on the floor were from destructive squirrels - shame on me!
ReplyDeletepS thanks for the comment you left on my post, i'll visit you again and put your blog on my blog list