Goat or Pussy Willow

Latin Name : Salix caprea

Thing about the Goat or Pussy Willow is that the trees are either male or female. The opening image is of a male flower – the one that produces the pollen.

…. and this is the flower bud which encloses the female flower….

….which looks like this when it opens

Once the flowers have done they’re thing, then the leaves emerge, as illustrated below.

…. and the final image shows ‘Pollarded’ Goat Willow trees growing alongside a field ditch. Note how brightly coloured the hundreds of vigorous new growths are. Grown in this way these colourful shoots really show up on a sunny winter’s day.