These are the catkins on the small Twistred Hazel Tree in my garden.

Thanks to Amelia I discovered that Hazel trees have both male and female flowers. The catkins are the male flowers which carry the pollen. On the same tree will also be female flowers, which are very tiny (just a few mm tall) and which are very easy to miss unless you know about them. I only knew because Hazel had told me and so I was able to find them..........you can see them in the PiP.

Anyway, the pollen blows out of the catkins and on to the female flowers which eventually will produce hazelnuts! Magic!

You can see Amelia's images and much better explanation here: www.ipernity.com/doc/1021409/51755318