Willow Seeds Floating on the Wind

If you have visited Foxglove Covert in the last couple of weeks, you may have noticed lots of fluffy white seeds floating in the air and covering the ground.

These seeds are from the willow trees which are present at Foxglove Covert. In areas where there are lots of willow trees, there are so many seeds it looks like snow on the ground.

The willow trees are dioecious, which means an individual tree is either male or female. The male trees have catkins which produce pollen, while the female trees have catkins which, once pollinated, produce seeds.

The willow trees at Foxglove Covert support a variety of wildlife, including providing pollen for bees and other insects and a food source for the catarpillars of many moth species. In turn, these insects are a food source for birds, which is particularly important in sping when they have chicks to feed.