The male flowers (“catkins”) of the speckled alders (Alnus incana) are now hanging like dormant insects in their dense shrubs.
These catkins soon will be releasing streams of pollen to smother the smaller female catkins that conveniently grow on the same shrub. Thus, the plant can self-pollinate as a “monoecious” species.
Unfortunately, the shrub’s profuse pollen clouds also can torment human allergy sufferers and its propensity to propagate in dense clusters can be a nuisance on pastures and other areas intended for clearways. However, the plant prefers wetlands. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on April 6 and 7, 2023.)