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The Catkin
The soil where the catkins grow is barely discernible on the tundra because of its cover by a constant layer of mosses and lichens, through which other herbaceous and shrubby plants grow like the catkins. Catkins are a deciduous flower cluster having numerous flowers whose axis is scaly like the willow. The catkins of the willow species have hairs on their flower's fringe. All classes in the willow family are either shrubs or trees with alternate leaves, small greenish to yellowish flowers with the fruit capsule and with seeds. Distribution. The catkin, a member of the willow species belong mainly to the Arctic and north temperate zones Catkins grow in the Northern hemisphere. Flower experts find the catkins in Greenland, Canada and The United States. In Canada catkins grow in Labrador, Manitoba, Newfoundland and the North West Territory, Nunavut and Quebec. In The USA you find catkins in the high grounds of the states of Maine, New Hampshire and New York. Catkins grow at Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake. These catkins appear as a small, detached population of flora. Even before the snow melts away, delicate catkins come forth, taking full advantage of Nunavut's short growing season. For the catkin of Nunavut, life is unstable. Winter blankets the land for months, ultimately yielding to spring and the catkins begin growing. July and August are the summer months in The Nunavut and temperatures often dip below 32 degrees, and arid winds frequently cause injury to the catkins. The plants of Nunavut because of extreme temperatures, freeze one minute and thaw the next. The hairs of the catkin are clear, allowing sunlight to travel down the hair shaft to the catkin body, warming it several degrees above air temperature. The insulating purpose of the tiny hairs is to trap the heat of the sun, allowing the catkins to begin growing before the start of summer. The catkins are short, few-flowered with the tips of normal vegetative shoots. It is a small flower with stems braided in the tundra. They consist of a cluster of flowers on a short, leafy flowering limb with two leaves. The rounded or spherical shaped flowers are, shiny and oval-shaped. They call the support stalk of the catkin a footstalk and is about 1 to 2 inches long; Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article The Catkin in Arctic Wildlife is owned by Fred J. Kane. Permission to republish The Catkin in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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