Catkins and Leafrollers

If you enjoy walking along a trail among the trees as I do, you have probably come into contact with the plants and creatures pictured above. In late winter and early spring, the trail beneath my feet becomes a carpet of long brown buds, eventually collecting in deep drifts along the side of the path. Then a few weeks later I am confronted with dozens and dozens of tiny caterpillars twisting on silk threads, hanging from the oak trees in front of my face. For years I’ve encountered these seasonal events, but never knew what to call the buds or the caterpillars. 

So, finally, I looked them up. The brown buds are called Catkins. Miriam defines them as: “a spicate inflorescence (as of the willow, birch, or oak) bearing scaly bracts and unisexual usually apetalous flowers — called also ament”.

While that definition is meaningless to me, the name Catkins is charming. More simply stated, the Catkins are the buds growing on the oak trees in the spring. They are the male flowers which then shed the oak pollen. I doubt I need to define oak pollen to anyone from Central Texas, especially those who suffer from seasonal allergies.

Even more interesting are the Leafrollers. They are defined as: “any of various lepidopterans whose larvae make a nest by rolling up plant leaves”.

In simple language, these are caterpillars that spin their silk to roll leaves, inside of which they will lay their eggs, which then hatch to become the Leafroller Moth, as pictured above. The larvae of these moths actually eat the leaves in which they are born and is the reason why most of the literature on this species is focused on how to get rid of them.

Not me. I find them beautiful, and their names equally captivating. Now, every year I will look for and welcome the Catkins and the Leafrollers as a welcome sign of spring. The pollen, not so much.