catkin

American  

[kat-kin] / ˈkæt kɪn /

noun

Botany.

1. a spike of unisexual, apetalous flowers having scaly, usually deciduous bracts, as of a willow or birch.

---

catkin British  

/ ˈkætkɪn /

noun

1. Also called: ament.  an inflorescence consisting of a spike, usually hanging, of much reduced flowers of either sex: occurs in birch, hazel, etc

---

catkin Scientific  

/ kăt′kĭn /

1. A long, thin, indeterminate inflorescence of tiny, petalless flowers growing on willows, birches, oaks, poplars, and certain other trees. The flowers on a catkin are either all male or all female. The female flowers are usually pollinated by the wind.

2. Also called ament

3. See illustration at inflorescence

---

Other Word Forms

• catkinate adjective

Etymology

Origin of catkin

First recorded in 1570–80, catkin is from the Dutch word katteken little cat (now obsolete). See cat, -kin

Example Sentences

Probably the best-known catkin showoff — beloved by bees, gardeners and flower arrangers — is the Japanese pink pussy willow Mt.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 6, 2024

You can see this in the oak catkin “tumbleweeds” on street corners and that yellow coating all over surfaces.

From Washington Post • Apr. 19, 2023

Small balls of gray catkin fluff blew on the wind, seedpods from poplars, which bloom all over Warsaw in the spring.

From The New Yorker • Jul. 29, 2019

If the appearance of the fruit is not much different from that of the cluster of flowers, as in the Hornbeams, Willows, and Birches, the term catkin will be retained for the fruit also.

From Trees of the Northern United States Their Study, Description and Determination by Apgar, A. C. (Austin Craig)

Separated from the catkin, the males will each be seen to consist of a calyx of five greenish scales, enclosing a large number of stamens.

From Wayside and Woodland Trees A pocket guide to the British sylva by Step, Edward