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.

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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

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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

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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

See Examples For:

catkin

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

The scales of the willow do not flush, but shine like ebony, and each one presses like a hand upon the catkin that will escape from beneath it.

From A Year in the Fields by Burroughs, John

The catkin falls off in a mass, separating from the branch by an articulation.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various