Hazel Nut flower

I had never noticed the small red (female) flower until a friend pointed it out to me.
We all see the lovely dangling creamy yellow (male) catkins.

As a teacher I once teased my all boy class by explaining pine trees reproduction - How the male cone was a small, insignificant, and short lived catkin which made lots of tiny light pollen that blew about, while the female cone, was much larger and longer lived. (Implying females are more important) It was good for a laugh and I think they would have remembered that lesson.!

To complete the story the pine cone is initially green and open to let the pollen in, then shuts till the seeds are mature, then opens again to release the seed. A fire encouraged the cone to spit its seeds out.

In contrast the hazel nut female flower is tiny.