They look like male flowers (aren't those tan things anthers?) but I have no idea as to from what. I am in your general part of the world, so I will keep an eye out to see if there's anything like these locally.

Thanks, NHBabs. In the photos, you might be able to see some of the tiny seeds. These things are dry now. My botany left me. Anthers? I'll look it up.

meanwhile, if these puff seed head like things came from a tree, might there be some "fruit" growing? Or would those things be the fruit? I don't notice any birds rushing in to dine on them. I suppose I could try planting them. Maybe a drone dropped them.

ETA 2:34 PM -- okay. Yes, does look like lots of anthers on that puff thing. So, likely not seeds. I'll look with a magnifier later.

Meanwhile, if called by an anther, I'll panther.

yeah. .pollen sacs ...

oaks were dropping theirs yesterday in my Z5 MI ...

boxelder weeks ago .. maples already have helicopters ...

if you arent getting the hint.. i am naming hated seed trees [not the oaks] .. not fruit ....

it they are all over the yard.. the plant probably has some height ... unless i real windstorm came thru ..

ken

Thanks, Ken. No boxelders around. I don't care for it, so good. They'd are red oaks around, but I've never noted the anther puffs. Yes, we did have apt of rain and gusts. Nothing new with that. Hmm. So these are just anther/pollen bundles? We get clumps or maple seeds and volunteers of red oak and red maple, birch, ash and beech. I have to rescue an American beech too close to the leach field.

Beech flowers look similar. I only know European beech, though. It isn't maple, birch, oak or ash.

Thanks so much, floral_uk. I will look into that. We had, 6 ft away from our property line, an enormous American beech UNTIL, sob, sniff, the owner of the acreage west of us decided to log his trees for income (he was being taxed for "build able lots" in a watershed area, but told that he'd never be given building permits). He took our next door beech for the lumber and left many others. The strong winds took down the beeches he left, but other saplings close to us (perched water table) survived. There are many suckers, now about 25 ft tall but back then, I could never manage the strength to shovel through and rptransplant the suckering offspring. I used to go to the trunk of the huge beech, wrap my arms around its girth and KISS the smooth silver bark of its large trunk -- uttering some amalgam of earth-appreciative thanks.

There ate medium-sized beech trees in that area (winds blow from there) and somehow, I have a small sapling that emerged on our propert (I must transplant it into a better location, however).

Thanks again. Beech tree hugger

PS -- I've read that the American Beech is very similar to its European cousin.

In researching beeches yesterday, the information and photo at http://www.arkive.org/beech/fagus-sylvatica/image-A8074.html Appears to confirm that these are the male flowers of American Beech.

There are beeches in the woods to our SW-W. Appearantly they are now mature enough to flower and strong gusts blew the pollen heads onto our gardens. Thanks again, everyone.

good powers of observation .. without you recalling the wind storm.. we would have never thought of the woods.. away from your property ... good work

you say.. maybe they are now mature enough ... i have noticed. with the extremely mild winter here in MI .. many trees and shrubs are going absolutely insane .. with flower and potential seed production .. and i wonder if its going to be a mast year.. in my MI ... [conifers are coning also]...

my point.. if i have one ... it might not be only a maturity issue .... there are so many other potential explanations ...

ken

Ken, Petalique did mention back in the thread that there were beech seedlings coming up in the yard.

Thanks for this Petalique. Makes me feel remarkably unobservant since we have quite a number of beeches in our woods. Perhaps the problem is that I am usually in the veggie garden when I am outside at this time of the year, and don't walk in the woods much since the black flies are fierce in May.

I see them at this time of year on my walk into town. Fortunately we have no flies :-)