Allan, those would be oak tassles. They're hard on folks who are allergic to oak. It will get worse before it gets better. But they are attractive--like jewelry, or a skimpy diaphanous gown for each tree, before the leaves come out.

I culled a bunch of dry pecans from my supply picked last fall, and I stacked the whole nuts in a pile beneath the hackberry out back. The squirrel who discovered that stash did the most amazing victory dance on the bole of the hackberry--tail twitching madly, dancing around--he was a sight to see!

SRS