'JO WILD FLOWERS OF 



ing upon the bright ruby pistils situated beneath 

 them in a separate position, offers a familiar illustra- 

 tion of that curious structure in the fructifying organs 

 of plants on which Linnaeus founded his " Sexual 

 System." The sombre Yew now also flowers, and 

 the female Aspen (Populus tremula), presents a 

 curious appearance with its numerous catkins of 

 downy seeds, very conspicuous in marshy woods. The 

 Yew (Taxus laccata), being a disecious tree, evidently 

 flowers at this season that the farina of the male blos- 

 soms may be dispersed far and wide by the winds, and 

 thus more surely conveyed to the females, which are 

 on separate trees often long distances apart. If a very 

 small sprig of male unexpanded flowers be gathered, 

 they will soon burst open, and if ever so slightly 

 touched, a cloud of dust fills the room where they 

 may be placed, ready to escape into the open air so 

 admirably are the mechanisms of all nature's struc- 

 tures adapted to fulfil the purpose assigned them ! - 

 " flowers of all hues" will now very soon appear. 



About the middle of the month, the Elm ( Ulmus 

 campestris) displays its sessile tufts of purplish flowers, 

 which, though making no pretensions to beauty in 

 themselves, yet crowded together on the upper 

 branches of the tree, present a rich vinous tint pleas- 

 ing to the eye when the sun darts his rays bright 

 upon them. But amidst storms and blasts, too often 

 the concomitants of the season, they may be alto- 

 gether unnoticed. The common Elm, though most 

 probably introduced into Britain by the Romans, for 

 it no where grows wild in our woods, has so multiplied 

 itself in this country, from its numerous offsets and 

 the tenacity of their endurance in the hedgerow, that 



