T]^E FRUITS AND FLOWERS 



625 



whitish underneath. The blft- 

 sams, with their purple young 

 cones and the yell(Av-red 

 anthers of the sterile flowers, 

 are always a welcome stuo^^ 

 in late April; and the hem- 

 locks, flowering about the same 

 time, with the crimson scales 

 of the fertile flowers abundant 

 all over the tree, make gay 

 the springtime sunshine. The 

 spruce tribe are out in May ; 

 in general, the flower scheme 

 borders on purple for all the 

 species ; the red spruce shows 

 reddish-purple sterile flowers 

 with the scales of the fertile 

 future cones a rose -purple. 

 With the blue spruce, the same 

 flower is a dark blue, tinged 



The Black Cherry. 



this will be mostly found in the east- 

 ern half of the united states. it is 

 also known as the wild cherry. 



Photo by American Museum of Natural History. 



The Black Walnut. 



THE fertile flower IS A GREEN TUBULAR 

 FORERUNNER OF THE NUT WITH TWO LONG 

 DEEP PINK LOBES OF COROLLA PROTRUD- 

 ING. 



with purple; and in the white 

 spruce the sterile flowers dis- 

 play red anthers, with pale red 

 scales for the cone of the fer- 

 tile flower. 



The great extent and variety 

 of the flowers of the deciduous 

 species is apt to make one 

 give one's whole available 

 time to their study, but do not 

 neglect a visit to the cool 

 ravines where the hemlock 

 blooms in early spring, and to 

 the warm sunny hillsides 

 where you will surely find the 

 pines and the red cedar. If 

 there are any evergreens 

 about your place, find time in 

 the spring to get acquainted 

 with their flowers. It will be 

 a memory worth treasuring. 



