34 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 



blossoms, there are many who suppose they do not bloom at 

 all, and yet, every season, the branches are hung full of flowers 

 and he who will look may be convinced. 



In nearly every thicket and fencerow, the hazel is soon 

 blooming. Nature, thus early in the year, begins to fashion 

 the hazelnut, or filbert, as it is called when it gets to market. 

 If the nut's history is traced back far enough it is found that 

 one crop is hardly matured before the plant starts upon 

 another. The catkins are formed in Autumn and every mild 

 day in winter seems to add something to their bulk. It is 

 not, however, until some subtle influence underground touches 

 it, that it begins to grow in earnest. Then the stiff short 

 catkins lengthen and become flexible and sift an immense 

 amount of pollen upon the passing breeze. It is not every 

 plant that can sport two kinds of blossoms; the hazel is one 

 that can. The blossoms in the catkins are all male or pollen 

 flowers. The others must be sought nearby. They appear 

 like tiny crimson stars with five rays, scattered along the 

 branches. In order to form a nut, the pollen must fall upon 

 some of these rays. This is the secret of why so much pollen 

 is produced. There must be enough so that the tiny stars 

 shall not be missed. 



Down along the water the alder follows the hazel's ex- 

 ample and in the woodlands the birch will soon do likewise. 

 The brownish color in the alder's catkins is used by the child- 

 ren in some sections for dyeing their Easter eggs. A few 

 handfuls of the catkins, boiled with the eggs, suffices to give 

 them a rich brown tint. It often happens, however, that 

 Easter, in following the calendar, and the alder, in following 

 Nature, fail to arrive at the same time. Then the dye industry 

 is wrecked for if the catkins open before Easter, their useful- 

 ness for coloring on that day is destroyed. 



The hazel and alder are called anemonophilous or wind- 

 fertilized flowers because they trust to the wind to carry their 



