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Home Nature-Study Course. 



willow. Tlie " pussies " on their twigs are placed in water in the school- 

 room windows and the children are taught that these are the blossoms of 

 the willow, but they are never told why- these blossoms never produce 



The pollcn-bcaring catkins of the willow. 



seeds. In fact very few people know what -sort of seeds the willow has. 

 The facts about the blossom of the willow are as follows : There are two 

 kinds of flowers growing on separate trees. One tree produces the soft, 



furry catkins wdiicli finally de- 

 velop into the pollen-bearing 

 flowers ; while some other tree 

 in the neighborhood produces 

 catkins of quite a different 

 sort, not nearly so soft and 

 furry nor so attractive, and 

 these are the seed-bearing 

 flowers of the willow. The 

 pollen is carried from tree to 

 tree by insects, largely bees. 

 The willow blossoms are a 

 mine of wealth for the bees, 

 as they appear early in the 

 season before other flowers 

 give them food. When the 

 pollen of the pussy willow is 

 fully developed, the tree is filled 

 with the hum of the happy 

 bees working upon it. It may 



Trembling aspen. Pollen bearing flowers at the be asked why the insects pass 

 left. Seed-bearing flowers at the right. from this tree to the other one 



