April and Early May 



birches have long been hung with the cat- 

 kins which are now developing into tas- 

 sels of yellow flowers ; the female flowers, 

 again, as in the alders, being borne in j 

 short, oblong clusters. A little later we / 

 notice the blossoms of the beech, the male i 

 ones drooping in small heads, the femalei 

 ones (which later yield the prickly " beechy 

 nuts ") usually being paired at the tip of 

 a short stalk. 



Although most of these blossoming trees 

 make little show of brilliancy, relying 

 largely, I suppose, upon the winds for the 

 transfer of their pollen, and thus without 

 inducement to deck themselves as gayly 

 as would be advisable were they depend- 

 ent upon the visits of insects, the effect 

 of their leafless branches festooned with 

 slender tassels and tiny flower-clusters is 

 wonderfully delicate and feathery. Once 

 appreciated — for these earliest revelations 

 seem strangely ignored, as though there 

 were no visible life until the facts of 



23 



