LIFE HISTORIES OF FAMILIAR PLANTS 



the course of its history, all plainly written in its 

 silky catkins. It is true there is now scarcely any 

 trace of its earliest period of insect-fertilisation, but 

 the structure and arrangement of its minute 

 flowers distinctly point to a period of wind-fertili- 

 sation, such as that of the hazel at the present 

 day ; while its honey-producing glands and the 

 obvious visits of insects now clearly show that its 

 habit of wind-fertilisation has become a thing of 

 the past ; although, of course, it may be even now 

 occasionally wind-fertilised. 



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