THE FLOWER AND THE BEE 



Asa Gray and the older botanists often speak of "the flowers'* 

 of the conifers, but the naked seeds and the absence of a stigma, 

 as well as a difference of opinion as to what constitutes a flower 

 and what an inflorescence, are objections to this usage. It is 

 better to restrict the word flower to the Angiosperms, or plants 

 with the seeds in a closed seed-vessel a part of which is special- 

 ized to receive the pollen. The cone-trees and the tropical, 

 fern-like cycads, which are also wind-pollinated, belong to the 

 Gymnosperms. 



There are in the world about 350 species of conifers {Coni- 

 ferales), all of which are wind-pollinated. The cones are al- 

 ways unisexual, either staminate ("male") or ovulate ("fe- 

 male"). Both kinds usually occur on the same tree, but in the 

 juniper and yew they are mostly on different trees. The fruit- 

 ing cones are produced in positions where they are likely to 

 be cross-pollinated; for instance, in the fir and spruce they are 

 on the apex of the lofty spire, while the staminate cones are 

 very abundant on the lateral branches. 



When the evergreen forests bloom in May, "few folks," as 

 the poet says, ever know it, for the neutral-colored cones do 

 not usually contrast strongly with the green, needle-like leaves ; 

 but there are exceptions. A red pine covered with red-purple 

 cones, half an inch in length and associated in clusters of 

 thirty or more (Figs. 16 and 17), and a black spruce {Picea 

 mariana) and balsam-fir bearing, innumerable staminate cones 

 about the size and color of a field-strawberry certainly present 

 a strikingly handsome appearance. (Figs. 18 and 19.) The 

 fertile cones are much less noticeable, but they are purple in 

 the spruce and pale-green in the fir. 



The quantity of pollen produced by the coniferous forests is 

 almost beyond belief. Clouds of pollen rising from pine-trees 

 are sometimes mistaken for columns of smoke. The falling 



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