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The female blossom is on a separate tree, and it 

 may be at some distance away ; the wind therefore 

 carries the fertilising pollen far and wide, and in due 

 time it reaches the other flower, which will eventually 

 produce the beautiful wax-like yew berries. 



I used to think that the showers of pollen, 

 which make the ground under the tree look 

 yellow with its abundance, was an instance of 

 needless waste ; but I have now observed that 

 many species of flies and solitary bees are ex- 



YEW BERRIES. 



tremely fond of pollen and feed greedily upon 

 it, as well as use it to store in their nests for 

 their young grubs to feed upon when hatched. 

 Doubtless in this way the tree is able, all 

 through the early spring, to afford the winged 

 creatures an abundant supply of needful food until 

 they are able to obtain honey from the summer 

 flowers. 



WILLOW CATKINS 



As one of the tokens of coming spring, it always 

 gives me a thrill of pleasure to note for the first 

 time the silvery willow buds appearing. As the 



