The Seniors of the Forest 289 



give their pollen to the breezes the pistillate 

 blossoms are ready to turn it to good account. 



The staminal leaf is a rudimentary affair, but its 

 affinity is, if possible, more rudimentary still. In 

 the heart of a freshly-opened pea-blossom there is 

 already an extremely small, but perfectly formed, 

 pod. Suppose we pluck away from the pea-flower 

 its calyx, corolla, and stamens, till nothing but 

 this tiny pod is left. Now if we split it we shall 

 find within it a number of minute peas. If we 

 pick off all these except two, the remnant, a naked 

 and opened pod with two peas, will be equivalent 

 to the " carpel" of most native cone-bearers. 



The young cone is a community of carpels, each 

 having its pair of attached ovules, and all arranged 

 spirally about a woody axis. The very young 

 " berry" of a red cedar or a juniper is a close 

 ring of carpels enclosing a few ovules. And in 

 both these cases the entire cluster is regarded as a 

 single pistillate flower. 



The ovule of the yew lives alone and is a " pis- 

 tillate flower" all by itself. It is partly enveloped 

 by small scales, and a little ring-shaped disk closely 

 invests its base. 



Among the red cedars, junipers, and yews some 

 individuals bear pistillate flowers only, while others 



