WHITE PINE. 89 



needles, and are produced in clusters of five each. In the 

 Ked Pine, on the other hand, there are but two leaves in 

 the cluster. Other species have bundles of three each. 

 These leaves, as is well known, are evergreen, that is to 

 say, they do not perish in the first autumn, but persist 

 through the winter and until the new leaves of the 

 following season are fully developed. 



123. The flowers of the Pine must be looked for in 

 spring just before the new leaves are put forth. They are 



^~ monoecious or dioecious. The staminate flowers, 

 consisting of a single stamen each, are produced 

 around the bases of the new shoots, where they 

 form dense clusters of small catkins (Fig. 114). 

 Each anther is two-celled, and the pollen-grains 

 (Fig. 115) are rather peculiar in shape, having, in 

 fact, the appearance of three grains cohering 

 together. The two outer portions, however, are 

 only bladder-like developments of the outer coat 

 (extine) of the real grain, which occupies the 



. lie. centre. 



124. The pistillate or fertile flowers are aggregated 

 together upon an elongated axis, forming in fact the well- 

 known cone of the Pine (Fig. 116). The young cones 

 will be found to occupy lateral positions on the branches ; 

 each of them is made up of many spirally arranged scales, 

 each scale being in the axil of a bract (Fig. 117). At the 

 base of each scale, on the inside, will be found two ovules 

 turned downwards (Fig. 118). Observe that these ovules 

 are not enclosed in an ovary. Because of this fact the 

 group of plants of which the Pine is a type is said to be 



Fig. 116. Cone of Pine. (Wood and Steele.) 



