82 ROUND THE YEAR 



Hornbean, where the bracts seem adapted to aid in 

 the dispersal of the fruit. This cannot be the case 

 with the heavy nuts of the Hazel, yet the structure is 

 there, though applied to some new use, of which I can 

 give no account The cupule of the Acorn corre- 

 sponds to the bracts of the Hazel and Hornbean. 



I will next describe the flowers of the Willow, the 

 "palms" of country people, so called, I believe, 



FIG. 25. Young cone of Hazel, after flowering. The flowers are grouped in pairs 

 and enclosed by bracts, which enlarge after flowering 



because they are plentiful in most years on Palm 

 Sunday. 



Alder, Birch and Hazel bear both catkins and cones 

 on the same branches, Willow bears them on different 

 trees. Alder, Birch and Hazel are called monoecious, 

 Willow dioecious. Both kinds are included under the 

 term diclinous. I must rebel against these ugly words, 

 so ill-chosen (though the great Linnaeus is responsible 

 for the first two) that even when you know their 

 etymology, you can hardly understand or remember 



