28 THE PLANT-WORLD IN MARCH. 



dust. It hangs down fully two inches in length, slightly 

 tapering, and no doubt suggesting a little cat's tail, the 

 origin of our word " catkin." 



The books tell us that a catkin is a deciduous spike ; but 

 let us see for ourselves. If we take one of these fully- 

 developed examples, and not those dull brown sausage-like 

 buds at the end of yonder bough, we see it has a number 

 of little scales, and under each of these a pocket lens will 

 show us two smaller ones or " bracteoles," each with two 

 forked stamens between it and the central stalk. Thus, as 

 each stamen bifurcates, every catkin-scale or " bract " covers 

 eight of the anthers that are now so busily discharging their 

 pollen. This structure is explained by comparison with 

 other catkins as representing two flowers below each bract, 

 a central one being undeveloped ; so that the entire catkin 

 is more complex in its structure than a spike, in which the 

 flowers are typically arranged in a single linear, or rather 

 spiral, series. When the wind has blown all their pollen 

 away these catkins will have exchanged their present almost 

 primrose hue for one decidedly greener ; but what will have 

 become of the pollen ? There are no leaves on the trees to 

 obstruct it, and that which is to come to anything must 

 probably go to another tree. It is true that here, on the 

 upper side of this same branch, are several of the little egg- 

 shaped female catkins, with their few overlapping scales 

 topped 'with clustering crimson points; but these stigmas 

 are not yet sticky, so that pollen will not adhere to 

 them. 



We can wait no longer, but are busily filling our baskets 

 with primroses. Their crinkled leaves are still small, and 

 all their stalks blush with the pink of youth. The 

 ' rathe," or early primrose of Milton, is short moreover in 



