BRITISH WILD FLOWERS 25 



3. Catkins (Fig. 6) 



In many instances the flowers take the form 

 of tassels, some of which are regular catkins, 

 while others only loosely resemble these. Many 

 of our native trees bear genuine catkins, and 

 may be easily recognized thereby. The catkins 

 of hazel and birch appear in winter. Those of 

 the willow are large, and are often called palms. 

 The alder, poplar, sweet gale (21), and other 

 shrubs and trees also bear them. In the oak 

 they are loose, and are not unlike the tassels 

 found in dog's mercury (115), nettle (17), and 

 elsewhere. 



4. Fruits and Seeds 



We generally think of fruits as sweet and 

 edible, while seeds are for sowing. That is not 

 the true difference, but it will suffice for us at 

 present. Fleshy fruits are found on many kinds 

 of plants, both herbaceous and shrubby. The 

 N.O. Rosaceae (Group xvii) is the chief fruit- 

 bearing family. Fruits vary in colour. We have 

 one white berry, that of the mistletoe. Another 

 is often found in hedges and gardens, but it 

 (Fig. 26) is a foreigner (snowberry, Sympharia). 

 A large number are crimson, scarlet, or some 

 other shade of red. Among the herbs we find 

 red berries on lily of valley, asparagus, straw- 

 berry, arum, bryony, and bittersweet ; while 

 the holly, yew, honeysuckle, rowan, guelder 



