44 FAMILIAR TREES 



single two-chambered anther ; and when the pollen 

 is discharged the whole catkin falls. The female 

 cones on the other hand remain, of course, until the 

 seeds they contain have been ripened and dis- 

 charged. They occur generally in twos or threes, 

 each, when young, of a purplish colour and an ovoid 

 outline, tapering conically to a point and at first erect 

 and stalk! ess, but after fertilisation hanging by short 

 stalks in a drooping position. The scales that make 

 up the cone are not many in number : their points 

 wither, and they become woody so as to present at 

 the surface of the cone a series of hard rhombic or 

 roughly -hexagonal plates, known as " apophyses," 

 each rising in a re-curved central point, forming col- 

 lectively well-defined spirals closely packed together. 

 It is not, as a rule, until the second or third j^ear 

 that the seeds ripen : in fact, the pollen, when it has 

 fallen upon the ovule, or immature seed, sends out 

 a tube which takes more than a year in penetrating 

 to the embryo-sac. The scales of the cone then bend 

 outwards, so as to let the winged seeds escape from 

 between them. Thus it is that the close packing of 

 the scales serves, until the seeds are ripe, every pur- 

 pose of the closed ovary which distinguishes Angio- 

 sperms from " gymnospermous " plants. 



The seeds, which in some allied species are large 

 enough to be of not a little value as human food, 

 occur in pairs at the base of each scale, and are 

 furnished with a brown membranous wing three 

 times their length. This closely resembles, and per- 

 forms the same purpose as, the " samaras," or winged 

 fruits, of Elms and other trees, the disposal of the 



