PROMISE OF MAY 



You might think it just the foliage of 

 the plant taking on a livelier tint with the 

 coming of glad weather, and there is a 

 change there, but that is only from brown 

 to green. In the severe cold of the winter 

 the leaves seem to suffer a decomposition 

 in the chlorophyl which gives them their 

 green tint and put on a winter garb of 

 brownish hue, but with the coming of the 

 warm days the chlorophyl is reformed, 

 and the brown is rapidly giving place to 

 green when this new transformation 

 flashes on the scene. Right out of the 

 little green leaf-scales grow thousands of 

 tiny golden-brown spikes with a dozen 

 golden mushroom caps ranged in whorls 

 of four about them. 



They are not more than an eighth of an 



inch long, these pollen bearing spikes 



which will presently loose upon the wind 



tiny balloons bearing pollen grains to 



183 



