Minnesota Plant Life. 



237 



A single curious little plant, the lizard's-tail, belonging to a 

 related family, is found in far northern Minnesota. The lizard's- 

 tail is an herb with heart-shaped leaves and flowers arranged 

 in little spikes like those of the dooryard plantain. There are 

 no petals or sepals and the stamens grow from the base of the 

 ovary, which consists of three or four carpels, sometimes fused 

 and sometimes almost separate. From four to eight seeds are 

 formed in the fruit and in each seed there is an abundant albu- 

 men. The embryo is small and located near the end of the 



FIG. 106. Poplar vegetation of burnt district. Near Rat Portage, Ontario. After photograph 



by the author. 



seed, imbedded in the albumen. These plants are to be sought 

 in swamps or near the edges of small woodland lakes. 



Willows and poplars. The third order includes but a single 

 family the willow family to which the willows and poplars 

 belong. About eighteen species of willow and seven species 

 of poplar grow without cultivation in Minnesota. The willows 

 are wind-pollinated plants with rather slender leaves. The 

 poplars are insect-pollinated and have generally broad, trian- 

 gular or heart-shaped leaves. This family of plants is charac- 

 terized by separate flowers, the staminate and pistillate occur- 



