ELEMENTS OF STRUCTURAL BOTANY. 



4a 



56. Willow. The flowers of most kinds of Willow 

 appear iu spring or early summer, before the leaves. 

 They grow from the axils iu long close clusters called 

 ciitkiiin or aments. Collect a few of these from the same 



tree or shrub. You will find them 

 to be exactly alike. If the first 

 one you examine is covered with 

 yellow stamens (Fig. G8), all the 

 rest will likewise consist of sta- 

 pjg gg mens, and you will search in vain 



for any appearance of a pistil. If, on the other hand, 

 one of your catkins is evidently destitute of stamens, 

 and consists of oblong pis- 

 tils (Fig. 64), then all the 

 others will in like manner 

 be found to be without 

 stamens. Unlike our Cu- 

 cumber plant, the stami 

 nate and pistillate flowers 

 of the Willow are borne Fig. 64. 



on different plants. Tliese flowers are therefore said to 

 be dicccit)us. As a general thing, staminate and pistil- 

 late catkins will be found upon trees not far apart. 

 Procure one of each kind, and examine first the stami- 

 nate one. You will probably find the stamens in pairs. 

 Follow any pair of filaments down to their 

 insertion, and observe that they spring from 

 the axil of a minute bract (Fig. 65). These 

 bracts are the settles of the catkin. There is 

 no appearance of either calyx or corolla, and 

 the tlowers are therefore said to bo aehlamij- 

 deous, that is, without a covering. Now look 

 Fig. 65 at the fertile catkin. Each pistil will, Uke 



• ■•« •■ ■■ •**. 



