THE CONIFERS. 



169 



Compare it with Fig. 319, which is a $ flower of 

 the pine. Here you see two anther-cells dehiscing 

 vertically, and Fig. 320 represents a grain of the 



FIG. 318. 



FIG. 319. 



FIG. 820. 



compound pollen they bear. Seen on the outside, 

 this stamen appears to be all connective. This con- 

 nective, or scale, as it is usually called, varies in form 

 in different species of evergreens ; but these of the 

 catkins of the pine are enough like all the others 

 to guide you in searching for and studying them. 

 When they have shed their pollen, they wither and 

 disappear. 



The $ , or fertile flowers, are also clustered, and 

 appear at the same time as the $ ones, sometimes on 

 the same, and sometimes on different branches. It 

 is this $ catkin that, in a couple of years, develops 

 into the fruit we call a cone. Fig. 321 represents it 

 when in flower. The fertile flowers are very simple 

 in structure, each one consisting of an open carpel- 

 lary leaf, or scale. Hitherto you have always found 

 seeds in seed-vessels, but here you will find them 



