64 IMPORTANT TIMBER TREES 



pistillate (female). The staminate flowers furnish the pol- 

 len or fecundating dustlike substance which fertilizes the 

 ovary or seed of the pistillate flower. A grain of this pollen 

 must in some way come in physical contact with an ovary 

 of the pistillate flower or there will be no fertile seed. 

 When mature the pollen is borne from the staminate to 

 the pistillate flower by winds or insects, such as flies, wasps, 

 bees, moths, butterflies, and the like. Nature is very prodi- 

 gal in the supply of pollen. Probably more than a million 

 grains are furnished where only one does any work. Not 

 only is there an enormous amount of pollen in each male 

 flower, but there are far more male than female flowers on 

 most trees. This is particularly so with Walnut, Hickory, 

 Chestnut, and White Pine. Some of our valuable timber 

 trees, as Yellow Poplar (Tulip-tree), Basswood, and Elm, 

 have perfect flowers, but on most, as with all the Pines, 

 Oaks, Hickories, Chestnuts, and others, the male flowers 

 are borne on separate sprays of the same tree, yet there 

 are some species in which only male flowers are borne on 

 one tree and only female on another. This is notably so 

 with the Ashes and Poplars. 



Sowing the Seed. When the pistillate flower is fertil- 

 ized the seed grows on to maturity, ripens, and is ready to 

 be cast off from the parent tree and begin its independent 

 active life in the reproduction of its kind. But to do this 

 the seed must be scattered where its surroundings are suit- 

 able and congenial for its growth, and come in contact with 

 the mineral soil where it can germinate and grow. How the 

 selection of a suitable place in which to grow comes about 

 through natural processes is very interesting. If not scat- 

 tered there would be no extension of the forests. If no 

 provisions were made for this the seeds would fall under 

 the parent tree where, if they should germinate, they could 

 not live long for want of light, moisture, and food. But 

 Nature has amply provided for the spread of seeds, as has 

 already been noted. In a large class of trees in which 

 are nearly all the conifers and many broadleaf trees she 



