164 



BOTANY. 



times on different branches. It is this ? catkin that, in 

 a couple of years, develops into the fruit we call a cone. 

 Fig. 444 represents it when in flower. The fertile flowers 



are very simple in struct- 

 ure, each one consisting of 

 an open carpellary leaf, or 

 scale. Hitherto, you have 

 always found seeds in 

 seed-vessels, but here you 

 will find them borne upon 

 one side of a scale, and 



FIG. 444. 



FIG. 



hence the Coniferse are said to be naked-seeded. Get one 

 of these ? catkins, and detach from it a single flower. 

 Compare it with Fig. 445. Observe the ovules upon its 

 inner surface. These vary in number and position with 

 the species examined. In this specimen of the pine we 

 have two inverted ovules, which, in time, become seeds. 

 Fig. 446 represents a scale from the same kind of catkin 

 after it has become woody, and the seeds have ripened. 

 The left side of this scale shows the cavity from which 

 one winged seed has fallen, while on the other side a seed 

 still remains. You may easily find these seeds in mature 

 cones by breaking them across, or, what is better, by put- 

 ting them in a dry place for a day or two, when the scales 

 will cleave away and so reveal the seeds within. 



In some evergreens, as arbor-vitae and white cedar, 



