148 



THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



-c 



B 



branches. In those woods where there is a regular rotation in 

 the cutting of the coppice, the under-wood will show areas with 

 trees in varying stages of growth ; where the trees have been 

 lately cut, vigorous young shoots ought to be seen ; in other parts 

 the trees will be forming thick covert ; whilst others will be ready 

 to be cut down. The direction in which the under-wood is cut is 

 important. It should proceed against the prevailing wind, so as 

 to leave a shelter belt against strong winds. Hazel is very com- 

 monly planted as coppice, with oak as the dominant tree of the 

 over-wood, thus forming an oak-hazel wood. The hazel is one of 

 the earliest shrubs to flower ; the staminate catkins, or ''lambs' 

 tails/' may be seen hanging in many a hedgerow or copse about 



the middle of January. The pistillate 

 flowers have the appearance of mere 

 leaf -buds, and are often unnoticed ; 

 they may be recognised by the red 

 styles which protrude from their tips, 

 the whole inflorescence pointing up- 

 wards ready to receive the pollen from 

 FIG. 40. A, staminate flower of the pendulous catkins. As the pollen 

 Hazel ; c, bract. B, TWO pistil- is carr i e d by the wind the supply is 



late flowers of Hazel ; p y bract ; , -, 4L , , . n 



c, perianth. abundant. The catkins bear numerous 



flowers arranged spirally, each in the 



axil of a bract. The flower itself consists of eight stamens, or, 

 strictly speaking, of four stamens, divided almost to the base, 

 so as to appear eight in number. The way in which they fit 

 against each other and under the bract is shown in Fig. 40. 



Selecting a bud with protruding styles, the outer bracts should 

 be removed. Within these come two to four foliage-leaves, and 

 inside of all the flower-buds. There may be eight to sixteen buds, 

 but only some of these mature. Each bract bears two flowers, 

 and each flower has two stigmas. The ovary is two-celled, and 

 there is a very small perianth above it. Below the ovary an 

 involucre is seen ; this develops into the leafy cup of the hazel- 

 nut, and may be compared with the large three-lobed scale of the 

 hornbeam, the hard cup of the acorn, the case of the nuts in the 

 beech, and the very prickly covering of the fruit in the sweet 

 chestnut ; for all these structures are formed from the bracts of 



