G YMNOSPERMS. 



l8 7 



309. Male cones, or male flowers. — The male cones are borne 

 in clusters as shown in fig. 158. Each compact, nearly cylin- 

 drical, or conical mass is termed a cone, or flower, and each 

 arises in place of a long lateral branch. One of these cones is 



Fig. 158. 



Spray of white pine showing cluster of male cones just before the scattering of the pollen. 



shown considerably enlarged in fig. 159. The central axis of 

 each cone is a lateral branch, and belongs to the stem series. 

 The stem axis of the cone can be seen in fig. 160. It is com- 

 pletely covered by stout, thick, scale-like outgrowths. These 

 scales are obovate in outline, and at the inner angle of the 



