l66 NATURE STUDY LESSONS FOR PRIMARY GRADES 



have twigs from both trees. The staminate blos- 

 soms come out dark red, dotted with white. 

 Further observation shows us that these "white 

 dots " are scales which separate the blossoms. 

 They are packed as carefully as if they were deli- 

 cate china. These scales fall out as soon as the 

 blossoms expand. When the anthers burst, the 

 flowers turn yellow, then a dirty brown. At last 

 they fall. The seed catkins are green, and are 

 sometimes over eight inches long. Their maturing 

 can be followed on the trees. 



What do the buds of the plum trees contain? 

 (Three or four flower buds each.) Naturally we 

 look to the cherry tree, expecting to find the same 

 thing true of its buds, but here we find clusters of 

 little green knobs. The central bud develops into 

 a twig, the others into blossoms. Which one is the 

 apple bud like ? When its brown bud opens it dis- 

 closes a gray velvet hood, which contains a set of 

 five or six flower buds surrounded by six or seven 

 leaves. It is quite different from the others. 



The opening linden buds make one think of a 

 child's face with its sunbonnet pushed back. The 

 buds are separated by a long space — sometimes 

 three inches. 



