DICLINOUS F LOWERS 161 



spring they lengthen and dangle in the wind, dis- 

 charging showers of pollen. The resemblance be- 

 tween catkins and ordinary branches is, therefore, 

 very close, since each of them may constitute a 

 winter bud and each bears scales (or reduced leaf- 

 like bodies), from the axils of which flowers arise. 



180. When the staminate catkins of the hazel 

 are hanging on the twigs, the pupil may be look- 

 ing in vain for the pistillate flowers. He may 

 discover them by means of the red stigmas which 

 are thrust from the buds, waiting for the wind to 

 bring the pollen their way. These stigmas are seen 

 protruding from the two lower buds in Fig. 159. 

 Each flower has a single ovary and two styles; 

 the pupil may count how many flowers there are 

 in the bud. If one of the sexes is in a catkin, 

 it is not necessaiy that the other shall be. 



180a. The pupil will now examine the oaks, in which the stami- 

 nate flowers are in catkins, but the pistillate flowers (which pro- 

 duce the acorns) are not. In the beech the staminate flowers are 

 in pendulous heads (which are a kind of catkin), but the pistil- 

 late flowers are mostly in pairs upon a short stalk. The student 

 should determine how the flowers of the chestnuts are borne. 

 Examine the plane-tree (buttonwood or sycamore). 



181. A spray of hickory (sometimes called "white 

 walnut" in the East) is shown in Fig. 160. The 

 staminate catkins are borne about three together 

 from a single stem (at A), and they arise directly 

 from the terminal winter bud. When these catkins 



