EVERGREENS 211 



The staminate blossoms of the red cedar and 

 the juniper bathe the trees in a little glint of 

 gold, though the individual flowers are so tiny 

 and so hidden among the needles that it takes 

 sharp eyes to find them. 



The pistillate flowers on the conifers are 

 much more simple than the staminal ones. In- 

 deed they cannot even be called flowers. They 

 are mere oval bags of jelly, fastened to a tiny 

 scale, which is called a carpel. The young cone 

 is built up by a community of carpels arranged 

 spirally around a woody stem. The tiny berry 

 of the red cedar and the juniper is a ring of car- 

 pels inclosing the jelly-like ovules. The ovule 

 of the yew has no carpel. After the precious 

 pollen dust has been united with it, the little 

 ring-shaped disk about its base begins to swell 

 and forms a little red cup or berry about the 

 tiny seed. Most of the evergreens bear pollen 

 and ovules on the same tree, often on the same 

 branch. 



The evergreen trees which bear berries de- 

 pend upon the agency of the birds to get sown, 

 and their ripe, juicy fruits are a great boon to 

 their little feathered friends when all other food 

 is hidden beneath the snow. Most of the cone- 

 bearing trees loosen the scales of their ripened 

 cones and give to the winds a tiny winged seed, 



