EARLY WILD FLOWERS, CATKINS. 13 



of two kinds,* sterile and fertile ; the former elon- 

 gated and drooping (a nicely adjusted arrangement 

 tliat enables the pollen to drop easily 

 on the fertile ilowers below), and the 

 latter ovoid or oblong and somewhat 

 erect. These catkins were formed 

 in the preceding summer, and 

 passed through the winter in a 

 shape resembling a tiny, elongated 

 green cone ; now they appear in 

 plumy clusters on the still leafless 

 branchlets. Should we happen to 

 jostle the alder bush a cloud of 

 pollen arises from the sterile flow- 

 ers, which probably reaches the 

 fertile ones near by, and thus the 

 latter become fertihzed ; but with- 

 out doubt a few early bees will 

 find the pretty ocher-yellow, lav- 

 ender-brown, and greenish yellow cat- 

 kins, and these will carry enough pol- 

 len on their backs to accomplish what Speckled Alder 



Catkins. 



the pollen cloud left unfinished. 



The spreckled or hoary alder {Alnus incana) is 

 common northward and westward from Massachu- 



* The alders are moncecious ; that is, the stamens and pistils 

 are in separate flowers on the same bush. 



