4 



Notes and Comments. 



FLOWERS OF THE OAK. 



By the permission of Messrs. Cassell & Co. we are able to give 

 our readers an excellent illustration of the male and female- 

 flowers of the Pedunculate Oak. The oak does not commence 

 to bear good seed until the ripe age of sixty or eighty years. 

 ' The male and female flowers come out in the same individual^ 

 and at the same time as the leaves are emerging, namely,. 

 April or May. Both male and female inflorescences arise as- 

 branches on shoots produced during the current season. 

 On feebler dwarf-shoots only pendant male catkins arise 

 but on more vigorous shoots springing from the terminal 

 portions of the previous year's twig, both kinds of inflores- 

 cences occur. A resting bud about to produce a flowering 

 branch is encased in pairs of scales ; when it shoots out, the 

 male inflorescences arise in the axils of a few of the uppermost 

 of paired scales. And on the male branches the catkins can be 

 seen before the foliage leaves are revealed.' (See Plate V.). 



TREES AND THEIR LIFE HISTORIES. 



The preceding remarks in reference to the flowers of the 

 oak are taken from a beautiful book, * Trees and their Life 

 Histories,'* which has recently been issued. The letterpress is^ 

 by Dr. Percy Groom, of the Chelsea Physic Garden, and there 

 are no fewer than five hundred and seventeen illustrations from 

 photographs by Mr. Henry Irving. The illustration we produce- 

 is a fair sample of them, but many are twice the size. In 

 addition to photographs of characteristic trees in summer and 

 winter garb, there are photographs of the trunk, branches,, 

 shoots, flowers, fruits, etc., etc. Certainly all Mr. Irving's 

 work is very good indeed. The author gives useful information 

 relating to each species, under the head of Behaviour and 

 Growth, Germination, Sprouting, Branching, Production and 

 Fertilisation of Flowers, and Protection and Dispersal of Seeds.. 

 He also deals with the manner in which trees adjust their 

 shapes to various situations ; how they protect vulnerable parts 

 from injury by climate, weather, etc. ; how they replace injured 

 parts, and how their structure enables them to live in divers 

 situations. In addition, the book is written in a style whiclv 

 will appeal to either botanist or one who has no botanical 

 knowledge. We have pleasure in recommending it. 



* Cassell & Co., 407 pag-es, price 25s. net. 



Naturalistc^ 



