“tibe Blossoming of tbe fTrees.” 
(Abstract of Paper read by Ida M. Roper, F.L.S., March 5th, 1908). 
T rees have always been objects of wonder and admiration to the 
dwellers in town and country, but too little attention is generally 
given to the blossoms of our native ones, because they are mostly 
inconspicuous compared with the more showy or fragrant flowers of 
other species introduced for decorative purposes into our parks and 
plantations. 
The number of trees indigenous to Great Britain is about eighteen, 
belonging to half-a-dozen natural orders, including those trees that 
were introduced so many hundreds of years ago as to be now thoroughly 
at home in their surroundings. The flower-buds are formed late in the 
autumn, and after lying dormant through the winter, protected by a 
thin covering of bracts or scale-leaves, begin to develop and enlarge 
as spring-time approaches. When the flowers expand these bracts are 
often shed in large quantities and become very noticeable under such 
trees as the beech and elm. 
The trees can be roughly divided into four grou23s : — 
1. In which simple flowers are developed without coloured peri- 
anths, blooming early before the leaves expand, such as the Elm 
and the Ash. 
2. In which the inflorescence takes the form of catkins, and also 
becomes perfect before the leaves open, such as the Alder, Hazel, 
Poplars, and some of the Willows. 
In both of these groups fertilisation is effected mainly by the pollen 
being carried by the wind from tree to tree. 
3. A catkin-bearing group, which flowers later in the season, 
when the leaves are more advanced, and includes the Hornbeam, Birch, 
Oak, Beech, and many Willows. 
4. The most showy group with white or coloured flowers usually 
in perfection after the leaves are well expanded, whose fertilisation 
depends chiefly upon the visits of insects to the attractive, fragrant,, 
or honey-bearing blossoms. In these the pollen adhering to the insect 
is brushed off against the stigmas of the next flower visited. The 
chief examples are the Hawthorn, Lime, Cherry, Apple, and Pear. 
In considering the members of each group in detail it is interesting 
to note that the Elm gives the name to many places. In Domesday 
Book there are recorded no fewer than forty hamlets in which elm 
formed part of the name, as for instance Great Elm, near Radstock. 
The Ash is usually dioecious and has three kinds of flowers, some 
with stamens only, others with pistils only, whilst others again 
are perfect. 
