512 Ber ridge, — The Structure of the Flower of 
near the apex of the shoot bear fertile pistillate flowers, and of these the 
upper ones are abortive. 
The longer staminate catkins are not infrequently branched at the base, 
and the tufts of flowers on them also .appear to be telescoped branches. 
These tufts usually contain from four to six dichasia, the secondary flowers 
of which are well developed ; sometimes tertiary flowers are also present. 
The tufts on the female catkins may contain as many as ten well-developed 
flowers, at the base of each of which appear two small secondary buds, all 
densely packed together. As will be shown later on, in a separate section 
of this paper, these secondary axes give rise to the ‘ valves ’ of the cupule ; 
hence, in the later stages, each ripening nut appears to be furnished with 
a separate cupule. 
Each tuft of flowers is surrounded by numerous hairy bracts, which 
presumably are the subtending bracts of the dichasia, as they correspond 
in number to the latter, but are frequently somewhat displaced ; in addition, 
two primary lateral bracteoles enclose each dichasium, and are clearly 
distinguishable even after the appearance of the cupule. Four or five of 
the ovaries of a single tuft of flowers develop into nuts, but of these only 
one, or occasionally two, contain embryos ; in the others only the dead 
remains of ovules are to be found ; hence it appears that parthenocarpy is 
prevalent here as in other members of the Amentiferae. 
Flowers . 
The staminate flowers possess in all cases a rudimentary ovary, and 
are evidently reduced forms of the perfect flowers from which the nuts 
develop. 
Both male and female flowers possess a gamophyllous perianth of six 
leaves, the three alternate lobes being larger and overlapping the others. 
The perianth is thickly covered with simple unbranched hairs, those on the 
outer surface and edges of the lobes being thick-walled, and growing in tufts 
of two to four together. Among these simple hairs are scattered multi- 
cellular glandular hairs somewhat peltate in form. 
All the flowers are completely epigynous, and possess two whorls of 
six stamens inserted at the junction of the perianth and ovary. The six 
stamens of the outer whorl, which are opposite to the lobes of the perianth, 
are slightly adnate to the latter, and develop somewhat earlier than the six 
stamens which alternate with them. The anthers are introrse and versatile, 
and the filaments are very long, as in Castcmea, and strongly incurved in the 
bud. The pollen of the flowers which are functionally pistillate seems per- 
fectly normal, and like that of the staminate flowers ; the grain shows three 
longitudinal furrows with a pore in the middle of each furrow, and two nuclei 
can be clearly distinguished within it. The female flowers are strongly 
protogynous, the stigmas protruding when the stamens are still curled up 
