FRUIT BLOSSOMS 
393 
Apple trees in bloom in A. I. Root’s orchard. 
desirable to describe briefly the common 
wind-pollinated and exclusively self-pol¬ 
linated species. 
CULTIVATED PLANTS POLLINATED BY THE 
WIND. 
The wind is a much older .agency in pol¬ 
lination than insects. (See Pollination 
or Flowers.) The edible nuts of North 
America, as the walnut, hickory, acorn, 
beech, hazel, butternut, and pecan are al¬ 
most invariably pollinated by the wind; 
but the chestnut in the temperate zone and 
many tropical species producing nuts are 
insect-pollinated. Altho the bloom of the 
chestnut is nectarless, it is often visited 
by honeybees and other insects for pollen, 
which is very abundant. The pollen is ad¬ 
hesive, not dry and loose as in wind-pol¬ 
linated trees. The common nut trees pol¬ 
linated by the wind not only have the sta¬ 
mens and pistils in different flowers but in 
different flower-clusters, so that the pis¬ 
tillate flowers are necessarily sterile unless 
cross-pollinated. The pecan, hickory, and 
chestnut are the only nuts domesticated in 
this country; but since nuts afford a whole¬ 
some and nutritious food nut culture is 
rapidly extending, and it is predicted that 
in the South in time the pecan groves will 
rival the cotton fields in extent. The flow¬ 
ers of the wind-pollinated nut trees are 
nectarless. 
The grasses, or Graminene, which are 
all wind-pollinated, include the common 
cereals, corn, wheat, barley, rye, rice, and 
oats; also sorghum, sugar cane, and millet. 
The flowers are usually perfect, but self- 
pollination is prevented by the anthers and 
stigmas maturing at different times. But 
sometimes the stamens and pistils are in 
separate flower-clusters, as in Indian corn. 
Buckwheat is usually classed with the cer¬ 
eals; but it is not a grass, and the seed is, 
therefore, not a true grain. The flowers 
are pollinated by insects, not by the wind. 
They possess the power of self-fertiliza¬ 
tion, but when covered with netting they 
are early in the season almost wholly self- 
sterile and produce hardly any seed. But 
