198 LIFE STORIES OF PLANTS 
are flower clusters. But there are no pistils here. 
These flowers, then, are the stamen flowers. Where 
are the pistil flowers ? Look above the stamen flowers 
for little cone-shaped bodies, one or two or three to- 
gether. They 
stand upright, not 
hanging down in 
catkins. 
The fruit. After 
the leaves come 
and the pollen has 
been scattered, the 
stamen flowers, or 
catkins, fall. But 
if everything has 
gone well with the 

pistil flower it be- 
Fic, 241. Spray of oak leaves and fruit. 
gins to grow, be- 
cause new life has been put into it by the sperm from 
the pollen tube joining with the germ in the embryo 
case. All through the summer it grows slowly. It 
does not ripen as soon as the pea pod. In the autumn 
there are the acorns, seated snugly in their little cups. 
This is the fruit. The acorn ripens and falls; but the 
tree does not die. Its life goes on for years, and it 
bears many other crops of acorns. 
We love the oak. We think of it as a strong and 
