WILLOW. 83 
funicle, and which apparently serves as a means of dis- 
tributing them by means of the wind. (Compare Parsonsia, 
p- 69.) 
Zz Fig. 160. Seed of Goat Willow 
a (mag.). 
Fig. 159. Dehiscing capsule of 
Goat Willow (mag.), 
Nearly allied to the Willows are the Poplars (Populus), of which a 
number of species have been introduced. In most of them the catkins 
are pendulous, and the bracts are very much divided. The stamens also 
are very numerous in many species, and the disc is cup-shaped with an 
wae margin; insome ¢ flowers the stigma is 2-lobed, and in others 
4-lobed. 
The so-called New Zealand Birches have received the name 
from their general resemblance—particularly in the size of 
their leaves—to the European Birch. They are, however, true 
Beeches, and belong to the genus Fagus. There are four 
species known here; they are particularly common in (though 
not confined to) the western half of the South Island and the 
mountainous parts of the Nerth Island. The flowers are 
monoecious, and the catkins, which are so characteristic of all 
plants of this type, are in them reduced to one, two, or at 
the most four flowers. Each ¢ flower has a cup-like perianth 
Fig. 161. ¢ flower of Fagus Fig. 162. Fruiting involucre of 
menziesiz (mag.). Fagus menziesvi (mag.). 
with 5 or 6 lobes, enclosing from 8 to 12 free stamens. Hach 
9 flower consists of an ovary enclosed in an urceolate peri- 
anth, which is usually more or less distinctly 6-lobed, and two 
or three of these are enclosed in an outer involucre consisting 
of 4 bracts. Each ovary is 3-celled, and furnished above with 
3 linear styles, while 1 (or 2) pendulous ovules are present in 
