Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-05-23
FLOWERS OF THE FOREST TREES.


forms Of field and forest is perhaps at first more
Interested In the humber. though it NAV be
more consplcuously Towering plants. and dis
posed to put aside the study OF the forest trees
until he becomes familiar with some of these;
but II he is then led to examine the trees he
finds them not less interesting, and any one
"who In the love of nature holds
Communion with her visible FORMS"
viii, think, be impressed If his attention be
turned in this direction by the beauty Of many
OF the forest trees when decked with their nu-
merOus flower clusters i'm spring or early sum-
mer, even IL lie has not the interest OF the bo-
tanst In studying the details and classfc alton
of the species.
AtypRal lower, 1t Is to be remembered. con-
slsts of stamens and pistils. the inner essential
organs, and calyx and eOrolla the outer pro-
tecting organs. The flowers of the trees it is
proposed to consider are. however, generally
simplifed by the suppression of one or more of
these organs; in which case they are frequently
borne in catkns. Thus while the snow still
fingers on the ground and the winds of early
March whistle overhead, certain willows, in this
case perhaps shrubs rather than trees NAV be
seen developing from their buds numerous cylln-
drical bodies covered with dOwn-the pussy
Willows of the children-and If these bodies be
noticed later they will be seen to have taken on
q bright golden hue. On examination we find
that they now have numerous stamens protrud-
Ing from the down. the pollen cells at whose eX-
tremites impart the Characteristic color to the
catkin- No calyX, cOrOa or plstils will be
found. nor shall We find any of these organs on
any part Of our willow; but as there could be
no seeds produced if there were pistis, we
are led to look farther for the pstis of our
willow. In the shrubbery in the vicinity of the
willow bearing the brilliant golden catklns
there will very likely be another resembling the
first In aspect. except that in place of the bright
catkins there will be Others less conspicuous.
and bearing pstils instead Of stamens; that is
tlI.Nx. Il..fE,
one individual bearing the stamens and another
the pistils. clump of willows with thin
leafiess branches thickly covered with bright
yellow catkins. while the forests are still bare
and hardly any of the herbaceous plants have
put forth their flowers, is an exceedingly pleas
Ing forerunner of the tram of blossoms which
the season will bring. The aspens. or pOplars
belong to the same family as the willows. OF
these there are two species common i'm our New
England wOOds-the American aspen (POputss
benautOides). and the large-toOthed aspen (POpu-
has grdndide,ttatd)- These closely resemble each
other, but may be distinguished by their leaves.
those of the former having small regular teeth
while those ofthe latter have teeth that are large
and irregulary sinuate 1t is this latter tree that
bears the young leaves densely covered with
white wool. which at the commencement of
summer look like snow upon the hills. The as
pens bear their stamens and pistils on separate
individuals. like the willows; but their catkins,
though at first short and thick, the sterile with
stamens of deep red color become afterward
long and dropping and being sometimes several
inches IN length, are often very cons picuOus. az
they hang thickly from the branches before or at
the appearance of the leaves At about the
commencement OF summer the aSpens aud will
lows discharge their seeds. These are furnished
with long, silky down; which facilitates their
dispersion by the winds. We have seen willows
to whose catkins. the seeds were being scat
tered. this down gave the appearance of large
white blossoms. so abundant was it.
BlrcheS and alderS are mOlRciOuS or I'm other
words. have their pistate and staminate flowers
On the same individual. The white birch (Betta
aba is a slender. graceful tree common i'm the
parts of New England near the coast and as far
south as Pennsylvania. and having triangular
very taper pointed leaves From its white bark
1t is probably often cOnfOunded with the paper
CT canoe birch (BetuId pdpyracea). a much larger
tree, with Ovate leaves. Let us take this tree
as an illustration of the Towering Ofthe b:rches
One who is passing through growth of white
birches in the early part of winter will very
likely see numerous little brown cylinders about
an inch In length pendant from the branches II
one OF these be grasped i'm the hand it falls to
pieces, and the hand is filled with numerous
little scales. among which may be found many
small winged fruits. The pendants on the trees
are. then. the fertile catkins with the ripeued
seeds Through the winter the scales
will gradually fall from the slender
axes OF the catkins. and the seeds. or more
properly winged fruits ineiOsng the seeds will
be widely distributed by the winds. By visiting
IN Isolated white birch Just after snow storm
which has been followed by a strong wind, one
may see the great distance to which the innu-
meTabe light seeds are carried. Besides these
critic eatkins it is probable that the trees during
The winter will have many slender bodies at the
eXtrenilties OF the last seasons growth. To see
what these are we should visit the trees again at
about the time of the appearance of the leaves
We should then find that they had deyelODed
INTO long catkins strung with yellow staminate
howers- birch tree with Its numerous golden
tassels amid the just developing bright green
leaves Is OF great beauty. But We must not over
look the minute fertile catkins Just brought forth
at the eXtre!nities of very short branches of the
season. These viii slowly grow through the sum-
mer, while the sterile catkfns soon discharge
their pollen and fall from the trees, and In the
course OF the season new ones may be formed,
and by winter the birches be as first seen Be-
sides the white-stemmed birches two other trees
OF this genus are common In our northern
woods. the black or cherry birch (BettJa Les,td),
and the yellow or gray birch (Betula lttea). Ali
Dear their flowers in manner similar to that OF
the white birch. differing somewhat i'm the size
and shape OF their catkins. The fertile catkins
OF the two species last mentioned instead of
being cylindrical. resemble small cones, those of
the yellow birch being about an inch long The
Aders belong to the birch family, but those
which grow so abundanty in our swamps and
along the water courses Atnus incdna) bear
their stamens and pstis in catkns of which
Doth sorts were formed the foregoing summer,
ssht VApbuucu III tdlIy spring. W no mas NOT
seen the fertile catkins. persisting, woody, and
coHe-!ike, on the shrubs?
Other mOnGcious trees are the butternuts
blossOming in May or June. These have large
anu long green staminate catkins; but the fer
Tile flowers are not in catkinS. but SOLITARY or
few together. at the ends Ofthe branches. Each
consists OF caiyX. some very small petals and
plstil that with the adnate calyx NAV he recOg-
niZed as an embryo butternut though it has
now TWO reddish stigmas at its apex nearly as
large as Itself. Then there are the hickores and
the chestnuts. both of which are also monu-
eious, with only the staminate flowers In cat
klns. There are few who live i'm the country
that have not seen the prickly burrs that guard
the chestnuts; but not so many are familiar
with the great cord-like staminate catkins that
hang from the trees in summer. On the beech
the staminate flowers are In heads each Of which
has very slender stalk
Among the first signs of returning spring Ia a
Milling out of the spray on the elms. ''See how
The leaves are coming out on the elms.' Is the
remark heard on those first delicious DAYS that
succeed the departing winter But. in truth, no
leaves are yet to be seen upon the ems; the
trees are bossOming; nor will the leaves be
likely to come for several weeks. So high are
most OF the flowers however that they can not
be distinguished from leaves; but it may be seen
hat tNxN x.x..tAn