FIELD FOREST- WAYS I DE- FLOWERS ey BY *-^> MAUD GOING UC-NRLF B 3 T05 103 THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers (Botncj WITH THE WILD FLOWERS. FROM PUSSY- WILLOW TO THISTLE-DOWN. A Rural Chron- icle of our Flower Friends and Foes, describ- ing them under their Familiar English Names. i6mo, cloth, illustrated .... $ t.oo FIELD, FOREST, AND WAYSIDE FLOW- ERS. WITH CHAPTERS ON GRASSES, SEDGES, AND FERNS. Untechnical Studies for Un- learned Lovers of Nature. Crown 8vo, cloth, illustrated $1.50 THE BAKER AND TAYLOR COMPANY Publishers, 5 and 7 East Sixteenth Street, New York MAY-APPLE (Podophyllum pellatum}. (See p. 56^ Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers With Chapters on Grasses, Sedges and Ferns Untechnical Studies for Unlearned Lovers oj Nature BY MAUD GOING (E. M. HARDINGE) Hlttftrsttlf fn part tottfj Dratoincjs from i>2? S. ©f. porter anli >. Utitrolii NEW YORK THE BAKER AND TAYLOR COMPANY 5 AND 7 EAST SIXTEENTH STREET Copyright, 1899, by THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO. ROBERT ORUMMOND. PRINTER, NEW YORK. Foreword THE chapters of this book are so arranged as to follow the waxing and waning of plant-life during an average season in the northeastern United States. By this plan a few repetitions have been abso- lutely unavoidable, and for these the author apolo- gizes to the — she hopes — " gentle" reader. The only other arrangement possible would have been a systematic one, adopting the most recent views as to the relationship and development of plant- families. I hardly had courage for such an enter- prise as this, and moreover the thing has been done so fully, so ably, and so recently, that the student who seeks a systematic botany will find his wants already amply supplied. This book is written more especially for people who have not time, or, perhaps, inclination, to become actual students, who have not familiarized themselves with botanic nomenclature and tech- nial terms, and who yet love to observe the beau- ties and the wonders of familiar plant-life. M348131 viii Foreword " A little learning is a dangerous thing," was written before the days of Nature-study. In that domain " a little learning," provided always that it be accurate as far as it goes, is a stimulus to much interesting work, opens the eyes to many beauties, and proves an every-day delight ; for what one finds in the fields depends largely upon what one takes into them, and in field and forest, as elsewhere, " the eye sees that which it brings with it the power of seeing." The young hero of an old Geiman fairy-tale wandered far and wide, seeking the key-flower which he had seen in dreams, and which was to open for him a treasure-house of riches. And when he returned from his long and fruitless quest he found the magic blossom blowing at the thresh- old of his door. Perhaps this means that we shall find our purest joys, after all, in the simple things which are in reach of most of us — such as the love of kindred, the friendship of books, and the companionship of Nature, which, constant through all changes, ever shows us the same winsome face. My sincere thanks are due to the publishers of the "Popular Science Monthly," the New York " Evening Post," " Arthur's Home Magazine," Foreword ix and " Merry Times," for permission to issue, in their present guise, such portions of this book as have appeared in their respective publications. M. G. Contents CHAPTER I. CROCUSES 17 CHAPTER II. DANDELIONS 36 CHAPTER III. IN APRIL WEATHER 49 CHAPTER IV. THE FLOWERING OF THE FOREST-TREES 64 CHAPTER V. GREEN LEAVES AT WORK 87 CHAPTER VI. LILY-KIN AND ROSE-KIN , n6 CHAPTER VII. GRASSES T4Q CHAPTER VIII. RUSHES AND SEDGES !77 CHAPTER IX. NIGHT FLOWERS I99 CHAPTER X. CLIMBING PLANTS. . xii Contents CHAPTER XI. THE SPORING OF THE FERN 246 CHAPTER XII. THE SENIORS OF THE FOREST 268 CHAPTER XIII. DOGBANE AND MILKWEED 300 CHAPTER XIV. THISTLES AND NETTLES 317 CHAPTER XV. A HANDFUL OF WEEDS 347 CHAPTER XVI. THE SLEEPING OF THE FIELDS 363 CHAPTER XVIT. MARTINMAS SUMMER.... 373 CHAPTER XVIII. IN WINTER WOODS. , 384 List of Illustrations Frontispiece, May-apple (Podophyllum peltatuni). FIG. PAGE i. Golden crocus (Crocus aurens), with analysis of the flower 20 2a. Calyces of differing forms, Fox-glove, aconite, fuchsia, valerian, flax, and loose-strife — 21 zb. Corollas of various form. Tobacco-plant, lilac, sage, arbutus, pea, convolvulus, pink, and geranium 23 3a. A pollen grain of the melon (much magnified) 24 3^. Pollen grains of the European hazel (Corylus Avellana) putting forth their pollen tubes v . . . 26 4. Florets and fruits of the dandelion 41 5. Some altered calyces of composite flowers. Groundsel calyx altered into down. Bur marigold calyx altered into prongs. Orange hawk-weed calyx altered into bristles (all magnified) 46 6. Fruit of the elm 50 7. (a) Sleeping and (b) expanding buds of the horse-chest- nut 55 8. Apple twig showing old bud-scale marks 58 9. Blossoms of the butternut 67 10. Blossoms of the oak (a) pistillate, (b) staminate 70 11. Details of the blossoming butternut, (a) A cluster of pistillate flowers, (d) one stamen bearing scale de- tached from the staminate flower-chain, (c) a single stamen 72 12. Buds of the ash 76 13. Perfect (a) staminate (t>) and pistillate (c) flowers of the European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) 77 14. Young horse-chestnut bur and young acorns 83 15. Twinned fruit of the maple 85 16. Magnified section of the green tissue of a leaf go xiii xiv List of Illustrations FIG. PAGE 17. Some common fresh-water algae; (a) zygnema; (b) mon- geotia; (<•) spirogyra (much magnified) 95 1 8. Pine-sap (Monotrapa hypopitys] 99 19. Starch grains of the potato (a) and of wheat (b) 104 20. Epidermal cell and one stoma of a fern (much magnified) 107 21. Stoma of a cycas (much magnified) 108 22. Four natives of South Africa : i. A South African groundsel; 2, a typical cactus; 3, a sponge; 4, a milkweed in 23. A climbing spray of the pea 114 24. Parallel-veined leaves of the Indian shot 122 25. Net-veined leaves of the lime tree 124 26. Blade-like leaves of the Iris with clasping bases 125 27. Crosswise section of a Palmetto trunk 127 28. Crosswise section of the trunk of a young oak tree showing growth rings 135 29. Wild roses 137 30. A lily-flower 140 31. Seed-vessel of the tulip 140 32. Sweet-flag (Acorus Calamus) 141 33. A single floret of the sweet-flag (magnified) 144 34. June aspect of the cat-tail flags 145 35. Single florets of the cat-tail flag (magnified) 147 36. Some familiar grasses 1 50 37. " Marram grass," " beach grass " or " sea-sand " reed (Ammophila arundinacea of Gray} 152 38. Stems of the rye, showing the knots or nodes 158 39. Ligula of millet-grass 161 40. Oats and yarrow with analyses of their flowers 163 41. Single flower of a grass (magnified) 167 42. Caryopsis of the wheat (magnified) 168 43. Sand-bur grass (Cenchrus tribuloides] 170 44. Squirrel-tail grass (Hordeum jubatuni} 171 45. Common reed (Phragmites communis) 174 46. Five familiar water-rushes 178 47. A wood-rush (Lazula campestris) 180 48. Lengthwise section of the tubular leaf of a "knotty- leaved " rush (magnified). 182 49. Flower-cluster and flower analysis of a common water- rush {Juncus articulatus] 184 List of Illustrations xv FIG. PAGE 50. Rush seeds (much magnified) 186 51. Some New England sedges 189 52. From low-lying fields " Wool-grass " and " Beak-rush," 192 53. A typical carex ( Carex hystricina) 195 54. Nocturnal guests of the honeysuckle {Sphinx ligustri and Sphinx convolvtili) 203 55. Pollen of the honeysuckle (magnified) 204 56. " Day " or " Japan " lilies (Funkia Japonicii) 205 57. Adam's Needle and Thread ( Yucca filamentosa} 209 58. A wild evening primrose (CEnothera biennis) 215 59. Jimson weed (Datura stramonium} 217 60. Nightly visitor to the jimson weed (Sphinx Carolina)... 218 61. Hedgebind weed (Convolvulus sepiuni) 219 62. Bouncing Bet (Saponaria offiicinalis') 223 63. Day lichnis or corn-cockle (Lychnis gitJiago) 226 64^;. A flower-clock (morning) 228 64^. A flower-clock (afternoon and evening) 229 65. English ivy (Pledera helix) ... 234 66. Bind weed and hop-vine 238 67. Scaling hooks of the Virginia creeper (Ampefapsis quinquefolia} and of the wild clematis (Clematis Virginiana) ... 241 68. Prothallus of a Southern fern (Petris serrulata) 251 69. Antherozoids of Pteris serrulata (much magnified 253 70. Young archegonium of a garden maiden-hair (Adi- antum cuneatum} (much magnified) 255 71. " Male-fern " (Aspidiiirn felix maas) 260 72. Opening sporangium of a Florida fern (Pteris creticd). . 262 73. Vegetative and spore-bearing fronds of the sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis) 263 74. Spores of a club-moss (Lycopodium complanatum) (mag- nified) 267 75. A seedling pine 271 76. Leaf-cluster and bud-scales of the white-pine (Pinus strobus) 275 77. A spray of the balsam-fir (Abies balsamea) 277 78. Crosswise section of the trunk of a fir-tree showing growth-rings 281 79. Tracheids of the fir-tree 284 80. Winged pollen of the fir (much magnified) 287 xvi List of Illustrations FIG. PAGE 81. Flowers of the Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris). 288 82. A large (" macro ") and two small (" micro") spores of Selaginella martensi (much magnified) 291 83. Young carpel, mature carpel, and part of a mature cone of the silver fir (Abies pectinata} 297 84. Spreading dogbane (Apocynum androscemi folium} 301 85. Trap of the spreading dogbane (magnified) 305 86. Common milk-weed (Asclepias cornuti} 307 87. Trop of the milk-weed (magnified) 310 88. A dogbane flower and its captive 315 89. Nettle and Canada thistle (Urtica dioica and Cnicus arvensis} 318 90. Burdock (Arctium Lappa} 321 91. Common wild teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris) 324 92. Irish gorse, furze or whin (Ulex Europceus} 327 93. Single blossoms of the nettle 331 94. Common thistle (Cnicus lanceolatus} 334 95. White clover blossoms gathered in latter summer 340 96. Pasture thistles ( Cnicus pumilis} 343 97. Amaranth and sow-thistle {Amaranttis retroflexus and Sonchus asper} 348 98. " Ribwort " (Plantago major} and " ripple grass " (Plan- tago lanceolata} 358 ; gga. Cork cells from the leaf scar of the horse-chestnut (much magnified) 365 99^. Leaf scar of the horse-chestnut (magnified) 369 100. Witch hazel (Hamamelis Virginica} 374 101. Lengthwise section of a root-tip showing root hairs (much magnified) 391 102. Branches of the alder and of the poplar-leaved birch showing numerous lenticels 393 And 'tis my faith that every flower Enjoys the air it breathes." WORDSWORTH. FIELD, FOREST, AND WAYSIDE FLOWERS CHAPTER I CROCUSES "As sweet desire of day before the day, As dreams of love before the true love born, From the outer edge of winter over-worn, The ghost arisen of May before the May Takes through dim air her unawakened way." — Swinburne. IT seems, at first, an inconsistency that so many of the monastic communities of old should have owned and tended gardens. A garden : — the word suggests roses and honeysuckles, early peas and lus- cious strawberries, summer days passed amid fair surroundings, whatsoever is most opposite to the unbeautified life, meagre fare, and narrow cell of the ascetic. Even if the gardens grew only bitter herbs for fast-day pottages the south wind wafted perfumes over them, the butterflies danced in them, and the birds sang in them joyous strains, likely to lead 17 1 8 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers the listener's thoughts far away from sin, death, and judgment. Only experience teaches what, it seems, the early fathers of the church well knew, that tending gar- den is at once a school and a test for all the great Christian virtues. In hope one lays out hard-earned dollars for seeds, roots, tools, fertilizers, re-enforcements to the fence, and wages of a man to " spade up." Faith in Nature and in the florist's integrity is sorely needed when, day after day, the beds show only a few sticks, upholding scraps of paper seed- bags, and marking the locations of hoped-for crops. And charity towards that florist is severely tested when those crops fail to appear for all the wooing of the south wind — and we begin to sus- pect him of foisting off superannuated seeds upon our guileless simplicity. But the gardener might as well be charitable with a good grace, for he must be charitable whether or no. The result of the sweat of his brow and the emptying of his pocketbook is shared with all creation. He is almoner to countless creatures which give him no gratitude. The moles and slugs nibble his vegetables. The Crocuses 19 birds sample his fruit, and a host of bees, moths, beetles, and butterflies share his pleasure in his flowers. These insect visitors, however, are respectable wage-workers. It would be unjust to call them pensioners of the garden, for the flowers would be as ill off without them as they without the flowers, and next year's borders will be all the brighter and sweeter, thanks to this year's butterflies and bees. The few glimpses of sunshine which this March day vouchsafes us have already tempted out an enterprising bee. Her contented droning comes from the cup of an equally enterprising yellow crocus (Fig. i) — to her a pavilion of gold wherein is spread a feast of nectar fit for the gods. Six yellow leaves, joined at their bases and separate above, form the dainty cup of the crocus- flower. Three of these are generally somewhat larger than the rest, and in -the bud they enfolded the smaller trio within them. The larger and outer leaves are the " calyx" of the crocus-blossom and the inner and smaller ones are its " corolla." But the calyx now in question is exceptionally big and beautiful. 20 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers FIG. I. — Golden crocus (Crocus aureus). (From Curtis' Botanical Magazine?) the blossom split lengthwise ; <5, one stamen ; c, the pistil. Crocuses 21 That of most flowers is a modest affair (Fig. 20), composed of tiny green leaves, or sepals, which Valerian. Flax. Loosestrife. FIG. 2a. — Calyces of differing forms. (From the Vegetable World.) are quite eclipsed by the superior size and bril- liancy of the petals or flower-leaves within them (Fig. 2b). 22 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers In this crocus, however, the sepals not only rival the petals, but outdo them in prettiness. Within the flower's chalice are three stalks, each topped with a long, golden head. These are the stamens. The long heads are powder-boxes, and the yel- low dust which they contain has a power as won- derful as that of any fairy's wand. At the very heart of the crocus is a column, tall and erect, surmounted by a fluted capital tipped with gold. This is the pistil. Its duty, in the floral division of labor, is to form, protect, and, in due time, distribute the young seed. In its lower part, at flowering time, we will find a number of tiny green bodies destined to become seeds, if all goes well. This crocus has just unfolded, and the baby seeds within its pistil are not quickened yet. They may never live at all, but wither with the perishing flower, and thus die before they are really born. Life can be given to them only by the magic powder which the stamens contain. In the older works on botany this powder is called " pollen," but the most recent books on the wonders of plant-life give it a name more pon- derous and technical, but well worth remembering, Crocuses Pink. Geranium. FIG 2b— Corollas of various forms. (From the Vegetable World.} 24 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers because whoever invented it had in mind the re- lationship which binds together all plants, from the humblest to the highest. So in the "up-to-date" writings on flower-lore these little grains — brown or golden — are called " microspores. " Each microspore is a simple cell, — a little bag, — generally lined with a delicate membrane, and always filled with a colorless jelly. Under a powerful microscope the microspores of many flowers look as if they had been daintily carved, like the beads of a rosary. On the surfaces of very many of them there are tiny holes, or slits, or little lids, which fall off readily (Fig. 3^) and expose the delicate lining mem- brane. The boxes, or " anthers," which FIG. 3#. — A pollen- grain of the melon, hold the microspores of the crocus (From the Vegetable split open as soon as the bud expands and shed their golden store. The bee, blundering about inside the flower, gets herself well sprinkled, and, when she flies off, with powdered body, to find and visit another courageous crocus, she will be almost certain to rub off a few yellow grains upon the tip of its pistil. Crocuses 25 This spot, — the stigmatic surface, — is the goal of the microspores. It is very various in its ap- pearance in different flowers. Sometimes it is a little knob, sometimes a small point, sometimes, as in this crocus, it spreads into many rays like a star. In many flowers it is covered with short hairs, or with minute knobs, among which pollen- grains may be caught and held fast. In the orchids it is just a little surface of bare tissue. But, whatever is its outward semblance, Nature has prepared it to receive pollen by moistening it with a sugary fluid, so that any grains which touch it may adhere, and may germinate upon it. Directly a speck of the life-giving dust settles down on the stigmatic surface it begins to do its appointed work there. In most instances the thin inner coat of the little bag swells up at one place into a hump, which thrusts itself through one of the holes in the outer case, or pushes off one of the lids, or, it may be, forces its way outward through a thin spot (Fig. 3$). The hump grows bigger, becoming a sac, and, at last, a tube, which, in some flowers, attains a length of several inches. This tube grows downward into the sub- stance of the pistil, much as a strong rootlet burrows into rich light soil. 26 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers All is ready for its reception. The part of the pistil which it must penetrate is never filled with anything more substantial than a loose mass of large cells, called " conducting tissue," and, in some FIG. 3<£. — Pollen-grains of the European hazel or filbert (Corylus Avellana) putting forth their pollen-tubes. few species of blossom, it is empty. So in due time the end of the pollen-tube reaches one of the baby seeds in the pistil's base, and enters it by a minute orifice in the seed-coat. Crocuses 27 Inside the baby seed is another little globe or sac filled with colorless jelly — the " macrospore " or embryo-sac. The pollen-tube pushes its way downward till it touches and pierces this little globe. Then part of the drop of jelly which has filled the pollen-grain or microspore enters the macrospore and fuses with its jelly, and when this union takes place the purpose for which the blos- som blew has been achieved. From the fusion of microspore and macrospore comes life, or rather the possibility of life, for from their united sub- stance Nature begins to mould and build a tiny plant within the young seed. The time which elapses between the first touch of the microspore upon the stigmatic surface and the quickening of the seed that is to be, varies greatly in flowers of different species. The pollen- tube of the crocus takes from one to three days in finding its way to the macrospore. But this is not because the crocus pistil is long, for in the great night-blooming cereus, which has a pistil nine inches in length, the pollen-tube penetrates to the macrospore in a few hours, while in some flowers, as in certain varieties of orchid, weeks elapse while the tube is descending a very short distance. Each macrospore can be vitalized by the con- 28 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers tents of one single tube, so but one microspore is necessary to the development of a seed. But Nature provides the golden dust in lavish profusion. It has been estimated that twenty thousand grains are contained in one single stamen of a peony, and some stamens yield the vitalizing powder in even greater abundance. This is because Nature must provide microspores enough to meet the needs of all the macrospores in all the flowers that blow, after an enormous amount of the precious powder has been wasted. Some blows away, some is washed earthward by rain or dew, some is eaten by ants and other crawling intruders, much is gathered by the bees,* to be made into *' bee-bread," and many grains are dropped by flying insects, before the pistil of a sister blossom has been reached. The use of pollen in the floral economy was suspected, — at least in the case of certain blos- soms,— even in classic times. And the fact that the pollen-grain must give of its substance to the pistil before the seed can be vitalized has been known for two centuries. But only in recent times have Nature-students made a discovery which casts a flood of light upon the mysteries of the flowers, — and it is this: The macrospore in Crocuses 29 most cases' is vitalized not by the pollen of the flower in which it is formed, but by the pollen from some other flower of the same species. And even those flowers which can make shift to get along with home-made pollen achieve better results with the imported article. Thus the pistil of the crocus will form larger and stronger seeds if it can get pollen from a sister blossom, or, better still, from another crocus plant altogether. So the flowers wish to send the yellow powder about, from one to another, for their mutual benefit, and the bee behaves as if she had been taken into their confidence. She has flown out of our yellow crocus now, as dusty as a miller, and has gone droning into another one, which is growing on the opposite side of the garden walk. As she reaches down into the bottom of its chalice, for the sweets she hopes to find there, some grains of the pollen she has brought in with her will be rubbed off her velvet jacket onto the waiting pistil. Crocus number two accepts this unintentional donation with pleasure, pays for it with a drop of nectar, and gives also a sprinkling of pollen from her own stamens. The bee, carrying the powdered gold which has just been bestowed upon her, flies 30 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers off to make a call upon a third crocus, and when she departs she leaves some of her dusty load behind her, as a souvenir of her visit. So each crocus " sets " its seed by aid of pollen brought from another flower. Each flower has gratified its preference for yellow dust of foreign manufacture, and has received enough of the imported article for her dainty uses, and each has sent the pollen of her own making to the exact spot " where it will do the most good." The bee meantime has been entertained everywhere with pretty shows and luxurious fare, and she is another well-satisfied member of the mutual benefit society. Bees are by no means the only pollen-carriers employed by flowers. A large number of blossoms entrust their fate, or rather the fate of their posterity, to the mercy of the wind. Others, which grow and blow in ponds or streams, confide their pollen messages to the water. Flowers which conduct their affairs after these methods need be at no special pains to please the insects, whose services they neither ask nor need. So "wind-fertilized" and "water- fertilized" blossoms have not bright colors, nor fragrance, nor nectar. But, on the other hand, they must produce enormous quantities of pollen to Crocuses 3 i ensure enough for Nature's needs, after a large proportion has been blown or washed away. The wind-fertilized flowers of the poplar shed so much pollen that it may be seen, on breezy spring days, blowing from the branches in light clouds. And at one time in the summer the floating pollen of the eel-grass, and of some other pond weeds, is spread in sheets over the surface of still water. It has been shed by those aquatic flowers which blow at the surface of the water. There are other aquatic blossoms which expand beneath the sur- face. Their pollen grains are of much the same weight, bulk for bulk, as the surrounding water, so that they will neither float nor sink, but will remain poised at about the level of the flower they seek. And the individual pollen grains of such blossoms are often long and narrow in form, so that they cut their way through the water, as does a modern ocean greyhound. Wind-fertilized flowers are adapted in various ways to their chosen assistants, the breezes. They have, for the most part, enormously developed stigmas, which project in the form of tails or brushes. The pollen of such flowers is light and dry, that it may blow easily, and the brush-like stigmas are covered with points or hairs which catch it as it flies past. 32 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers But the pollen grains which are to be entrusted to insect messengers are often sticky or roughened all over with little points, so that they catch on the hairy bodies of their winged porters, and cling. The interdependence between flowers and their guests has lasted for so many generations, that certain insects have modified their chosen blossoms somewhat, and the flowers, in their turn, have modified their messengers. Thus there have come so be hereditary friendships in the outdoor world, to strong and so enduring that Delphino, who gave the subject much study, has made a rough classification in which flowering plants are graded "according to the company they keep." His "first class" are adapted for the larger bees. They have diurnal flowers, with colors and scents attractive to man also. Flowers of the second class are the particular friends of the lesser bees, though they also show hospitality to many other small insects. " These flowers," says Delphino, rather disparagingly, " have quite incomprehensible attractions for their visitors." The third class comprises the big-fly flowers0 These are often in dull shades of yellow and red, and exhale an odor disagreeable to man and to bees. Crocuses 33 Another category of flowers are adapted for fertilization by smaller flies and lay wait for these foolish visitors with traps and snares, as does our familiar " Jack-in-the- Pulpit.'* There are a few native plants which use carrion and dung-flies as their messengers. The carrion- flower of New England thickets is one of these. They have a putrid smell, often very strong, and dull-colored or greenish blossoms. Delphino's sixth class includes those plants which seek to snare the fancy and secure the services of beetles. These have large diurnal blossoms with striking colors, very abundant pollen, and nectar so placed that it is within easy reach. Among these beetle-flowers is the magnolia. Next come the butterfly-flowers, with bright corollas, and with their nectar concealed at the base of a tube so long and narrow that only their chosen guests can reach and sip it. And in the eighth class Delphino places those flowers which seek to please twilight and nocturnal moths. Some plants have become so dependent on the ministrations of insects that they are no longer able to set seed by aid of their own pollen. It lies upon the pistil as powerless to awaken life as if it were mere roadside dust. Some of the 34 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers orchids go even further in their repudiation of the pollen which they themselves have produced. The pistil seems poisoned by it, and withers at its touch. Many flowers have special devices for securing pollen from other blossoms and for avoiding the use of their own. In a number of species the stamens ripen, open, and shed their store, while the pistil is yet too young to make use of any pollen grains it may receive. Then when the pistil is old enough to commence business, and asks for gold, the sur- rounding stamens are a bankrupt community, with none left to give. But " all things come at last to one who knows how to wait." Pollen will be wafted to the pistil by a summer breeze, or car- ried to it by a winged messenger — beetle, fly, wasp, moth, butterfly, humming-bird, or bee. But it will be pollen from another flower, and that is exactly what wise Mother Nature has been plan- ning from the first. So the insects which flit through our gardens are combining business with pleasure and doing im- portant errands for the flowers. The flowers vie for their attentions with charming toilettes, and pay for their services with free lunches. Crocuses 35 The iris, geranium, gladiolus, and salvia, which make their debut later in spring when there are many beauties in the field, must be gay if they would be observed. They must appear in cos- tumes which " shout," as the French say. But the crocus has not needed a bewilderingly splendid dress in order to secure attention, because she has scarcely a rival thus early in the season, and it is rather Hobson's choice with the bee. Thus there is scarcely a single brilliant or con- spicuous blossom among all the first begotten of the spring. The early wild flowers which we find in sheltered sunny hollows are white, or pale-yel- low, or lilac, or delicate sea-shell pink. The spurred columbines, in their brilliant uniforms of red and gold, will not appear upon the rocks till May. They have but coward hearts, for all their martial colors, and dare not come out so long as Jack Frost and the North Wind prowl abroad. But the Joans of Arc among the flowers, which lead summer's hosts and brave winter's last des- perate onslaughts, look as tender and demure as Priscilla "the Mayflower of Plymouth." CHAPTER II DANDELIONS Gold such as thine ne'er drew the Spanish prow Through the primeval hush of Indian seas, Nor wrinkled the lean brow Of age, to rob the lover's heart of ease. Tis the spring's largess, which she scatters now To rich and poor alike. — Lowell's lines "To a Dandelion" AMONG the works of man whatever is accu- rately planned and exquisitely made is costly, and therefore uncommon. We are apt to think that the same rule holds in Nature, and that it is only the rare things which are marvellous in design and in construction. But in Nature it is the com- monest things which are the most wonderfully made. They are common just because they are so nicely adapted to the conditions of their lives that they are able to starve down and crowd out rivals which are not so well equipped for the battle of existence. Hothouses and horticultural exhibitions can show nothing more wonderful than some vagabond and outcast weeds. A plant which 36 Dandelions 37 has been fighting the gardeners for many genera- tions has naturally developed more fertility of re- source than has its aristocratic relation which the gardeners cosset and coddle. The gamin of the slums can take care of himself and of his little sister, too, at an age when a rich man's son would not be trusted out of his nurse's sight. The dandelion is a gamin of the fields, sunny- faced, uncared for, and getting but a rough life of it amid cold spring rains and east winds. Like the human gamin it must look out for number one in adverse circumstances, and therefore Mother Nature expended much ingenuity on the outfit of this humble plant before she sent it forth into a hostile world. The dandelion gets its name not from the golden blossom, with its sweet promise of spring's return, but from the foliage. The word is a cor- ruption of the French dent de lion (lion's tooth), and refers to the jagged edges of the leaves. Taraxicum is the plant's botanic cognomen, and the nauseous medicine of the same name is ex- tracted from the root. The same bitter principle is in leaves and stalks, but our Irish citizens extract the nauseous taste by long, gentle boiling, and make of dandelion leaves a wholesome and 38 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers not unpalatable spinach. It is not an uncommon sight in spring to see some native of green Erin equipped with a bag or basket and a big knife, gathering tender dandelion tops, destined to fur- nish forth the frugal dinner. Our Hibernian friends thus circumvent Nature, and upset all her plans, for the dandelions were filled with bitter juice expressly in order that they should not be eaten. The precaution works well as far as gnawing rab- bits and moles or hungry caterpillars are con- cerned, for we never find dandelion roots bitten by rodents or tunnelled by grubs, and dandelion leaves are never eaten into holes such as disfigure the succulent foliage of the rose. Moreover, the plant enjoys this immunity just at a time when vegetable food is scarce, and the few plants which have ventured up are overwhelmed with attention from everything that is abroad, vegetarian and hungry. Man is the only animal who cooks his food, and owing to this accomplishment his bill of fare is far more extensive than that of his neighbors in feathers and fur, who take things as they find them. If we pick one of the golden dandelion flowers, we find that the stem is a hollow column, and this structure, as every engineer knows, combines Dandelions 39 the strictest economy of material with the utmost strength. This contrivance enables the stem to uphold the proportionately large and heavy flower, in spite of all the onslaughts of March winds. " Flower," we have said, but the dandelion is really a community of blossoms. It belongs to the order of Compositae, a large and mixed family, which numbers among its members such flower plebeians as the burdock, groundsel, and ragweed, and on the other hand includes that flower-aristo- crat, the dishevelled and expensive chrysanthemum. For all these flowers have this peculiarity — that what looks like one blossom proves on examina- tion to be a whole floral mass-meeting. They furnish an object-lesson on the evils of "individualism," and on the advantages to be gained by cooperation. The single flowers of the dandelion are not larger around than small pins. If each were anti-social, and grew upon an inde- pendent stalk, in lonely dignity, they would attract no attention from the passing insect. But the yellow florets do not mean to be neglected, so they crowd compactly together, and by joining decorative forces they make quite a brave show in the (as yet) colorless world. There are from one to two hundred tiny blossoms in a single 4o Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers dandelion. Each is like a slender, hollow staff of silver, surmounted by a little flag of gold. The yellow banner finishes in a row of neat little scallops, and from this decoration we can infer a chapter in the flower's history. Once upon a time the tiny blossom was com- posed of five leaves or petals, one for each of these scallops. After a while, for good and suffi- cient reasons doubtless, the little leaves combined into a tube, marked with five seams, or lines of union. Later still it was found that the blos- som's purposes would be better furthered if the tube were split open. So it has altered itself into a little flag, which answers somewhat the same purpose as does the red banner of the auctioneer. It advises the passing insect that certain goods can be obtained here in exchange for value re- ceived. Inside the floret stands a close ring of stamens with their heads or anthers united so as to form a long, narrow tube. The anthers open towards the centre of the flower, so that this tube is soon filled with pollen. The pistil matures a little later than the stamens do-. It is long and narrow, and is divided at its summit into two arms, which at first are raised upright and closely pressed together (Fig. 4). In Dandelions FIG. 4. — Florets and fruits of the dandelion. 42 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers this position each little arm covers the sticky inner surface of the other, so that no grain of pollen can be dropped between them, and only these inner surfaces are receptive to the pollen's vitalizing touch. On the outer surface of the pistil, espe- cially towards its tip, are short, scattered hairs pointing upward. As the growth of the pistil carries it up through the anther- ring, these hairs collect the pollen which remains clinging to the outside of the pistil after its full growth is at- tained. Now the pistil projects far above the anther-ring and corolla, so that the pollen which covers its surface can scarcely fail to be brushed off upon the body of any visiting insect (Fig. 4, a). And the dandelion is a general favorite, almost certain of a run of company. The honey is very abundant, and rises high in the little tubes, and this feast is offered at a time when nectar is scarce in the chill and windy world. Ninety-three species of insect have been observed by Miiller paying their attentions to the dandelion. After a while, when most of the home-made pol- len has been carried away by insects the arms of the pistil bend downward, till they are in the position of the crosspieces of the letter T (Fig. 4, b\ Now their sticky or stigmatic surfaces are Dandelions 43 extended to touch the insect as he flits by, pollen freighted. But if no winged wayfarer comes along, the arms of the "pistil bend downward still further, and as the flower grows older they curl backward like the horns of a ram (Fig. 4, c). Coiled up in this way the sticky inner surface of each little arm is brought into contact at several points with its outer surface. And on the outer surface there will probably be pollen-grains brought from other florets by the same enterprising insects which carried off the golden store of this one. So the Dandelion pistils help to gather pollen for themselves, and can supplement the good offices of flies and bees. The very first dandelions are apt to appear in the bleak days of early spring, which are not tempting to insect-rovers, so that they may receive no visitors at all. In that case the little florets make shift to do without them. The arms of the pistil when they curve downward will come into contact with the sweeping hairs still covered with the pollen from the anther-tube. And this will be turned to account to meet the needs of the case, for the dandelion floret can, at a pinch, set its seed by means of its own pollen. Many flowers, especially many spring flowers, 44 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers droop, and thus save their treasures of pollen and honey from being injured by rain and dew. But the dandelion florets stare straight at the sky, and they come at a very rainy season. If Nature took no preventive measures, the gold and silver tubes would speedily resolve themselves into little water- jars; pollen and honey would be spoiled or washed away altogether, and the insect when he called would get nothing but disappointment. But the little blossoms are so constituted that during rainy weather and at night they close completely, and thus all their treasures are preserved. Before the dew begins to fall the dandelions in the grass seem to vanish. The florets in each yellow head are sleeping, and tucked into bed, too, for a ring of little leaves (botanists call it an involucre) which surrounds the mass of tiny blossoms has bent over so as to enclose and enfold them. The dandelions seem to have turned to buds again, and in their green outer covering they are undistinguishable from the surrounding grass and leaves. Their night's rest is a long one. They rarely awaken before seven o'clock, even on a sun- shiny morning, and they close about five in the evening. An involucre is present in all the members of Dandelions 45 the great composite family. It serves as a public calyx, rilling for the floral cooperative society many duties which are filled by the calyces of solitary blossoms. It shelters the florets in their infancy, it helps to guard their nectar from crawling thieves, and, in many species, it screens their pollen from the rain, and encloses and cradles them at night. The calyces thus " thrown out of their jobs," are placed in a position somewhat akin to that of a com- munity of work-people, whose many individual tasks have been taken up and synthetized by some piece of labor-saving machinery. They must learn some new way of making them- selves useful, or they will perish — following a gen- eral law of all disused organs. So throughout the great family of composite flowers we find the calyx of the floret so modi- fied as to help in the great work of plant dis- tribution (Fig. 5). In the bur-marigold it is con- verted into barbed prongs, which fasten onto the passer-by, and force him to aid the plans of the parent plant for placing its offspring in life. In the dandelion and in some of its cousins the calyx is so modified that by means of it the wind is forced to act as a sower. Below each dandelion 46 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers floret is a little oval, white body, which is the baby fruit, and around each floret a circle of silky hairs, the reminiscence of an ancestral calyx. After the yellow corolla has withered away, these hairs Groundsel calyx, altered into down. (From the Vegetable World) Bur-marigold calyx, Orange hawkweed altered into prongs. calyx, altered into (From Yearbook, bristles. (From Year- Department of book, Department of Agriculture, 1896.) Agriculture, 1896.) FIG. 5. — Some altered calyces of composite flowers. remain at the post of duty, for they have still a task to fulfil in the plant's economy. They are to aid the wind in distributing the little dry fruits — not seeds — which develop after the disappearance of the yellow florets. For the word "fruit" to the public at large suggests a juicy edible, with a rich or delicate color, and with, generally, a pleasant taste. But " fruit " to the botanist means whatever comes as the normal result of the fertilization of a flower. It may be a tiny brown object unadorned, desic- cated, and quite destitute of gastronomic interest. The little freights of the dandelion blow-aways, Dandelions 47 being each the developed and ripened seed-case or " ovary" of a fertilized floret, are fruits. The feathery balls of ripe dandelion fruits are frequently in requisition among children anxious 11 to find out what time it is." Hence it is, perhaps, that dandelions have been nicknamed " peasant's-clocks " and " blow-balls." The shaven and shorn aspect of the remnant, after the winged fruits have departed, has suggested two other local English names for the flower, "monk's-head" and " priest's-crown." The tip of each young fruit elongates into a slender beak, raising the tuft of hairs, which are laid together, side by side, like the ribs of a closed umbrella (Fig. 4, d). But when the fruit is ripe the hairs bend downward and assume the position of the ribs of an open umbrella (Fig. 4, e). Thus the fruits become provided with a silken parachute apiece, and are ready to fly on the wings of the wind and sow themselves far and wide. They will not drop beside the parent plant into soil which has been drained of the substances which are particularly necessary and wholesome to dan- delions. They will emigrate, flying on gauzy wings to " fresh woods and pastures new." Each fruit, let us notice, is roughened with little 48 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers thorny projections; so if the "blow-away" ends its flight against any moving object with a rough surface, the coat of an animal, for instance, or the clothing of a traveller, the attached fruit will catch and cling, and thus be carried still further from its starting point. These methods of pushing the family fortunes have proved so successful in the past that the dandelion is now distributed as a weed in all civilized parts of the world. So Nature has cared for the gamin of the fields. How could the queenliest orchid be better cared for by the most scientific gardener of them all ? CHAPTER III IN APRIL WEATHER There is no summer fulness in the winds, — Only the dreamy stirring of the dawn, — When sweet, ecstatic spring awakes and finds The winter gone. — C. B. Going. IN earlier April the country is apt to look as if spring had " struck" it in patches. As the sub- urban resident rides from home to business through field, orchard, and woodland, he sees here a pasture as green as it will be in June, with a group of willows or poplars already burgeoned out into spring decorations; there a patch of the later forest trees, as unawakened as they were in midwinter. The first evidence of awakening life, given by the woods and copses, is the appearance of the blossoms on the boughs. The tender foliage does not issue from the bud till later. For divers and sufficient reasons it is the habit of most trees to produce their flowers before their leaves, and the expanding buds of earliest spring are almost in- variably flower-buds. 49 50 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers The swamp or pussy-willow often blossoms in later March, braving high winds and leaden skies. The red maple and the poplar bloom at about the same time, and the sugar-maple a little later. By later April, in ordinary seasons, the young seeds of the poplar are formed, and dangle from the branches in long, green clusters, so many and so dense that they impart their color to the tree. The elms, too, finish flowering betimes, and cover themselves with young seed-pods, which hang in bunches from the boughs and twigs (Fig. 6). They are thin and flat and of a vivid, tender green, and will be mistaken by nine observers out of ten for expanding leaves. The real leaves meantime are finishing out their win- FIG. 6.— Fruit of the elm. ter's nap inside the leaf-buds, which (From the Vege- table World.) jM1 ,, ii 1 are still very small and show scarcely a tinge of green. In the country west of the Alleghanies the silver poplar or "abele" (Populus Alba) is one of the most familiar trees and one of the first to respond to the wooing of the south wind and the sun. Its flower-buds are covered with shining brown scales, which split apart, in latter March or early April, and show rifts of gleaming gray. In April Weather 5 1 After a few gentle showers and a few days of sunshine, these brown spring parcels open wide enough to show us what Mother Nature has been hiding there. And before one has realized what is happening some of the trees are covered with woolly dangles, soft and gray as goslings which have just chipped the shell. Looking closely at one of these we see that it is a close chain of scales, each clear and brown as a bit of tortoise- shell, and each bordered with a silvery fringe. Under each scale is a bunch of stamens which, when they first appear, are shrimp-pink, so that the whole dangle, closely examined, is a lovely harmony of soft color. But on the poplars which bear such catkins as these there are no pistils at all, and there will be no seeds later in the year. On other poplars, meantime, the pistil-bearing flower-buds, which hold the seed that is to be, are opening. Their contents are at first much less attractive to the eye than are the soft dangles of pink and silver which issue from the staminate buds. Each pistillate bud consists of about six brown scales, which presently separate, and let out into the April weather an humble green catkin about 52 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers half an inch long, composed of many hairy, green pistils, each partially covered with a scale. These scales, like those on the far prettier staminate catkin, are fringed with silky hairs, and have been making themselves very useful earlier in the season. Now they are separated by the lengthening of the catkin, but in the bud they lay so close together as to overlap, and their fringes made a soft, warm fur, which protected the young stamens or pistils from the frost. The pistillate tassels of the poplar grow in clusters, usually on the tips of the branches and twigs. In this position of vantage each green pistil waits for the breeze to bring it pollen from the catkins of the stamen-bearing trees. As soon as the vitalizing dust is received the pistils begin to grow. In a few days, if the weather is bright and breezy, the insignificance of their earliest youth is a thing of the past. The tassels lengthen, and become so vividly green that they are noticeable not only on the branches, but in the landscape. In the yet color- less world the trees stand forth clothed all in liv- ing green, as if they had burst into luxuriant leaf. But the leaves are still fast asleep, and tucked In April Weather 53 tightly away in little silvery buds. What appears to be foliage is innumerable seed-pods, hanging from the branches in countless chains. Later these pods will split open, and give to the spring breezes a great number of minute seeds, winged with cottony down. In localities where the white poplars abound, these seeds are sometimes shed in such numbers that they lie in sheltered places, blown into light heaps like the first snow before a November gale. The blossoms of the elm appear in great pro- fusion in latter March or early April. They grow huddled together in bunches, are of a delicate green, and are often mistaken for unfolding leaves. The buds whence they issue are dark-colored and large, and are scattered closely along the sides of the twigs, but seldom borne on the tips. Every one of these big buds is covered with a few brown scales, which separate in early spring, and let out into the sun ten or twelve slender stalks, each supporting a shallow green cup with a rim of golden-brown. Each cup is a flower, always pretty when one looks at it closely, and sometimes as perfect as the stateliest tulip. For it may con- tain from four to nine stamens, and in their midst a green, flat, heart-shaped pistil, forking into two 54 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers feathery prongs. But almost every cluster contains some flowers which have no pistils at all — only stamens. These have no use for their pollen at home, and will send it all out into the world. Sir John Lubbock says it flies on the wings of the wind. Another excellent authority reckons the elm-blossom among honey-bearing flowers, and says its pollen travels on the bodies of early-roving flies and bees. Probably both authorities are right, and the habits of the trees are even now undergoing a change. It may be that the elms, which are gradually learning to bear stamens and pistils in separate flowers, are also, by slow degrees, dis- pensing with the services of that wasteful pollen- carrier, the wind, and learning to utilize those safer and surer messengers, flying insects. In some future day they may reach the condition of the red maples, which are almost wholly dependent upon insect ministrations. All the earliest tree-blossoms, poplar, swamp- willow, elm, and red maple, come out of buds which contain flowers only. On the trees which bear them are other buds from which the foliage expands later. But some buds contain both foliage and flowers. The great horse-chestnut buds, those In April Weather 55 of the pear-tree, and those of the buckeye, let out into the sun a whole cluster of leaves, surround- ing a pyramid or bunch of buds. Mother Nature's spring parcels are coming undone, and we see, with astonishment, how much they have held. Their open- ing is as surpris- ing as the un- packing of that hat from which a FIG. 7. — fa) Sleeping and (b] expanding buds of the horse-chestnut. (From the Vegetable World.) the conjurer draws enough articles to fill a Sara- toga trunk. The horse-chestnut buds, in latter March, are no bigger than thimbles, yet from 56 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers them issue in April weather four, or even six, broad, fan-like leaves, surrounding a cone-shaped cluster of flowers (Fig. 7). When the young leaves first begin to expand we can see the folding creases in them, and thus get an idea how they were packed into the very small spaces which they occupied all winter. We see that maple and currant leaves have been plaited like fans. Those of the cherry and oak have been folded lengthwise down the middle, so that their sides come together like the covers of a closed book. The circular May-apple leaves (Frontis- piece) have been folded back against their stalks, like closed umbrellas, and will open just as umbrellas do. Plum-leaves have been rolled from one edge toward the other, as one rolls sheets of music. Some of the tender young leaves are clothed or surrounded with vegetable down. This is the blanketing which Nature provided to prevent them from being "winter-killed." The horse-chestnut leaves have been particularly well protected, and from seeing them so snugly wrapped we infer that this tree's ancestors lived in the north, where winters were long and severe. Its cousin, the buckeye, is a fair southerner, and the young buck- eye leaves are unprovided with coverings of vege- In April Weather 57 table wool, which, in a mild climate, are unneces- sary. But we must not infer that every unprotected bud found in northern woods is borne on a vege- table stray from a milder climate. A few northern plants have become so thoroughly case-hardened to winter and rough weather that they have dispensed with protective bud-wrappings. Like some intrepid folk of our acquaintance they get through the cold season without an overcoat, or independent of furs and flannels. The winter buds of the blackberry are protected only by a few thin scales, often too short to cover the tips of the young leaves within. Four, or at most six, soft scales have defended the elder leaves and the clustered blossom-buds from last winter's frost. The tender foliage of the " wayfaring- tree" or " hobble-bush " has had no protection save a coating of scurf, and with this scant cloth- ing it can survive a Maine winter. But as a rule, when naked buds occur in our climate they are small, and during winter they lie in hiding, sunk into the bark or even partly buried in the wood. The scales which enclose most native buds are imperfect leaves, detailed to do guard duty. Through the winter they have been wrapped 58 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers closely around the baby foliage to protect it from rotting damp, and from sudden changes of temperature. Now their work is done, and in a few days they will fall off, or shrivel away, leaving scars upon the twigs to mark the place where they grew. The traces left by fallen bud - scales look as if a string had been wound with the utmost tightness around the branch, so as to encircle it four or five times, and had remained long enough to cut into the bark (Fig. 8). By counting these marks one can tell how many years a branch is old. After a while, by the peeling away of the outermost layers of bark, the scars upon it dis- appear. In the Willow we FIG. 8. — Apple twig, showing old bud-scale marks. can scarcely find them at any stage of the branches' growth, as the bud- In April Weather 59 scales are too small to leave well-defined marks. But in maples and horse-chestnuts the marks of the bud-scales of vanished springs are easily seen. The spaces between them vary from one inch to six or eight, for growth differs in differ- ent years, in different trees, or in different branches of the same tree, according to the humidity and heat of the season, the richness of the soil, or the inherent vigor of the individual. At the very heart of each bud which tips a bough or twig is the " apex of growth," a group of generative cells on whose strength and activity the prolongation of the branch depends. The ex- tension of the bough for the season is over and done at a comparatively early period. In many trees it is completed a month after the first little leaves unfold. By mid-July even the most procrastinating of trees and shrubs have made the growth of the year, and formed next season's buds. Their sub- sequent efforts are devoted to perfecting and strengthening the young parts, and to laying by a store of nourishment against the needs of another spring. A leaf-bud is generally formed just above the foot-stalk of a leaf. On a very young branch the 60 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers twigs spring from the places whence leaves fell in bygone autumns. But some of these twigs will be snapped off by gales, or blighted by insects, and some will be starved and crowded out by more vigorous neighboring twigs. In early spring many leaf-buds of forest-trees are eaten by squir- rels, which have waked up hungry after their long winter's nap, and find that the world as yet con- tains little provender for them. And as every one of these devoured buds is a potential branch, their taking-off will affect the shape of the trees in years to come. So from various causes the trees of the wood do not show that symmetry in the positions of their boughs which we admire in the arrangement of their leaves. Indeed, the branching of a full- grown tree bears little relation to the positions of the buds from which those branches sprang. The symmetry of the adult shrub or tree is further marred by the occasional development of what are called "supernumerary" or "accessory" buds. These are found especially on low- growing plants, likely to be browsed upon by cattle. When a leaf drops off the bramble, for instance, it leaves a group of buds, a larger one in the In April Weather 61 centre with one, or, it may be, two smaller ones on either side. These are understudies, as it were, to the mid- dle bud, ready to take up its work in the world if it be killed or disabled. Normally it grows and they remain quiescent. But it may be that one of the side buds is the strongest of the group and lives down all its fellows. It is a question of survival of the fittest. The common .locust has several " accessory buds" under the leaf-stalk, and a principal bud in the scar left by the leaf of last summer. This axillary bud may be overtaken in growth by the strongest one in the group below it, so that in years to come the tree will have two branches almost together. In the poplar, elm, and willow extra buds are potentially present in the bark, and will develop in numbers if the tree is maimed. Such buds and growths are called " adventitious," and have no relation whatever to the ordinary position of the leaves. Those of the elm sometimes appear on the trunk in dense tufts of whip-like branches. The basket-makers turn the willow's ability to produce adventitious buds to excellent account. They cut off the crown of the tree, and the ends 62 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers of its principal branches, and there results an out- growth of the tough, lithe osiers from which baskets and chair-seats are woven. The willow is about the first of our native trees to put forth foliage. The elm, ash, and oak — canny northerners all — are late, and their leafing has given rise to some quaint rural sayings. The peasantry of the old world have been accustomed from time immemorial to arrange their farming pursuits according to indications given by certain trees and flowers. " The leafing of the elm," says Thistleton Dyer, " has for generations been made to regulate agricultural doings, and hence the old rule: * When the elmen-leaf is as big as a mouse's ear, Then to sow barley never fear.' " With which may be compared another piece of weather-lore : "Whenthe oak puts on his gosling gray, Tis time to sow barley night or day." The oak and the ash come into leaf almost together, and rural folk used to watch the trees to find out whether the coming summer would be a rainy or a dry one. " If the oak is out before the ash, 'Twill be a summer of wet and splash ; In April Weather 63 If the ash is before the oak, 'Twill be a summer of fire and smoke," says an old piece of weather-lore. Nourishing gums and starches are stored away all winter in the tree-trunks and branches, and toward spring they feel their way along the least twigs and into the buds where life has begun to stir. The store of nourishment which sustains this year's expanding foliage was collected last summer by the leaves which have now rotted away under the winter rains, or drifted into sheltered hollows, where they lie, withered and sere. When this year's leaves have attained full strength and maturity, they in their turn will gather food which is to be put by, not for them- selves, but for those which come after them. So some labor and others enter into the fruits of their labor, not only among humanity, but even in the vegetable world. And so the great lesson of Easter-tide, the lesson of self-sacrifice, is suggested by the story of the awakening April woods. CHAPTER IV THE FLOWERING OF THE FOREST-TREES "And now in age I bud again, After so many deaths I live and write; I once more smell the dew and rain, And relish versing. O my Only Light, It cannot be That I am he On whom Thy tempests fell all night." — George Herbert. THE veteran oak, which has weathered many gales, is the time-honored symbol of hardihood. The flowers which bloom between its mighty roots have served rhetoricians, since the memory of man goeth not to the contrary, as symbols of tender grace and helpless, evanescent prettiness. So the idea of the forest-trees themselves bourgeoning forth into blossoms is to the unbotanical public almost a contradiction in terms, perhaps even in- volving a trace of absurdity, as if some war-worn veteran were to take his walks abroad with a knot of ribbons at his throat, and a lace-trimmed para- sol forming a background to his weather-beaten visage. 64 The Flowering of the Forest Trees 65 Nevertheless, all the forest-trees bloom. After the long, bitter December nights, and after the beating tempests of the equinox, they, too, like dear, quaint George Herbert, " bud again." They respond fully to the call of spring, and break forth not only into tender leaf, but into blossom, too. But the floral efforts of the trees receive little attention from the public at large. Their flowers are, as a rule, small, green, and inconspicuous, and appearing, as they do, just when we are looking for the bursting of the leaf-buds, they are often mistaken, by the casual observer, for half-unfolded leaves; and they are often almost inaccessible, growing on the swaying tops of upper branches. Even when one gathers these tree-blossoms, and examines them closely, few of them are found to look at all like flowers, as that term is " under- standed of the people." For "a flower" to the laity means a cluster of delicate or brilliant little leaves, generally conspicuous, and often fragrant. But "a flower" to the botanist may mean a bunch of tiny greenish or brownish threads, insig- nificant-looking and odorless. Few of the blossoms borne by the forest-trees have either petals or fragrance. 66 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers Many sorts are what botanists call '* naked," having neither calyx nor corolla. Many sorts are also what botanists call " im- perfect,"— that is, having either stamens and no pistils, or else pistils and no stamens. One flower may be a pistil or cluster of pistils, surrounded by a few scales, and its "affinity" is a bunch of stamens and a scale or two; and these two incomplete blossoms may grow, not only on separate branches, but in separate trees. As these forest-tree flowers have, generally speak- ing, neither bright colors, nor honey, nor fragrance, we surmise that their messenger is the wind, which blows when and where it lists, and is not to be coaxed by the methods which "take" with insects. And because the wind is their go-between, these blossoms appear, sometimes before the leaves issue from the buds, and almost always before they expand, for foliage would be seriously in the way of pollen as it flew from bough to bough or from tree to tree. The stamens are borne in long, drooping dangles or " catkins," which sway with the lightest breath, so that the pollen is shaken out even by the faintest zephyrs of a spring day. The pollen of most forest-trees is light and dry, FIG. 9. — Blossoms of the Butternut ( Juglans cinerea}. The Flowering of the Forest Trees 69 so that spring breezes can easily detach it from the stamens and carry it fast and far. And their stigmas are more or less branched and hairy, so that they can readily catch the pollen as it flies by. By time the tender leaves are large enough to cast their shadows on the ground, the pollen messages of the trees have been delivered by the wind, and the precious seed is set (Fig. 9). The walnut, butternut, hickory, oak, beech, hazel- nut, and ironwood trees are all what botanists call " monoecious." That is to say, their stamens and pistils are borne on the same tree, though not in the same blossom. The stamens of all these trees grow in little, close clusters, which are dotted, like rosary beads, all down the length of a slender, pendulous cord. Each stamen cluster is partly covered by a scale or hood, which in a measure prevents the pollen from being washed away by spring rains. On the walnut, two or three of these stamen- chains come out of one bud; on the oak, six or seven issue from a single ring of bud-scales (Fig. 10). Indeed, as a rule these dangles, which are each and every one a whole community of asso- ciated stamens, grow in family groups, so that the yo Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers FIG. 10. — Blossoms of the oak. a, pistillate ; £, staminate. The Flowering of the Forest Trees 7 1 l idea of fraternity and cooperation is carried through- out. But the pistillate flowers of the forest-trees are less gregarious. They grow singly, or in small, compact clusters, which almost invariably terminate the branches and tip the twigs, so that they are in the best possible position to catch some of the wind-blown pollen as it flies by. Those of the walnut, " pig-nut," and hickory are bright-green, like the unfolding foliage. At the heart of each is a single pistil, forking into two plume-like heads, which look downy, but prove unexpectedly solid to the touch. The pistil plumes of the butternut are dull-red, and might easily be mistaken for a pair of unfolding baby-leaves (Fig. 11). The pistillate flower, or little nut, of the beech tree is one green ovary, capped with three thread- like styles, and walled about with scales which will become the bur of the nut one of these days. The young acorn is a three-celled ovary (and thereby hangs a tale), containing the first begin- nings of six seeds, and capped by a stigma which forks into three. Around its base is a little scaly covering, the acorn-cup that is to be. The embryo nuts of the walnut, butternut, hickory, and beech, and the baby-acorns, appear 72 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers on this year's new wood. The buds from which they have issued tipped the branches and con- FIG. IT. — Details of the blossoming butternut. «, a cluster of pistillate flowers ; ^, one stamen bearing scale detached from the staminate flower-chain ; c, a single stamen. (All magnified.) tained, besides the pistillate flowers, a few of this year's tender leaves. The staminate flowers in all The Flowering of the Forest Trees 7) these trees issue from other buds, which grow lower on the boughs, on the old wood of last year. But in all these trees we notice that the pen- dulous chains of stamens are more numerous on the upper branches and the pistil-bearing flowers grow more plentifully on the lower boughs. So the swing of the tree-tops in spring winds helps to shake the pollen out of the stamens, and the natural falling of the golden grains helps them to find their way to the waiting pistils. The seedlings of these trees may have but one plant-parent apiece, and every healthy and mature tree of these species yields seed. The poplars, as we have seen, conduct their affairs after a different fashion, and so do the willows, their nearest of kin. They bear stamens on one tree, and pistils on another. Each seed- ling-poplar or willow has had two tree-parents, and only certain individuals among the poplars and willows yield seed. But some spring-flowering trees are apparently in a curious state of indecision and transition. Their habits are described by the technical botanist as " monceciously " or " diceciously " polygamous. Sometimes their blossoms contain both stamens and pistils, sometime-s they have only stamens and 74 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers devote all their energies to the production of pollen, and sometimes they have only a pistil or pistils, and attempt nothing else except the per- fecting of their own seed. The perfect blossoms which bear both stamens and pistils may live in a household of staminate brother-flowers, or in a household of pistillate sister-flowers, or all three sorts of blossoms may grow together on one tree. The red maple and the elm among early-flower- ing trees, and the holly, prickly-ash, and hackberry among the later trees, are thus unsystematic in their mode of conducting their affairs. Their seedlings are born by the crossing of two flowers, or by the crossing of two trees, as cir- cumstances may determine. The seedling born of two flowers has a double advantage over the one which springs from a seed set by aid of pollen from the flower in which it grew. The offspring of two flower-parents is the stronger, and also the readier to accommodate itself to change in its circumstances and surround- ings. It is therefore likely to live to maturity, and to bear many flowers, which will take after their " forbears" in a decided inclination to pro- duce pollen in one blossom and seeds in another. The Flowering of the Forest Trees 75 The seedling born of two plant-parents is even stronger and more adaptable than the one born of two flower-parents, and in the struggle for exist- ence it is the likeliest of the three to survive. And its plant-children will follow the parental habit of setting seed by aid of pollen brought from another plant. So age by age the "dioecious" flowers have been separating their stamens and pistils more and more widely, and if the world lasts long enough the elms and red maples may reach the condition of the willows and poplars, with all the stamens borne on one tree, and all the pistils on another. In Nature's school, elms and red maples seem to occupy an intermediate class with the walnuts and hickories below them, and the willows and poplars above. The white-ash trees, which blossom in latter March or early April, are somewhat unsettled in their habits. Like the elms, they use both breezes and insects as pollen-carriers, and they have gen- erally, but not entirely, adopted that plan of bear- ing stamens and pistils in separate flowers, which has become a fixed rule among the poplars. The staminate flower-buds of the ash are very noticeable in earliest spring, when they are inky- 76 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers black, as Tennyson, that close observer of Nature, knew, for beautiful Judith in his " Gardener's Daughter" had hair " blacker than ash-buds in the front of March" (Fig. 12). Under the purplish-black wrappings which en- close these spring parcels, there is brown wool, which has protected the bud's contents from wintry blasts, and under this blanketing we shall find stamens innumerable, but, as a rule, stamens only. These are minute at first, but they begin to stretch as soon Fig. 12 —Buds as t^ie bursting of the black case (F°rfomhtheaF^- sets them free, and soon the stamen table World.) cluster becomes a conspicuous greenish- purple plume, branching freely, and composed of many long anthers on slender filaments. Towards the end of April these stamen-plumes fall, having shed all their pollen, and on the trees which have borne them seeds are not to be expected. For the pistils of most of the ashes grow on separate trees, in green, branching bunches, and by the time the leaves unfold each pistil will have developed into a winged fruit. But the April aspect of the common or " white " ash hints to us that once upon a time ash-trees The Flowering of the Forest Trees 77 bore both stamens and fruits. For here and there on the boughs of this species a pistil can be found standing between two stamens. The modest trio attract no attention, by color, petals, or fra- grance. Yet the technical botanist calls the little group " a perfect flower," and the evolutionary botanist sees in it an indication that once all ash-flowers contained both stamens and pistil and each tree was sufficient to itself. FIG. 13. — Perfect (a), staminate (£), and pistillate (c) flowers of the European ash (Fraxinus excelsior}. (All magnified.) The European ash, frequently cultivated in parks and gardens, is an individualist even to this day. Parted from all its kind by leagues of sea, like Crusoe on his island, it could take entire charge of its own affairs and carry them to a successful conclusion. The stamens and pistils are borne always on the same tree, and often in the same flower (Fig. 13), 78 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers But in all our native species, except the white ash, the future of the race depends upon the mu- tual helpfulness of the present generation. The stamen-bearing trees, which yield no seed, exist entirely for the benefit of the family. And the pistil-bearing trees, which are the hope of the race, cannot accomplish their task without help from their neighbors. The trees are learning co- operation, just as individuals do in a society which is emerging from savagery toward civiliza- tion. The horse-chestnut blossoms also cooperate. The pyramidal bunch of bloom is not a crowd of individuals each self-contained and self-sufficient. It is more like the ant and bee communities, in which each individual has duties to be performed for the good of all. Most of the white blossoms, flecked with rose or gold, have no individual future. Their pros- pects are sunk for the public good. They have no pistils and will ripen no seed. Their prettiness is merely a lure to attract some flying insect to the spire of bloom. She will carry away their pollen, for which they can receive no return in kind, as they have no stig- mas and can set no seed. And having been en- The Flowering of the Forest Trees 79 ticed to the boughs by them, and bearing their powdered gold on her body, she will visit some sister-flower, which is in botanical language " per- fect," and from which will develop, later, the horse-chestnut bur. On the blooming spire there are scores of flow- ers, but if we look at the branch again, in later summer, we will see that only six or eight of them have set their seed. The rest have per- ished, as the worker-ants do, leaving no descend- ants; the only memento of their lives will be the work done for the community into which they were born. The perfect blossoms of the horse-chestnut grow near the base of the spire of bloom. Their friend, the bee, works from the ground upward, and all the bee-flowers, which grow in spikes or bunches, have adapted themselves to this habit of their favorite messenger. When she comes to a branch of horse-chestnut blossoms she is probably already dusted with pol- len from another cluster. With this she flies to the lowest flowers of the spire, which are pistil- bearing, and therefore want pollen and have a use for it. Then, rising into the top of the spire, she takes on a fresh load of pollen from the stamen- 8o Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers bearing flowers there, and when she visits another spire of bloom this will be carried to its lowest blossoms, which are pistillate. Besides the perfectly developed pistil these lower flowers bear a number of stamens which, accord- ing to Dr. Ogle, never open, and never shed their stores of pollen. And the upper flowers, which nowadays do nothing except produce pol- len and make a brave show, hold in their hearts little green rudiments which are significant signs of abandoned habits. For each of these is a pistil almost dwindled to nothingness — a reminiscence of the time when the horse-chestnut flowers had not yet learned co- operation. The long stamens of these topmost flowers have an upward curve which brings their anthers against the hairy hinder parts of their favorite visitor, the bumble-bee. And when "the insect flies to the lower florets of the next spire, the long, curv- ing pistils touch the same spot on her body and receive the pollen they need. When the upper flowers of the spire have given away all their pollen they fall and strew the ground beneath the trees. The horse-chestnuts are cousins to the maples, and are not even distantly related The Flowering of the Forest Trees 81 to the chestnuts, which they resemble only in de- pendence upon the ministrations of insects and in the custom of late blooming. For the chestnuts, too, blossom much later than most of the forest-trees, hanging out long, pollen- bearing flower-clusters, which are odorous and con- spicuous to lure the flies, upon whose ministrations the life of the species depends. The heavy scent of the blossoms is unpleasant to most people, but we are not the individuals concerned in the case. The faint suggestion of putridity is attractive to the many flies which hum around the branches in the warm June sunshine. They dust their bodies with pollen from the creamy spires, and then carry the life-giving dust to the pistillate flower-cluster, which ripens, later, into the chestnut-bur and its contents. The prickly bur is developed from a little circle of scales which has surrounded a pair or a trio of pistillate flowers. Each chestnut is a ripened ovary, and the little tail atop is the remains of the style and stigma. It is surmised that the chestnut flowers, like those of the ash-trees, once had both stamens and pistils, alike perfect in development, so that each blossom produced both pollen and ovules. What 82 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers seems a reminiscence of such a condition of things is still to be seen in the pistil-bearing flowers; for each has from five to twelve '' abortive" sta- mens— undeveloped things which are of no use in the trees' present domestic economy, but which are still produced, probably from sheer force of habit. We have seen that some of our familiar trees seem to be passing through changes in the struc- ture and mode of fertilization of their flowers. Others are even now diminishing the number of their seeds. Nature, keeping up an age-old habit, forms a large number of germs ; but the trees, having adopted a newer habit, neglect most of these germs, and bring only a remnant of them to maturity. But these comparatively few offspring are sent into the world better nourished, better provided for, better equipped for the battle of life than they would have been had the parent tree undertaken the maintenance of a larger number of descendants, and thus they profit by the fate of their 'little brothers which perished untimely. The horse-chestnut blossom has a three-celled ovary, with two ovules in each cell; but the ripe horse-chestnut bur never holds more than three nuts, and sometimes only two, or even a solitary The Flowering of the Forest Trees 83 one. "Yet the vestiges of the seeds which have not matured," says Prof. Gray, " and of the want- ing cells of the pod, may always be detected in a Very young horse-chestnut bur cut crosswise (a) and lengthwise (£), showing that it is at this stage a three-chambered pod enclosing six seeds. Very young acorn cut crosswise (c), showing its three chambers and six ovules. Older acorn cut crosswise (), showing numerous lenticels (r). 394 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers usual custom of cork-cells, but rounded and, as it were, flung together, like stones tipped out of a wheelbarrow. Between them lie many little chinks and spaces, and by way of these the air gets into the wood, and the moist breath exhaled by the living tissue of the tree reaches the out- side air. But as summer wanes, the trees fit them- selves for their approaching slumber by an action which might be compared to that of the Hindoo fakir of Eastern wonder-lore, who, before entering his death-like trance, stops his nostrils with plugs of wax. For at the end of the growing season a close layer of cork forms over the whole surface of each lenticel, and seals up the tree. So the breathing away of the tree's moisture is checked, as it has need to be, at this season, for now no active little root-hairs are at work down below, sucking up water from the ground. And also the little seals of cork help to protect the tissues of the tree against sharp and sudden frost. At the return of spring a number of new cork- cells will be formed under the seal which Nature has placed upon the lenticel. These will be a light, loose mass, like that which fills the lenticels in summer, and by their vigorous growth they will In Winter Woods 395 split the seal above them and open the lenticel once more. And as we have seen, a closing layer or seal of cork has grown across all the scars whence last summer's leaves have fallen. Preparations for repose have taken place, not only on the surface of the tree, but in its inner tissues. The fluid which, in summer, mounts slowly from the tiniest rootlets toward the leaves, is the 4< crude sap." It is water, holding in solution chemical substances derived from the soil. In the leaves, as we remember, it is worked over into the "elaborated-sap" which builds up and feeds plant-tissues. And this, creeping blindly from cell to cell, finds its way to the tips of roots and branches where growth is being actively carried on. So in latter spring and summer there is a con- stant slow movement of fluids in the trees, first from the roots upward and then from the leaves downward. Though this movement is connected functionally with the tree's feeding and digestion, it resembles the circulation of the blood in one respect. Crude sap, like arterial-blood, flows always through one set of channels, while elaborated sap, like veinous- blood, flows always through another. Crude sap, 396 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers as we have seen, travels via the young wood ; elab- orated sap moves through the inner bark or " bast," where, in most trees, a way is prepared for it through what are technically known as " sieve- cells." These are long and narrow, and run length- wise of trunk and boughs. As the sap moves through them, it comes to places where the partition-wall between cell and cell is "punched full" of holes, like the top of a pepper-pot. Fine fibrils of plant-jelly reach through these, joining the contents of neighboring cells, and in summer, plant-fluids pass easily all along the route. But as autumn approaches, Nature seals these holes and isolates the " sieve-cells." About midsummer, a glutinous plate, called the callus-plate, begins to form upon the little sieve, stopping up its pores. This gains thickness and solidity all through the waning of the year, and by time the leaves fall the route through the sieve- cells is closed as completely as is the route to Klon- dike in midwinter. This sealing of the little sieves has a beneficent purpose. At almost any time throughout the winter, in our latitudes, we may have a false promise or mocking similitude of early spring. We have seen that several gulli- ble or foolhardy herbs may be cheated or dared In Winter Woods 397 into blooming any month of the year. Their foli- age is practically evergreen, so that their untimely energy results in nothing worse than the production of a few futile flowers, which ripen no seed. But if the trees were to put forth when summer was not nigh at hand, their indiscretion might cost us the bloom of spring orchards and the luxuriance of midsummer woods. When vegetable life resumes its functions the starches and other food-substances stored in the wood follow the route of the elaborated sap. The starch-grains are dissolved and changed into fluid glucose, which, with other nutrient fluids, feels its way into the inner bark, and then creeps along through it into the buds where life is stirring. But were the little sieves all open through the winter the plant-food stored in the wood could make its way to the buds at any time, and the buds, thus generously fed, could unfold in a few days. Lured by the false promise of a January thaw, baby-blossoms and delicate leaves would issue, all too quickly, into what would speedily prove a cold and inhospitable world. And all the energy used in putting them forth would be so much dead loss to the tree. So wise Nature keeps the stores of 398 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers food within the plant-tissues safely locked up throughout the winter. And thus the minute pieces of callus in the inner bark help to preserve the beauty of the forests. I have not been able to find any recorded case of the reopening of a little sieve which has once been closed and sealed. It seems probable that the very first growth of spring buds is fed, as is the unseasonable growth of too forth-putting autumn ones, by the nourish- ment drawn from closely neighboring cells. By time the unfolding blossoms and leaves of March or April have exhausted this slender store the cam- bium, which is formed each spring, has come into being and has taken up its work. New sieve-cells have been formed just inside the old ones which were sealed up last autumn, and there is a newly organized bark-route from end to end of every trunk and bough. So nourishment travels on unchecked to the expanding buds, and when the trees are fully aroused by April sunshine, they all at once begin to leaf out and to blossom, as the awakened servants, in the palace of the Sleeping Beauty, took up each his task again. When next spring's new bark is formed, last spring's sieve-cells will be pushed a very little way In Winter Woods 399 outward, and each successive season's growth will force them still further from the centre of trunk or bough. So after awhile the sealed and disused sieve-cells of long-vanished summers find their way into the outer bark, and are sloughed off. The forest where " frost hath wrought a silence," and where every tree is wrapped in its slumber-robe, sleeps as one who expects to be aroused and loves the expectation. The danger guarded against is not that the trees will sleep too late, but that they may awaken too soon. For the Earth's heart wakes for the Sun-prince, who is coming from the South, and the woods, hushed by winter, dream of spring. And, as sometimes in summer nights day-birds rouse, call to their fellows, and sleep again, we can fancy that the trees now and then half awake, and whisper to one another, " Is spring drawing near?" Then the great pine, which looks southward from the hill top, sends down through many branches the murmurous message, " Not yet," " Not yet." Index Aaron Hill, 333 Abele, 50 Absciss layer, 365, 366 Abundant' pollen of coniferae, 286 Accessory buds, 60 Acorn, 71, 83, 84, 119, 120 Acorn-cup, 71 Acorns, 119 " Adam's Needle and Thread," 207 Adders' tongues, 251, 266 prothalli of, 252 Adventitious buds, 61 Aerial roots, 234 Age of Reptiles, 285 Albuminous seeds, 118 Alcohol, 94 Aleurone, 119 Algae, fresh water, 94, 95 Algae, land, 383 Alkali-grass, 153 Allen (Grant), quoted, 86, 319, 320 "Alternate ' leaf arrangement, 122 Alternation of generations in ferns, 258 Amaranth, 353, 354, 355 American Beauties, 136 " American flannel-plant," 347 Andersen (Hans Christian), quoted, 378 Annuals, 368 Ants, 27, 79, 340, 341 Anthers, 40 Anther-ring, 42 Apex of growth, 59 Apple blossom, 136 Apple-seeds, 136 Apocynum androscemifolium, 303 Apocynum cannabinum, 309 Aquatic flowers, 30, 31 Arbor vitae, 270, 272 Archegonia, formation of, 255 Archegonia of the pine, 292, 294 Archegonia of selaginella, 291 Arrow-head, 112 Arrow-root, 295 Asclepias cornuti, 309 Ash, 62 Ash buds, 76 Ash, European, 77 Ash, prickly, 74 Ash, white, 75, 76 Ash analyses of leaves, 367 Asparagus, 94 Asphodels, 355 Asters, 352 Atrophy, 84 Awn, 169 Bacteria, 97 Bald cypress, 270, 274, 298 Balsam, 282 Balsam fir, 276 Bamboos, 173 Barbed fruits, 350 Barberry, 114 Bark, green, 132 Bark, nature of, 384 Bark, outer, 386 Barley, 62, 103, 118, 151 Basis of life (physical), 90, 91 Bast, 128, 129, 130, 394 Bast-tubes, 133 Bay, 273 Beach-grass, 155 401 4O2 Index Beach-grass committee of Prov- incetown, 155 Beak rush, 193 Bean, 119 Bean, sprouting, 120 Bear-grass, 131 Beech, 69, 71, 387 Bee, 19, 24, 29 Bee-bread, 28 Bee-flowers, 79 Bees, larger, 32 Bees, lesser, 32 Beetles, 33 Big-fly flowers, 32 Bind-weed, 221 Birds as sowers, 298 Blackberry, 57, 327 Black-eyed Susan, 352 Blade-like foliage, 123 Blessed-thistle, 336 Blue eyed-grass, 124 Bordered pits, 284 Bonsilene roses, 136 Bouncing Bet, 221, 222 Bracteoles, 165 Bramble, 60 Branched leaves, 123 Bridal wreath, 373, 376 Broad-leaved evergreens, 273, 274 Buckeye, 56 Buds, 55 accessory, 60, 61 adventitious, 61 supernumerary, 60 Bud scales, 57, 87, 88 Bud-scale marks, 57 Bud scales of pines, 275, 276 Bulrush, 193, 197 Bulbs, 263 Bundles, fibro-vascular, 128, 129, 130 Bundle sheath, 128, 159 Burdock, 39, 320, 350, 352 Bur, chestnut, 81 Bur, horse-chestnut, 82, 83 Bur marigold, 45 Buttercup, 39 Butterfly-flowers, 33 Butternut, 69, 71 Cactus, 109, no, 326 Calamus, 143 Calla-lily, 116 Calla, 140, 143 Callus, 394, 396 Calyx, 19 Calyx, modified to aid in plant distribution, 45 Calyces, 21 Cambium, 134, 396 Campion, red, 225 Campion, white, 225 Canada thistle, 338 Canoe-birch, 387 Caoutchouc, 235 Carbon, 90, 100 Carex group, 193, 194, 196 Carices, 194 Carrion-flies, 33 Carrion-flower, 33 Carrot, 126 Caryopsis, 167 Castor-oil bean, 119 Catharine Mermets, 136 Catkin, 51, 52 Catkins, 66 Cat-tail flag, 144, 186 Cat-tail flags, 140, 148 Cedar, 270, 289 Cedars, 280, 288, 289 Cell, 90, 91, 92 Cells, 89, 92 Celery, fibro-vascular bundles of, 128 Cereus, night - blooming, 27, 200, 227 Cherry, 56 Chestnut-bur, 81 Chestnuts, blossoming, 81 Chestnut leaves, 126 Chickory, 353 Chickweed 356, 374 Chlorophyll, 93, 96, 97, 100 Chlorophyll bodies, 93, 94, 95 Chlorophyll in autumn, 368 Christmas custom in Italy, 356 Chufa, 197 Chrysanthemum, 39 Clasping leaf-bases, 124 Classification (Delphino's), 31 Clematis, 240, 241, 242 Climbing-plants, 233 Clock (flower), 228, 229 Index 403 Clock (De Candolle's), 230 Clock of Linnseus, 231 " Closed " bundles, 130 Closing of night flowers, 229 Clover, white, 339 Club-moss, 251 Club-mosses, 296 Club-mosses, prothalli of, 252 Coast-evergreens, 272 Coast-grasses, 153 Cockle-bur, 350, 352 Cock's-comb, 354 Columbines, 35 Composite, 39, 351, 352, 353 Composite family, 338 Composite flowers, 46 Compound leaves, 126 Common milk-weed, 309 Concentric rings in timber, 132 Conducting tissue, 26 Cone-bearers, 157, 270, 280 Cone-bearers, girdled, 282, 283 Cone bearers, wood of, 281, 282, 283 Cone-bearers, winged seeds of, 298 Cones, 299 Cone scales, 299 Coniferae, 284, 285 Coniferae, pollen., 286, 287 Conway (Moncure Dl.), quoted, 332 Coontre, spermatozoids of, 296 Copper-hazel, 97 Copper-leaved beech, 97 Cork, 92, 105, 364, 384 Cork, cells, 365, 385 Cork undergarment of trees. 385, 386, 387 Corn (Indian), 103, 117, 151, 174 Corn cockle, 225 Corn-stalk, 126, 127, 130, 131 Corolla, 19, 23 Corylus Americana, 380 Cotyledon, 121 Cotyledons, 119. 120 Crepiscular moths, 200 Crocus, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 35 Crow-foot (water), 112 Crude sap, 129, 393, Cryptograms, 248 Cycad, spermatozoids of, 296 Cyperus textilus, 197 Cypress (bald), 270, 274, 298 Daffodils, 355 Dandelions, 34, 43, 45, 374 Dandelions in October, 373 Dandelion leaves, 320 Darwin quoted, 237, 238, 286, 300 Darwin's classification of climb- ing plants, 233 Datura stramonium, 214 Datura tatula, 217 Day-lily, 204, 227, 230 Dead nettle, 374 De Candolle's flower-clock, 230 Deepest-throated flowers, 207 Defences against browsing ani- mals, 319, 320 Degenerate flowers, 86, 359 Degeneration, 144 Degeneration of grass-blos- soms, 156 Delphino quoted, 32, 33 Dent-de-lion, 37 Developmeut of sporangia in true ferns, 265 Development of sporangia in adders' tongues, 266 Devices to ensure cross-fertili- zation, 33 Dicotyledon, 120 Dicolytedons, 117 foliage of, 123 stems of, 132, 133, 134 Differences between diurnal and nocturnal flowers, 225 Digested sap, 129 Dioecious flower, 75 Diurnal primroses, 228 Distinction between "prickles" and thorns, 325, 326 Dock, 352 Dog-bane, spreading, 303 Door-yard weeds, 350, 353 Down, 53, 56, 76 Dr. Ogle, 80 Drosera, 300 Dung-flies, 32 Dyer (Thistleton), quoted, 62, 333, 336, 357 404 Index East Indian nettle, 329 Eel grass, 31 Elaborated sap, 395 Elasticity of tendrils, 245 Elm, 53, 61, 62, 74 Elms, 50, 54, 75 Embryo-sac, 26 Empty glumes, 162 English daisy, 347 Evanescence of grass flowers, 173 Evening lychnis, 225 Evening primrose, 213 Evening primrose, garden, 213 Evening primroses, 228, 230 Evergreen woods : flowers of, 263 character of, 268 Evolution, 86 Exalbuminous, 119 Fall of the leaf, 364, 365, 366 Falling of needle-like leaves, 274 Ferns, 246 Fern spores, 247 Fern spores, germination of, 249, 250 Fertilization of the coontre, 295 Fibro-vascular bundle, 128, 129 Fibro-vascular bundles, open, 134 Fibro-vascular bundles of Di- cotyledons, 134 Fibro-vascular bundles of Mo- nocotyledons, 159 Fir, 274, 2*82 Firs, 299 First-born of flowering plants, 270 First flowers in the world, 156, 285 Flags, cat-tail, 124 Flag, sweet, 143 Flax, 332 Flaxseed, 119 Flies : carrion and dung, 33 big, 32 smaller, 33 Floret, 40, 43 Florets, 39, 43, 44, 45 Flower-clock, 229, 230 of De Candolle, 230 of Linnaeus, 231 Flower : of death, 353, 355 of immortality, 354, 355 perfect, 77 pistillate, 77 staminate, 77 tendrils, 243 Flowering fern, 265 Flowering glumes, 164, 165 Flowering plants, 248 Flowerless plants, 249 Flowers : imperfect, 66 naked, 66 of life, 355 of the evergreen woods. 268 of the nettle, 330, 331 Folding creases of young leaves, 56 Foliage : floating, 112 submerged, 112, 113 of parasites, 98 Forest-trees, 64 Forests of Maine and Canada, 272 Formic acid, 329 Fraxinus excelsior, 77 Fronds, 259 Fruit as defined in botany, 46 Fuchsia, 139 Fungi, 99 Funkia Japonica, 204 Garden evening primrose, 214 Generative cell, 293, 294 Generative cells, of pine pollen, 294 Georgia yucca, 212 Geranium, rose, 126 Germination of fern-spores. 249, 250 Gingko, 270 spermatozoids of, 296 Girdled cone-bearers, 282, 283 Girdled maples, 283 Girdled oaks, 283 Gladiolus, 35 Glastonbury white thorn> 375 Index 405 Glucose, 102, 103 Glumes, empty, 162 flowering, 164, 165 outer, 162 Golden-rod, seeds of 349 Gorse, 114, 323, 326 Grain, 117, 167, 168 Grain-fields, weeds of, 351 Grains, 118 " Grains" of chlorophyll, 94 Grant Allen quoted, 86, 319, 320 Grape tendrils, revolution of, 243 . Grape vine, 242 Grass, 149, 156 Grass-blades, 123 Grass-blossoms visited by in- sects, 173 Grass-flowers, 161, 173 Grass, leaves of, 160 Grass-pollen, waste of, 170 Grasses, 118, 151, 152, 157, 165 as sand-binders, 153, 154 blossoms of, 139, 140, 165 coast, 153 modes of seed-distribution, 169 mud-binding, 153 nodes of, 158 number of species of, r68 sheaths of, 158 spikelets of, 168 stems of, 188 Gray, Prof., 83 " Grete Herbale" quoted, 356 Great Britain saved by a thistle, 337 Green bark, 132 Groundsel, 39, no, 352 Growing-point, 120 Gums, 63 Gymnosperm, 297 Gymnosperms, 290, 296 Gymnosperms (prothalli of), 292 Hackberry, 74 Hairs of ferns, 261 Hairs, various uses of, 42, 46, no, 320 Hans Andersen quoted, 378 Hare's palace, 356 Hartford fern, 262 Haulm, 160 Hawk moths, 202, 203 Hawthorne, 323, 326 Hawk-moths, 203 Hazel, 44 Hazel, copper, 97 Hazel-nut, 69 Hazel-nut tree, 380 Heart-wood, 385 Heather, 99 Hedge-hog grass, 169 Hemlock, 270 Hemlock, seedlings of, 270 Hemlock, staminal leaves of, 288 Hemlocks, 299 Hemp, 332 Heraldry, 336 Herbivorous animals, 96 Herbert, George, 65 Hickory, 71 Hickories, 75 Hobble-bush, 57 Holland, 155 Hollow stems, 38, 157 Holly, 74 44 Holy thorns," 374 Honey, 42 Honeysuckle, 201, 204, 227, 230 Honeysuckle, twining of, 239 Honeysuckles, 228 Hook-climbers, 235 Hooks at tips of vine-sprays, 237 Hop-vine, 239 Horse-chestnut, 78, 79, 80, 82, 85, 86, 120 Horse-chestnut bur, 83 Horse-chestnuts, 84 Horse-tails, 248, 251 Horse-tails, prothalli of, 252 Humming-bird, 34 Humming bird moths, 203 Huxley, 90 Hydrogen, 90, 100 Ill-timed growth, 376, 377 Immortelles, 354 Imperfect flowers, 66 Indian corn, 117, 126, 174 406 Index Indian hemp, 309 Indian pipe, 99, 269 Indian shot, 103 Insect fertilized flowers, 157, 159 Insect messengers, 32 Insects, 42, 75, 173 Involucre, 44 Iris, 35, 124 Irish gorse, 114, 323 Iron-wood, 69 Ivy, English, 235 Ivy, poison, 235 Jacqueminots, 136 J?mestown weed, 214 Japan lily, 204 apan lilies, 212 asmine, 207, 239 can Paul Richter quoted, 230 ersey pine, 275 imson weed, 214, 217, 227 uniper : berries of, 289, 298 seedling, 270 Junipers, 288, 296 Kerner quoted, 286 Kinshipof flowering and flower- less plants, 295 Lace-flower, 349 Law of disused organs, 46 Laws for preservation of for- ests, 155 of grasses, 154, 155 Leaf-bud, 59 Leaf-buds opening in autumn, 375 Leaf-climbers, 233, 240 Leaf-scars, 366 Leaf-skin, 366 Leaf, structure of, 89, 90 Leaf, tissue, 90 Leaves converted into prickles, 114 store houses, 113 traps, 115 Leaves : floating, 112 submerged, 112, 113 succulent, 108 variety in, 115 Lenticels, 290, 292 Leptoporangrateae, 266, 267 Lichens, 248, 383 Light necessary to protoplasm making, 148 Ligule, 160 Liguliflorae, 353 Lily, 116, 117, 123, 148 kin, 118, 121, 125, 126, 129 leaves, 108, 123 stem, 131 Lilies, 130 Links connecting flowering and flowerless plants, 270 Linnaeus' floral clock, 231 Little panic-grass, 153 Liverworts, 248 Loculi, 369 Loculus, 369 Locust, 323 Longfellow quoted, 282, 355, 361 Love charms, 359 Love divination, 336 Love lies bleeding, 354 Lubbock quoted, 341 Lychnis, evening, 225 Lycopodinese, 296 Lycopodiums, 251 Macrospore, 27, 28 Macrospores, 28 Magnolia, 33 Maiden-hair tree, 270 Maple, 56, 59, 84, 85 red, 50, 54 Maples, 80 red, 75 Marram-grass, 153, 155 Marsh-flies, 143 May-apple, 56 May-flower, 268 Melancholy thistle, 336 Mesquit, running, 153 Microbes, 248 Microspore, 24, 27 Microspores, 24, 25, 27, 28 Midsummer-dream plant, 357 Milkweed (of South Africa), no Milkweed, trap of, 309, 310, 311, 313, 314, 315 Milkweed, seeds of, 349 Milton quoted, 355 Index 407 Mineral crystals, 384 Mistletoe, 108 Monocotyledon, 121, 128 Monocotyledons, 116, 117 leaves of, 123 Monoecious flowers, 69 " Monoeciously polygamous" flowers, 73 Moonworts, 266 Morning-glory vines, 236, 239 Mosses, 248, 383 Moth, 34 Moths : crepiscular, 200 hawk, 202, 203 humming-bird, 203 nocturnal, 33, 200 twilight, 33 sphinx, 203, 221 Mountain evergreens, 272 Mucilage, 136, 255, 384 Mullein, 320, 347 Miiller quoted, 42, 173, 211, 304 Naked flowers, 66 National flower of Scotlan,., 337 Natural wind-break, 271, 272 . Nature's most valuable colon- ists, 156 Nectar, 29, 30 Neck-canal cells, 255 Needle-like leaves, 272, 274, 276, 279 Nettle, 332, 333, 336 flowers of, 330, 331 sting of, 329, 330 Nettles, 317 Net-veined leaves, 148 Night-blooming cereus, 27, 200 flowers, 200 Nitrogen, 90 Nocturnal flowers, 225 moths, 200 Nodes of grasses, 158 November violets, 375, 378 Nuts, 71, 82 Oak, 56, 62, 64, 69, 85, 86, 120 Oaks, 93 Oat, 161 Oat-blossoms, 162, 165, 166 Oats, 151 Oat-spikelets, 168 October dandelions, 375 Oenothera biennis, 213 Ogle (Dr.), 80 Oil, 119, 384 Oleander, 106 Oosphere, 257 Oospore, 257, 259 Open fibre-vascular bundles, 134 Ophioglossaceae, 266 Orange-tree, 326 Orchid, 27, 47 Orchids, 26, 34, 116 Osmunda, 262, 265 Ovary, 47 Ovule of a cone-bearer, 290 Ovule of the yew, 297 Oxygen, 90, 100, 101 Painted-cup, 98 Paleae, 164, 165 Palet, 164 Palmetto trunk, 127, 130, 131 Palmettos, 126, 140 Palms, 116 Panic-grass, 153 Papyrus, 197 Parallel veins, 123 Parasites, 98, 99, 269 Parasitism, 77, 98 Pasture thistles, 342 Pear-tree, 55 Peas, 119 Peel of a potato, 386 Peony, 28 Perfect flower, 77 Perigynium, 196 Petals, 21 Phanerogams, 248 Phosphorus, 90 Phosphoric acid, 367 Phragmites communis, 174 Pickerel-weed, 186 Pigment, 94.95, 97 Pig-weed, 354 Pinaceae, 270 Pine, 270, 272, 282 Pine-apple, 326, 329 Pine, archegonia of, 292, 293 Pine-drops, 269 408 Index Pine-family, 270 Pine, Jersey, 275 Pine, pitch, 275, 283 Pine, pollen of, 287, 293 Pine-sap, 99 Pine, scrub, 275 Pine, white, 281 Pines, 299 vitality of, 283 Pinks, 139 Pink family, 222, 225 Pistil, 22, 29 Pistillate flower, 77 Pith, 102, 130, 132 Plantago lanceolata, 359 Plantago major, 357 Plaintain, 128, 357 Plaintain, flowers of, 359, 360 Plumed fruits, 349 Plum-leaves, 56 Poison-ivy, 235 Pollen, 22, 25, 26, 28 Pollen-carriers, 30 Pollen-grain, 24 Pollen-grains of the honey- suckle, 204 Pollen-tube, 26, 27 Pollen of " water-fertilized " flowers, 30, 31 Pollen of "wind-fertilized" flowers, 30, 31 Pollen of oat blossoms, 165 Pollen of rushes, 185 Pollen, waste of, 28, 3 Polygamous flowers, 73 Pond-weeds, 31 Poplar, 31, 50, 51, 52, 54, 61, 73 Poplars, 49, 51. 73, 75, 93 white, 53 Populus alba, 50 Potato, starch grains of, 103 Potash, 367 Prickles, no, 319, 323 Prickles, how they differ from thorns, 325, 326 Prickly-ash, 74 Primroses, diurnal, 228 Primroses, evening, 228, 230 Problems of nature, 345 Procambium, 130 Prof. Gray quoted, 83 Prof, von Sachs quoted 367, 368 Proteids, 91 Protoplasm, 90, 91, 100, 105 Prothalli, 251 of adders' tongues, 252 of club-mosses, 252 of ferns, 252 of gymnosperms, 292 of horse-tails, 252 of selaginellas, 292 Prothallus, 250, 258, 259, 298 Rag-weed, 39, 350, 352 Rape, 119 Ray flowers, 352 Red campion, 225 Red cedars, 288, 296, 298 Red maple, 54, 74 Red maples, 75 Red-top, 169 Reed, 175 Reeds, 175, 176 Reptiles, age of, 285 Resin, 282, 384 Reversion to type, 136 Revolving of vine-tips, 236,237 Rib-wort, 357 Ripple-grass, 359 Rice, 118, 151 blossom of, 172 wild, 175 Richter (Jean Paul) quoted, 230 Rings in timber, 135 Rogue type, 98, 99 Rolled fronds of ferns, 260 Root-climbers, 234, 235 Root-hairs, 250, 388 Root-stocks, of ferns, 260 Root-stocks, of grasses, 152, 153 Root-tips, 388 Rose, 116, 117, 123, 128 Roses, 136 Rose-bush, 131 Rose-geranium, 126 Rose-kin, 126, 129, 132 Royal osmunda, 265 Rudiments, 80 Running mesquit, 153 Rush-lights, 180 Index 409 Rushes, 116, 179, 180 dependent upon the wind, 185 flowers of, 182, 183 knotty-leaved, 181 pollen of, 185 ripe seed-vessels of, 187, 188 water, 180, 181, 185, 186, 187 wood, 180, 182, 183 Ruskin quoted, 115 Rye, 103, 118, 151 Salts, 105 Salvia, 35 Sand-bur, 169, 172 Sand-binders, 154 Sap, crude, 129, 395 Sap, digested, 129 Sap, elaborated, 395, 397 Saw-palmetto, 329 Scale-bark, 390 Scale-leaves, 276 Scale-like foliage, 272 Scales of the bud, 57, 58, 87, 88 of ferns, 261 Scars left by bud-scales, 58, 59 Scotch cloth, 332 Scotland, national flower of, 337 Scouring rushes, 251 Scrub-pine, 295 Scypanthus elegans, 239 Sealing of leaf-scars in autumn, 394, 395 Sea-weeds, 97, 248 Sea-sand reed, 153 Sedges, 116, 179 blossoms of, 139, 190 leaf arrangement of, 188 seed distribution of, 191 small value of, 196 Seed, 22, 247, 249 Seed-bearing scale, 297 Seed-leaves, 119, 120 Seed distribution of water- rushes, 187 Seeds of water-rushes, 185, 186 of wood-rushes, 185 Seedling, 75, 120 cone-bearers, 270, 271 Seedlings, 73, 74, 86 Selagi.ieila, 296 Selaginella, archegonia of, 291 prothalli of, 292 spermatozoids of, 291 spore of, 290, 291 Seniors of the forest, 285 Sensitive fern, 262, 265 Sepals, 21, 22 Sheaths of grasses, 158 Shear-grass, 188 Shepherd's purse, 376 Silence of the evergreen woods 269 Silene, 227 Silver fir, 274 poplar, 50 " Skeleton " of the leaf, 87 Sneeze-weed, 352 Snowdrop, 380 Soft-rush, 182 " Sommer-go>vk," 380 Sori, 261 Sorus, 261 Spadix, 143 Spathe, 140, 144 Spermatozoid, 25^ Spermatozoids, 256 of gingko, 296 Sphinx Carolina, 218 convolvuli, 221 moths, 202, 203 Spider-wort, 124 " Spike-rush," 193 Spikelet, 162, 164, 165 Spikelets, 162, 168 Spinach, 38 Spines, no, 323 Spore, structure of, 247, 249 Sporangia, 261, 262 Sparangium, 261, 262 Sporangium, development of in true ferns, 265 in adders' tongues, 266 Spore-bearing fronds of the sensitive fern, 265 Spring blossoms in late au- tumn, 373, 375 '! Spring-wood," 134 Spruce, 270, 274 Spruces, 299 Spurges, no Squirrel-tail grass, 169 Stamen, 20 4io Index Staminate flowers, 77, 287 Staminal leaves, 287, 288 Starch, making of, 100, 102, 113 Starches, 63, 119, 121 Starch, grains of : barley, 103 Indian corn, 103 Indian shot, 103 rye, 103 wheat, 103 timber, 102, 103 Stemless lady-slipper, 268 Stems of grasses, 188 of sedges, 188 Stephanotis, 207, 227 Stigmatic surface, 25, 26 Stigmas of forest-trees, 69 of wind-fertilized flowers, 31 Sting of the nettle, 329, 330 Stoma, 107, 108 Stomata, 106, 107, 108, 109 Submerged foliage, 112, 113 Succulent leaves, 109 Sulphur, 89 " Summer-wood," 134 Sundew, 300 Sunshine necessary to starch- making. 100 Swamp thistle, 340, 342 Sweet-alyssum 371 Sweetness of night-flowers, 227, 228 Tannin, 384 Taraxicum, 37 Tassles of the poplar, 52 Taxacese, 270 Teasel, 323, 325 Tendril, 113, 244, 245 Tendril-bearers, 233, 235, 240 Tendrils, 242, 244 elasticity of, 245 flower, 243 of the grape-vine, 243 of the Virginia creeper, 244 revolution of, 243 strength of, 245 useless, 245 Tennyson quoted, 76 Thistle, 326, 345, 349, 352 in folk-lore, 333, 336 in folk-medicine, 336 Thistle, in heraldry, 336 pasture, 342 swamp, 340, 342 Thistles, 317 Thistleton Dyer quoted, 62, 333, 336, 356, 357 Thor, 336 Thorn, definition of, 325, 326 Thorns, 323 Thread made from nettles, 332 Three-ranked arrangement of sedge-leaves, 188 Thrift of nature, 242 Timber, 103 Timothy-grass. 168 Tissue, new, 91 of leaves, 89, 90 waste, 91 Tobacco-worm, 218 Tomato-worm, 218 Tracheids, 283, 284 Trailing evergreen, 251 hemlock, 269 Transpiration, 106 Traps for snaring insects, 33 Trap of the dogbane, 306, 314 of the milk-weed, 310, 311 Trap-setting plants, 300 Tree-blossoms, 65 Trunk of the palmetto, 127, 130, I3i Tubers, 102 Tube put forth by the pollen- grain, 26, 27 Tubuliflorae, 353 Twilight moths, 33 Ulmus Montana, 380 Upas tree, 333 Veins, 89, 126 parallel, 123 Veinlets, 126 Venus fly-trap, 300 Vessels, wood, 128 Vestiges of grass-petals, 165 Vestiges of the prothallus in flowers, 295 Vestiges of atrophied seeds, 83 Vine-tips : hooked, 237 revolution of, 237 Index 411 Vine-tips, speed of, 239 Vines, Sidney, quoted, 320 Virginia creeper, 237, 242, 245 tendrils of, 243, 244 Vitality of pines, 282, 283 Von Sachs, Prof., quoted, 367, 368 Walnut, 69, 71 Walnuts, 75 Wasp, 34 Waste of pollen, 28, 286 Water-crowfoot, 112 Water-fertilized flowers, 30, 31 Water-loving plants, numerous seeds of, 185 Water-rushes, 180 capsules of, 185 seeds of, 185, 186, 187 Wayfaring tree, 57 Webber, Herbert, 295 Webster's definition of a weed, 347 Weed of civilization, 361 Weeds, 36, 37 as weather prophets, 355, 356 how they sow themselves, 349, 350 of grain-fields, 351 Well-water, 103 Wheat, 121, 151 blossom of, 172, 173 Wheat-germ, 118 White ash, 75, 76 White campion, 225 White clover, 339 White lily, 108 " White-man's-foot.," 361 Wide range of wind-fertilized plants, 286 Wild carrot, 349 " Wild lettuce. 320 Wild orange, 323 Wild rice, 174 Wild rose, 136 Wild strawberries, 373 Wild yew, 270 Willow, 58, 61, 62 pussy, 50 swamp, 50, 54 Willows, 49, 75, 93 Wind-fertilized flowers, 30, 31 Winged fruits, 85, 349 Winged pollen of the coniferae, 287 Winter bud, 88 Winter refuge of birds, 280 Wistaria, 239 Witch-hazel, 379 Wood, 132, 134, 135 of cone-bearers, 281, 282, 283 Wood-rushes, 180, 182 capsules of, 185 seeds of, 185 Wood-thrushes, 345, 346 Wood-vessels, 128, 133 " Wool-grass," 191, 193 Wound cork, 364 Wound-weed, 357 Wych-elm, 380 Wych-hazel, 379 Xyris flexuosa, 187 Yarrow, 126, 165 Yellow-eyed grass, 187 Yew, 274, 276 European, 270 wild, 270 Yews, 270, 298 Yucca, habit of growth of, 131 fertilization of, 208, 211 filamentosa, 207, 208 recurvifolia, 212 Zamia integrifolia, 295 PUBLICATIONS OF THE BAKER & TAYLOR CO, Publishers and Booksellers, 5 and 7 EAST SIXTEENTH ST., NEW YORK. 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