. Botany of the living plant. Botany. Fig. 40S. Catkins of the Willow, a, male ; &, female, {.\fter Figuier.) (Fig. 408). The Diale catkins appear yellow when in bloom, from their projecting stamens ; the female cat/ii)!s are more slender, and of oUve- green colour. In each case the catkin is a spike. Its main axis bears darkly-coloured bracts, and in the axil of each of these is a single ^'cry simply- constructed flower. The ttiale flower (Fig. 409, a) consists of two stamens, each with a long filament, which bears the anther, with stick)', not dustv pollen. There is no perianth,
. Botany of the living plant. Botany. Fig. 40S. Catkins of the Willow, a, male ; &, female, {.\fter Figuier.) (Fig. 408). The Diale catkins appear yellow when in bloom, from their projecting stamens ; the female cat/ii)!s are more slender, and of oUve- green colour. In each case the catkin is a spike. Its main axis bears darkly-coloured bracts, and in the axil of each of these is a single ^'cry simply- constructed flower. The ttiale flower (Fig. 409, a) consists of two stamens, each with a long filament, which bears the anther, with stick)', not dustv pollen. There is no perianth, nor gynoecium ; but on the side next the stem is a nectary, which secretes honey freely at flowering (Fig. 410, A, d). Other species may have three, four, or more stamens, but no other floral parts (Fig. 410, C). The female flower (Fig. 409, b) IS also axillary. It consists only of a gynoecium o[ two carpels joined by then- margins to form a unilocular, superior ovary with two-Iobed stigma. The ovules are numerous, and the placenta- tion parietal. A honey-gland is present here also between the flower and the main axis (Fig. 411, A). PoUiiiatiou. The flowers of both catkins are \-isited freely by insects, both bees and moths, for honey or for pollen. Self-pollination is obviously im- possible, for the plants are dioecious ; but crossing follows as a natural. Flowers of Willow {SuUx alba), a, male ; b, female : in each case the subtending bract is also showTi. (After Figtiier.). Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Bower, F. O. (Frederick Orpen), 1855-1948. London, Macmillan and co. , limited
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbotany, bookyear1919
