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ea ,, Mezereum. ,, ,, var. alba. ,, oleoides. Erica mediterranea. Hamamelis arborea. ,, japonica. ,, mollis. ,, zuccariniana. Prunus davidiana (pink and white forms). ,, Amygdalus persicoides. Populus tremuloides pendula. Parrotia persica. Pyrus japonica. Rhododendron altaclarense. ,, dauricum. ,, nobleanum. ,, praecox. CHAPTER IX TREES AND SHRUBS WITH BEAUTIFUL CATKINS When thinking of trees and shrubs in early spring we must remember those with beautiful catkins. Of the earliest flowering hardy trees and shrubs the majority are those with flowers borne in catkins. Their appearance is one of the first evidences of the approach of spring. It is to the catkin-bearing group that the Poplars, Willows, Birches, and Alders belong. These catkins are pendulous, cylindrical, and often slender inflorescences, carrying flowers of one sex only, which spring from the axils of scaly bracts. Being mainly dependent upon the wind for their fertilisation, they have none of the varied or bright colours that are characteristic of flowers fertilised by insect agency. Often, indeed, sepals and petals are entirely absent. Still, many of these catkin-bearers possess a charm and beauty of their own, which, taken with the early, often inclement, season when they appear, make the best of them indispensable in gardens where early spring effects are desired. As a rule it is the male or pollen-bearing catkins that are most ornamental. They are longer and more graceful than the seed-bearing ones. POPLARS First among Poplars to bear its flowers, and almost before winter is past, is the Aspen (_Populus tremula_). This and its weeping variety bear their catkins in February, but closely following it, and perhaps more ornamental, is the American Aspen (_P. tremuloides_). This species flowers early in March near London in mild seasons, but later further north, and when kept back by severe weather. The pendulous variety of _P. tremuloides_--known commonly as Parasol de St. Julien--is, at the flowering time, probably the most beautiful and striking of all catkin-bearing trees. This and also the type produce long, slender catkins that sway gently in the softest winds. The weeping variety, which has branches that weep naturally low, looks well by itself on a lawn. In all these Poplars the male catkins are three inches to four inches long, chiefly grey-bro
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