Notice the cones. The young female cones (b, Fig. 130, 1) are erect, and their scales separate slightly in spring to allow the pollen to enter. Afterwards they hang down (c) whilst the seeds are ripening. Three years after pollination the scales come apart again to let the seeds fall out. Examine the seeds from a ripe cone and notice the [Pg 161] attached wings (Fig. 130, 4). Examine cones of various ages. In spring look for the pointed cones of male flowers (Fig. 130, 1, a) which produce the abundant pollen. 2. The spruce fir.—Compare the spruce fir. Notice the conical Christmas tree shape and the large spreading branches near the ground. Compare the leaves and cones with those of the pine. 3. The larch.—Compare the larch with the pine and spruce. Notice the drooping boughs, the alternate tufts of leaves, and the small cones arranged in a row along the twig. Is the larch an evergreen? Cone-bearing trees.—The cone-bearing trees, such as the pines and firs, are true flowering plants, but of a type which is very different from any hitherto described. The flowers are peculiar, and form cones, the male flowers producing pollen and the female flowers ovules. The ovules, however, are not enclosed in ovaries, but are naked, so that the pollen gains access to the ovule directly, and is not received on a stigma. The female cone consists very largely of smooth scales, a pair of ovules being borne by each scale near its base. The pollen grains of these trees are rendered particularly buoyant by being blown out at the sides into little air-filled bladders, and are thus easily carried by the wind. When the pollen falls on the female cone, the grains slide down the smooth scales and very likely come in contact with the ovules at the bottom. Each ovule has a sticky drop of gum at its end, and the pollen is caught in the gum. Such pollen grains as roll off the upper scales are almost certain to fall on a lower one and reach the ovules.