ON THE PROTECTION OF BUDS IN THE TROPICS, 343 
Fig. 3. Column and lip (anther removed). 
4. Side view of column with anther. 
5. Front view of column with rostellum raised, and stelidia pushed 
outwards, enlarged. 
6. Anther, front view, enlarged. 
7. Anther, back view, enlarged. 
8. Capsule, a little enlarged. 
n 
Observations oy the Protection of Buds in the Tropies. By M. 
C. Porter, M.A., F.L.S., Lecturer on Botany and Biology 
at the Durham College of Science, Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
[Read 19th June, 1890.] 
(Prares XLV.-XLVIII.) 
THE conditions of climate in different parts of the world with 
which vegetable life has to contend are so varied, and at times 
so adverse, that plants are endowed with special means to pro- 
tect their tender parts in the extreme cases of either heat, cold, or 
drought. Young leaves and buds are, in the majority of in- 
stances, very tender and susceptible to the deleterious effects of 
the changes of atmospheric conditions under which they live. 
Hence in cold and temperate regions, where winter and summer 
alternate, the young and tender buds require protection during 
the winter, and are therefore protected by means of cataphyllary 
leaves and stipules against the cold. But, on the other hand, in 
tropical countries the delicate young leaves need protection both 
from a dry atmosphere and also from the direct rays of the sun 
until they are sufficiently developed to resist them. Wiesner *, 
Feist t, Hofmeister t, and Goebel $ have described special con- 
trivances by means of which the buds of various plants are pro- 
tected during the winter from the frost and cold. Treub || has 
shown the importance of special means of protection against 
unfavourable conditions in the Tropics, and has given several 
instances of such protection. Lately, while residing in Ceylon, 
I had an opportunity of observing some of these means of pro- 
* * Elemente der wissenschaftlichen Botanik, vol. ii. 
+ “ Ueber Schutzeinrichtungen der Laubknospen dicotyler Laubbäume.” 
1 Hofmeister, * Physiologsche Botanik, Bd. i. 
$ “ Beiträge zur Morphologie u. Physiologie des Blattes,” Bot. Zeit. 1880. 
1 Handelingen van het eerste Nederlandsch Natur- en Geneeskundig Congress, 
Amsterdam, 1887, p. 130. Bot. Centralbl. 1858. 
