II] BRANCHES 23 



It needs little observation to convince ourselves that 

 these branches arise from buds closely associated in position 

 with the leaves on the stems bearing them, and the length 

 of the branch depends on exactly the same elongation of 

 the internodes as in the cases considered above. In most 

 cases these buds, and therefore the branches into which 

 they elongate, are in the axils of the leaves, a fact which 

 at once connects itself with the different kinds of branching 

 we are familiar with. Thus, in the Rose, Elm, Lime, and 

 Birch the branches are alternate, whereas in the Lilac, 

 Maple, and Horse-chestnut they are opposite ; while in the 

 Oleander they are in whorls of three, in some Euphorbias 

 whorls of five occur, and in Equisetum the numbers may 

 run much higher. 



On going further into this matter of branching, even 

 only so far as concerns the ordinary cases, however, we 

 soon find that several other points come into consideration 

 beyond the mere arrangement of the branches on the axis 

 which bears them, and exert profound effects on the 

 appearance of the shoot-system as a whole. 



If we examine a Pine or a Fir, or even an ordinary 

 fruit-tree or Sloe, it becomes evident that branches of 

 different kinds are developed on one and the same shoot- 

 axis. Some of these exactly repeat the behaviour of the 

 principal axis, bearing other branches and leaves as does 

 the axis whence they spring: these branches with unlimited 

 growth are the ordinary ones implied in general references 

 to the subject. But we also find shorter branches which 

 soon come to an end: these dwarf-shoots or spurs bear 

 only two leaves, or three, or five in the Pines, besides a 

 few minute scales, and are so short as to be like mere 

 tufts, and do not themselves branch again ; in the Sloe, &c., 

 they are also short, owing to the non-extension of the 

 internodes, and again their leaves give the impression of 



