LESSON 4.] GROWTH OF PLANTS FROM BUDS. 23 



blebush (while those of the nearly-related Snowball or High Bush- 

 Cranberry are scaly) ; but more commonly, when naked buds occur 

 in trees and shrubs of our climate, they are small, and sunk in the 

 bark, as in the Sumac ; or even partly buried in the wood until they 

 begin to grow, as in the Honey-Locust, 



46. Vigor of Vegetation from Buds, Large and strong buds, like those 

 of the Horsechestnut, Hickory, and the like, on inspection will be 

 found to contain several leaves, or pairs of leaves, ready formed, 

 folded and packed away in small compass, just as the seed-leaves 

 are packed away in the seed : they even contain all the blossoms of 

 the ensuing season, plainly visible as small buds. And the stems 

 upon which these buds rest are filled with abundant nourishment, 

 which was deposited the summer before in the wood or in the bark. 

 Under the surface of the soil, or on it, covered with the fallen leaves 

 of autumn, we may find similar strong buds of our perennial herbs, 

 in great variety ; while beneath are thick roots, rootstocks, or tubers, 

 charged with a great store of nourishment for their use. As we 

 regard these, we shall readily perceive how it is that vegetation 

 shoots forth so vigorously in the spring of the year, and clothes the 

 bare and lately frozen surface of the soil, as well as the naked 

 boughs of trees, almost at once with a covering of the freshest 

 green, and often with brilliant blossoms. Everything was prepared, 

 and even formed, beforehand : the short joints of stem in the bud 

 have only to lengthen, and to separate the leaves from each other 

 so that they may unfold and grow. Only a small part of the vege- 

 tation of the season comes directly from the seed, and none of the 

 earliest vernal vegetation. This is all from buds which have lived 

 through the winter. 



47. This growth from buds, in manifold variety, is as interesting 

 a subject of study as the growth of the plantlet from the seed, and 

 is still easier to observe. We have only room here to sketch the 

 general plan ; earnestly recommending the student to examine at- 

 tentively their mode of growth in all the common trees and shrubs, 

 when they shoot forth in spring. The growth of the terminal bud 

 prolongs the stem or branch: the growth of axillary buds pro- 

 duces branches. 



48. The Arrangement of Branches is accordingly the same as of 

 axillary buds ; and the arrangement of these buds is the same as 

 that of the leaves. Now leaves are arranged in two principal ways : 

 they are either opposite or alternate. Leaves are opposite when 



