CHAPTER IX 



BUDS 



94. Structure of winter buds. Dissection of most winter 

 buds shows that they are composed of an outer covering of 



tough, often hairy or resin-covered 

 scales and an interior mass of small 

 undeveloped leaves, closely packed 

 together. Not infrequently a rudi- 

 mentary flower cluster occupies the 

 central portion of the bud. 



95. Nature of bud scales. The 

 fact that the bud scales are in cer- 

 tain cases merely imperfectly de- 

 veloped leaves or leafstalks is often 

 clearly manifest from the series of 

 steps connecting the bud scale on 

 the one hand with the young leaf 

 on the other, which may be found 

 in many opening buds, as illus- 

 trated by Fig. 77. In other buds 

 the scales are not imperfect leaves, 

 but the little appendages (stipules, 

 Figs. 89, 90) which occur at the 

 bases of leaves. This kind of bud 

 scale is especially well shown in 



FIG. 77. Dissected bud of buck- . 



eye (ASaculus macrostachya), the magnolia and the tulip tree 



showing transitions from bud and in the familiar " rubber plant '' 



scales to leaves (Ficus e i agtica ^ 



96. Naked buds. All the kinds above mentioned are resting 

 buds, and in temperate or cold climates winter luds, capable of 



80 



