April, 1906.] Winter Buds of Ohio Trees and Shrubs. 505 



He saw many porcupines, the last about 1S70. Mr. Julius 

 House killed a porcupine in Wood County about 1879. 



In Daussa's Cave, Put-in-Bay, half of a lower jaw-bone of a 

 beaver was found. Mr. Wright knows of no living specimens in 

 his time. 



Concerning mammals still common, a few notes may be of 

 interest. In the fall of 1899, Burt Todd killed 13 raccoons, 27 

 skunks and 18 opossums, nearly all within three miles of his 

 home in the eastern part of Erie County. In 1900 he killed 15 

 raccoons, 28 skunks and 20 opossums. 



About 1892 Charles Dildyne and his brother trapped 74 

 mink in one winter in the West Huron Marsh in Erie County. 



Sandusky. 



WINTER BUDS OF OHIO TREES AND SHRUBS. 



John H. Schaffner. 



In a region where plants are exposed to severe winters and 

 great variations of temperature, the development of proper pro- 

 tective devices for the delicate stem tips becomes of considerable 

 importance. Winter buds are usually protected by various 

 kinds of scales, by pubescence, or by gummy and resinous ex- 

 cretions. These devices are not developed to keep the tip warm 

 nor to prevent freezing, but to check evaporation. 



In cold weather, when the temperature of the cells is reduced 

 to or below the freezing point, water is driven off and solidifies 

 as ice crystals in the intercellular spaces, outside of the cell wall. 

 Now, as is well known, if some frozen plants while thawing out 

 are submerged in water only a few degrees above freezing, they 

 may recover completely, because the normal turgidity of the cell 

 is thus restored. In much the same way, if a frozen bud is pro- 

 perly protected by suitable coverings, when the ice melts the 

 water will be retained and reabsorbed by the protaplasm of the 

 cells, while if it were freely exposed the water would evaporate 

 and the ceils could not regain their normal condition since little 

 or no water is being absorbed by the roots. 



A very perfectly protected winter bud is found in Platanus 

 occidentalis. After the protective cap, formed by the base of 

 the petiole, falls away with the leaf, the bud is exposed for the 

 first time since its inception. It is completely covered by a single 

 smooth outer scale. Beneath this is a gummy layer and on the 

 inside a large amount of dense coarse pubescence. One could 

 hardly think of a more perfect arrangement for keeping in mois- 

 ture. 



Winter buds may be without definitely developed scales, as 

 in Asimina triloba, Hamamelis virginiana, and Rhus glabra.. 



