lor 



silken-soft as they begin to expand. Fig. 69 is a 

 willow shoot. Find one when the buds first begin 

 to burst. Notice the big brown-black scale that covers 

 the bud as a shield and falls when the " pussy " first 

 begins to appear. 



vr vJ TT 



And now what is a winter bud ? It is a miniature slioot 

 or flower, resting for the time, and snugly wrapped for the 

 long winter. It was made last season. It is ready to 



leap into growth the 

 moment the warm 

 rain of spring wak- 

 ens it. A good hand 

 lens will show the 

 embryo branch, if a 

 section is made of 

 the bud. 



Tills bud is not 

 onl}^ ready-formed, 

 but it is ready-fed. 

 The winter shoots 

 contain starch. On 



70. — Bloom of azalea. 



If"* 



1 



f^^l 



a cut surface of a dormant twig, apply a drop of tincture 



of iodine ; note the bluish color, which is indicative of 



starch. This starch is insoluble ; but with the first 



awakening of life it changes into sugar, which is soluble 



and is transferred to the growing point. The burst of 



spring is made possible by means of this stored food. 



Notice the azalea in the florist's window (Fig. TO). The 



large flower-buds were formed the year before, and it is a 



short operation to force them into bloom. The flowers 



come in advance of the leaves ; therefore these leaves 



could not have made the food required for the bloom. The 



blooming of the apple twig (Fig. 64) in the winter shows 69. —The 



that the food is in the twi^ and buds. Once I drew a evening 



. <?/ a pussy 



branch of a tree into a room and fastened it there. It ^^moyo, 



499 



