104 



^^^, 



60-. Ope?i- 



an apri- 

 cot hud. 



The bnd may be peach or apricot. Soon tlie bud begins to swell 

 at its top. The scales open. A white lining appears. This lining 

 soon protrudes (Fig. 60). Soon the lining opens. We see that it is 

 a flower. Or, perhaps the peach bud sends out a green 

 shoot rather than a flower. There must be two kinds of 

 peach and apricot buds, — a flower-bud and a leaf-bud. 

 Can you tell them apart ? The flower-bud is thicker and 

 rounder. Usually one stands on either side of a leaf-bud. 

 But the leaf -bud may stand alone. Find one : any peach 

 tree or apricot tree will have leaf-buds, but all may not 

 ing of have flower-buds. As the bud expands and the flower or 

 leaf appears, notice that the bud-scales fall away. Do 

 not these scales leave scars ? And do not these scars, 

 standing together, make the " ring " which marks the beginning of 

 the new growth ? ^ ^ ^ 



Observe a pear bud. Notice that the scales elongate as the bud 

 swells. You can see the white bases of the scales, marking the 

 new growth (Fig. 61). If it is a leaf-bud, the scales may 

 become three-fourths of an inch long before they fall. 

 But sooner or later, they are cast, and their places are 

 marked by scars. If it is a flower-bud, notice that sev- 

 eral flowers come out of it. 

 In the apricot and peach, 

 there is only one flower in 

 each bud. Each of these 

 little pear flowers is closed 



up like a bud, and elevates 

 itself on a stalk before it 



61. — Open- 

 ing of a 

 j)<iar hud. 



opens : and this stalk be- 

 comes the stem of the pear fruit. 

 But this pear flower-bud contains 

 leaves as well as flowers. Fig. 62 

 shows what comes out of a pear 

 bud. This, then, is a mixed 

 flower-bud, — it contains both 

 leaves and flowers. The apricot and peach bear true or simple 



flower-buds. 



496 



62. — What came out of a pear hud. 



