THE ORIGIN OF BRANCHES. 273 



CHAPTER III. 



THE ORIGIN AND ATTACHMENT OF BRANCHES. 



Whether we regard branches merely as divisions 

 and subdivisions of the stem, or more correctly, as re- 

 gards their origin, as distinct individuals, its lateral 

 progeny, we find their structure to accord, in every 

 particular, with that of the stem. The description of 

 the structure of the trunk is consequently applicable 

 to the branches ; and we have now, therefore, only to 

 investigate the nature of the connexion between these 

 parts ; tracing the branch from its earliest state, or be- 

 fore it becomes visible to the naked eye, till it is fully 

 extended, and has itself become the parent of future 

 branches. 



Every branch is formed in a bud or germ ; and every 

 bud, except perhaps the terminal one, and such as 

 appear on roots, and constilue suckers, originates in 

 the axil of a leaf ; to trace, therefore, the origin of 

 the branch, is, in fact, to trace that of the axillary bud ; 

 and this may be done most readily in the succulent 

 shoot of any tree or shrub in early spring, as, for ex- 

 ample, that of the common Lilac when just expanding 

 its leaves. 



In such shoot, in the axil of about the third pair of 

 leaves, it is possible to perceive by the aid of the lens 

 a minute elevation resembling a semi-transparent ve- 

 sicle depressed in the centre ; which under the mi- 

 croscope, appears to be a lobular body, with a small 

 green speck in the central depression. This is the 

 rudiment of the bud and germ, and consequently of 

 the future branch. By strong magnifying powers we 

 discover a connexion between the cellular matter of 

 the lobes of this germ, and that of the pith, the. medul- 



