844 



A TEXTBOOK OF THEORETICAL BOTANY 



I 



buds have not received enough nourishment to grow at all and have 

 remained dormant. 



Some growers practise the Lorette method of pruning, cutting the summer 

 shoots down in July to ^ in. from the base. The theory is that the basal 

 buds, which were themselves formed in the axils of bud scales, when 

 stimulated to growth will only have enough vigour to produce spurs, so that 

 a cluster of spurs will be formed. Opinions differ as to the success of the 

 method in this country, though in France it is very popular. 



More than one bud may be formed in a single axil, though it is exceptional. 

 Series of two or three buds are not uncommon and as many as ten may be 



Petiole 



Axillary bud 



Fig. 836. — Platamis orieiitalis. Sec- 

 tion through the base of a petiole 

 showing the enclosed axillary bud. 



found. They form a succession in age and size. In Dicotyledons the series 

 is always vertical, with either the oldest or the youngest at the bottom, while 

 in Monocotyledons the series is always lateral, with the oldest bud in the 

 middle. Either branch or flower buds may be involved or both together. 

 The suggestion that this multiplicity of buds is due to the precocious branch- 

 ing of one axillary bud, is probably correct in some instances, though in 

 others the buds seem to be formed independently at the stem apex. 



A good many trees and shrubs, especially in the Tropics, protect their 

 axillary buds by structural arrangements. Two striking examples among 

 well-known plants are the Plane, Platnnus orientalis, and the Locust Tree, 

 Robinia pseudacacia. The axillary buds in both cases are enclosed by the 

 growth of the base of the leaf stalk and are only exposed in winter when the 

 leaves fall (Fig. 836). In the second species there are three buds in series, 



