26 SYSTEMATIC J'oMoLOCY 



classification, and, of courst', must receive rec()«:iiition in pruning 

 as euttinjr to favored buds ^nves branches growinjjf in a desired 

 direction. 



40. Stalked and sessile buds. — Some l)uds are attached directly 

 to the stem and are scssih ; others have short stalks antl are 

 stalked. Wliether buds arc stalked or sessile sometimes helps 

 to characterize varieties in a species or species in a genus; as 

 in Kibes in which black and red currants bear buds which are 

 distinctly stalked while those of the gooseberry are sessile. The 

 stalks of black currants are beset with small yellow glands as 

 are the bud-scales. The buds of all hardy tree-fruits are sessile. 

 If the buds lie close to the twigs, they are appressed; if they 

 stand away at a consideral)le angle, free. 



41. Time of opening of buds. — Life events in plants help very 

 much in classification and are sometimes of supreme importance 

 in orchard operations and, therefore, in determining whether 

 varieties are desirable or not. Thus the time of opening of leaf- 

 and flower-buds are life events that the fruit-grower must take 

 into consideration. The terms early, mid-season, and late usually 

 suffice, although dates are often helpful. 



42. Bud-variations. — Normally, the shoots that develop from 

 the buds upon any plant are very closely alike, much more nearly 

 so than the progeny that springs from seeds of the same pod. 

 Now and then, however, a bud produces a shoot which differs 

 greatly from the other shoots on the plant. All kinds of culti- 

 vated subjects furnish examples. Thus, a shoot of a peach pro- 

 duces a nectarine, or of a nectarine a peach; a branch of the 

 Bartlett pear bears russet fruits; purple plums produce yellow 

 plums; blackberries throw white variations; red cun-ants give 

 white varieties, or black grapes bear white ones; and, more fre- 

 quently than any of these examples, light red or red-striped 

 apples bear dark red sorts. These sudden marked variations 

 are called bud-variations, mutations, or sports. New varieties 

 of ornamental plants not infrequently originate as bud-varia- 

 tions, but despite popular opinion to the contrary, very few 

 varieties of fruit have so originated, nearly all of which have 

 been due to changes in color, the chief exception being the loss 

 of the felted skin of the peach to make a nectarine or the gain by 

 a nectarine of pubescence to make a peach. 



