126 GLIMPSES INTO PLANT-LIFE 



If during the summer we lift up the branch 

 of any deciduous tree and search amongst the 

 leaves, we shall find that the buds for the follow- 

 ing year are already there, waiting to be developed 

 in due time. When the leaves turn dry and sere, 

 they fall off and leave the buds to be hardened 

 and matured by the rain, snow, and frost of 

 winter. 



Certain species of Turkey oak, young beeches, 

 hornbeams in hedges, and other trees, appear to 

 retain their leaves, to some extent, as if to protect 

 the buds until the rising sap in spring loosens 

 their hold upon the branches, and makes them 

 fall off. 



The plane-tree appears to be an exception to 

 most trees in the curious protection it affords its 

 young buds. If we search for these in the summer 

 or autumn, they are not to be found, for the leaf- 

 stalk is so swollen and hollow at the base as to 

 enclose the bud within it ; even when the leaf falls 

 off, the bud is covered by a tough outer case 

 coated with resin, and within are many fur-lined 

 scales. When these are removed we see the tiny 

 leaves wrapped in silky coverings, and when the 



