134 GLIMPSES IXTO PLANT-LIFE 



trees were grafted, as one may see by gathering 

 a leaf from a sucker and comparing it with a 

 peach or nectarine leaf 



On the oak, chestnut, lime, beech, and other 

 trees there are sometimes to be found dormant 

 buds in the form of rounded knobs covered 

 with bark and increasing in size with the growth 

 of the tree ; these, in the event of other buds 

 perishing, will start into active growth and do 

 their part in ])reserving the life of the tree. 



Such woody balls when found on the oak are 

 worth examination, as when divested of their 

 bark they show exquisite structure of woody fibre. 



The small bulbils we find in the axils of lily 

 stems, on the cuckoo-flower, on Dentaria bulbifera, 

 and on some species of Allium, are all adventitious 

 buds, which drop off in due time and become 

 young plants. 



They are in many respects similar to bulbs, 

 and if we cut one in half and compare it with 

 a divided hyacinth we shall see that they both 

 consist of over - lapping scales. In the onion 

 these scales are fleshy and succulent, but in 

 most tree buds they are dry, hard membranes. 



