On the Buds and Ramifications of Plants. S35 



sonorous under the fingers. They are called scales, on ac- 

 count of their usual form. These organs are almost always 

 covered with a resinous matter, which cements them very 

 closely to each other, and which conlnbutes not a little to 

 •<lcfend the tender germs contained in the buds from the cold 

 and moisture of the severe seasons. 



In a great mimher of hushes and shrubs these scales are 

 entirely wanting; but thcif place is supplied in several 

 species by a down, which sometimes is pretty thick, and 

 which affords sufficient protection to the buds against the 

 rigour of the winter, as in the viburnum and the pteleoi' lit 

 other buds of similar plants the parts still herbaceous and 

 tender have neither down, nor scales, nor resinous matter, 

 nor anv other kind of covering, and they nevertheless with- 

 stand the intemperance of the seasons, unless it be exces- 

 sive. Amona; the latter there are some the folioles of which 

 cover each otlier firmly, as in the common lilac, the hazle, 

 &c.; and there are some also in which the exterior folioles 

 are neither so thick nor so firmly applied to each other as 

 to be able to oppose the entrance of humidity, as is the case 

 io the cornel tree. 



The buds of several ligneous dicotyledon plants remain, 

 in regard to their base and a great part of their body, con- 

 cealed during winter under the bark, and their summit does 

 not entirely open a passage tor itself till the following 

 spring. Here the bark serves as bandages to the tender 

 eJements of the new ramifications, as we see in a great 

 ifiunber of shrubs. 



Nature incloses the buds in several shrubs, as in the ber- 

 Icris vulgaris, with petioles very close to each other ; it co- 

 vers them also on one side by the branch from which they 

 have proceeded, and on the other by the flat base of the 

 prickles. 



In the last place, there are some ligneous dicotyledon ve- 

 getables the buds of which are concealed and sheltered from 

 the pernicious influence of the weather in a manner as sin- 

 gular as wonderful. The buds, unprovided with scales, but 

 covered with a fine and thick down, form themselves under 

 the concave base of the supporters of the leaves. During 

 winter these supporters remain in their place in several 

 plantti; but when the sap ascends, the eye, becoming larger, 

 rejects the tutor, of which it has no longer need. Some- 

 times shocks, and other accidents, make them fall earlier : 

 in this case, the bud, being still secured by its natural pe- 

 lisse, escapes gent rallv the severe cold of winter. 



I have observed that tlic supporter in question diflTers ac- 



cordinjr 



