OF BUDS. 65 



ones being dry and hard, the interior, moist and covered with 

 down; they are also furnished with a kind of resin or balsam, 

 which prevents the embryo from being injured by too^ much 

 moisture : buds have been known to lie for years in water with- 

 out injury to. the infant plant or branch within. 



The sap is the great fountain of vegetable life, by its agency 

 new buds are yearly formed to replace the leaves and flowers 

 destroyed by the severity of winter. Branches also originate 

 from buds. Linna3us supposed that buds spring from the pith, 

 this being found necessary to their formation and growth. 



The bud is usually a cone-like protuberance formed by the 

 swelling of the germ ; and as for this purpose the agency of 

 an additional quantity of sap is needed, we see the bud appear- 

 ing at the axils of leaves or the extremities of branches and 

 stems where there is an accumulation of this fluid. 



If you plant a slip of Geranium, you will observe that it ei- 

 ther sprouts from the axil of a leaf, or from knots in the stem 

 which answer the same purpose as the leaf, by slightly inter- 

 rupting the circulation of the juices, and thus affording an ac- 

 cumulation of sap necessary for the production of a new shoot. 



Some botanists distinguish the bud as follows: that point in 

 the plant which gives rise to the bud is called the eye ; when 

 this begins to swell and become apparent, it is called the button ; 

 and when it begins to unfold, the bud.* 



Herbs and shrubs have buds, but these usually grow and un- 

 fold themselves in the same season, and are destitute of scales ; 

 while the buds of trees are not perfected in less than two sea- 

 sons, and in some cases they require years for their full de- 

 vdopement. You have, no doubt, observed in the spring, the 

 rapid growth of the leaves and branches of trees ; and perhaps, 

 have also noticed, that as summer advances, the progress of 

 vegetation seems almost to cease, and that new leaves and 

 branches do not come forth as before ; but you may not have 

 known, that instead of resting in her operations, nature is now 

 busy in providing for the next year ; that she is turning the vi- 

 tal energies of the plants to the formation of buds. Those 

 little embryo plants so nicely wrapped up in downy scales as to 

 be able to bear the coldness of winter, in the ensuing spring 

 will come forth from their snug retreats, and taking the places 



* These terms in French are Vceil the eye, bouton the button, and bourgeons 

 the bud. 



Buds supposed to originate from the pith Sap needed for its formation 

 The eye, button and bud Herbs and shrubs destitute of scaly buds Period in 

 which the formation of buds commences. 



6* 



