MORPHOLOGY OF BUDS. 43 



73. Fleshy Buds. Bulbs are peculiar buds of certain herba- 

 ceous plants, with fleshy scales, and often of a more permanent 

 character. Their nature and economy may most conveniently 

 be illustrated under subsequent sections. Usually bulbs are 

 subterranean or partly so. But small bulbs (Bulblets, 123) regu- 

 larly appear in the axil of nearly all the leaves of certain common 

 Lilies, being obviously ordinary axillary buds, under certain 

 modifications. They become detached at maturity, fall to the 

 ground, produce roots, and grow as independent plants ; and 

 their fleshy scales are storehouses of nourishment for the early 

 support of this independent growth. 



74. Bud-propagation is a normal mode of reproduction in cases 

 like the above, the spontaneously detached bulblets or buds 

 establishing themselves as progeny. In several species of 

 Allium (Onions and Leeks), such bulblets usurp the place of 

 flower-buds, making the analogy seem closer. Stems or branches 

 which habitually root in the soil, or along its surface, equally 

 propagate or divide into new individuals, becoming distinct by 

 the perishing of the older connecting parts, or by breaking away 

 from them. Propagation by cuttings is an acceleration or exten- 

 sion of this same natural operation. The cutting is a portion of 

 stem bearing one or more buds, which, through the faculty of 

 the stem to strike root, is made to grow independently. In 

 grafting, such a cutting, and in budding a bud only, with a small 

 portion of wood and bark, is transferred to the stem of another 

 plant of the same or of some related species, and made to grow 

 there, uniting its wood and bark with those of the stock, and so 

 becoming a limb or branch, in place of striking root into the soil 

 and becoming a separate plant. The horticultural advantage of 

 bud-propagation is, that the offsets or new individuals share 

 in all the peculiarities of the parent as completely as if still 

 branches of that tree. In propagation by seed, the special 

 peculiarities or excellencies of individuals or varieties may not, 

 and in some measure probably will not, be reproduced. 



75. Normal or Regular Buds, as to position, are either terminal 

 or axillary, as already stated. (15.) They are single, that is, 

 one bud normally occupies the apex of a stem or branch, and 

 appears, or usually may appear, in the axil of (or upper angle 

 formed with the stem by) any well-developed leaf. In these, 

 positions, buds are so usual, or so capable of appearing, that 

 they are commonly regarded as potential when not actually 

 present. The potentiality may be manifested by the actual 

 development of these buds in shrubs or trees after the lapse of 

 years. (84.) The terminal leaf-bud is to continue the axis it 



