Winter Buds and Tree Forms 39 



Buds vary not only in their size and shape but in 

 their arrangement on the twigs. Thus on a horse- 

 chestnut twig they grow opposite each other, while 

 in the beech they are placed alternately. In both 

 cases they are arranged quite regularly along the stem 

 just as the leaves (as shown by the leaf scars they left 

 behind) grew in the summer. These buds grow into 

 twigs, and the twigs, in time, into branches, and so it 

 follows that in some kinds of trees the branches are 

 opposite, while in others they are alternate. This is 



Fig. 22. Leaf of Plane, with bud. 



one of the differences that should strike you when 

 looking at such trees as the sycamore, horse-chestnut, 

 fir, on the one hand, and the oak or elm on the other. 

 Notice also how the way in which the main branches 

 grow out from the trunk depends on the kind of tree. 

 In the ash they grow up fairly close to the trunk, while 

 in the oak and fir the branches sweep straight out 

 almost horizontally. 



There is just one other point about the growth of 

 trees that I want you to notice for yourselves while the 

 shape of the bare boughs can easily be seen. Is it on 



