WINTER CONDITION OF SHOOTS AND BUDS 7$ 



removing the overlapping scales, or by cutting it open through 

 the middle. In pruning, from one-third to one-half of the end 

 of these new vigorous shoots is cut away in order to favor fruit 

 development, and to admit sunlight to the forming fruit. 



117. Shoots of the sumac.* The shoots of the sumac also 

 have indefinite growth, and the terminal portion therefore dies 

 back some distance during the winter. This dead portion is 

 very slender and short and very easily falls away. It is, however, 

 often attached during late winter, and may have remnants of 

 leaves clinging to it. Jarring the shoot usually causes the dead 

 terminal portion to fall. Sometimes the shoot will die back 

 farther than this slender terminal portion. The sumac is further 

 interesting because of the hairy condition of the shoots; the 

 absence of bud scales, their function being performed by a dense 

 wooly covering; by the resinous or gummy exudation where 

 bruised or cut, and by the large size of the medulla or pith. 

 The leaf scars are peculiar in that they nearly surround the buds, 

 but are open above and nearly heart shaped. 



118. Shoots of the willow. The shoots of the willow possess 

 an axillary terminal bud and the dead terminal portion of the 

 shoot is crowded to one side. The growth of the willow shoot 

 therefore is indefinite. The leaf scar is semilunar in form and 

 there are three bundle scars, one below and one at each end. 

 There is but a single brown scale on the bud, and it fits over 

 the bud like a cap or hood. On removing it the character and 

 condition of the bud within is seen. It is green and the young 

 leaves are hairy. In the spring when growth begins the bark is 

 easily removed from willow shoots. The willow is a splendid 

 example of the formation of adventitious shoots and roots. They 

 are developed in great number when a shoot is placed in water or 

 in moist ground, and the willow is therefore very easily propa- 

 gated from cuttings. 



119. Leaf arrangement or phyllotaxy. The arrangement 

 of leaves on the shoot follows in general certain well-known sys- 



* The characters will vary with the species. The species dealt with here 

 is the stag horn sumac, Rhus typhina=R, hirta of some books. 



