CHAPTER XLIV. 



WINTER BUDS, SHOOTS, ETC. 



564. Winter buds and how the young leaves are protected. In plants 

 like the pea, bean, corn, etc., which we have been studying, when the plant 

 is mature it ripens its seed, and then dies. It grows only for one season, 

 and the plants of the next season are obtained from the seed again. Such 

 plants are annual. In woody plants like trees and shrubs which grow from 

 year to year, the young growing ends, where the elongation of the shoot or ' 

 branch will take place the coming year, are usually provided with a special 

 armature for protection during the cold of the winter, or through the resting 

 period. This growing end is the bud. One of the very common means of 

 protection of the buds through the rigor of the winter is by means of bud 

 scales, which are formed at the close of the season's growth, and which 

 overlap and closely hide the young and tender bud leaves within. Atten- 

 tion is called to a few of these buds here, and there will be no difficulty for 

 the student to obtain quantities of material of several different kinds of trees 

 and shrubs which it may be desirable to study, and which need not be men- 

 tioned here. 



565. Twigs and buds of the horse-chestnut. In fig. 399 is illustrated a 

 shoot of the horse-chestnut. At the end of the shoot there is a large termi- 

 nal bud, and at its base are two lateral buds. The terminal bud is broader 

 than the diameter of the shoot, and is ovate in form. We notice that there 

 are a number of scales which overlap each other somewhat as shingles do on 

 a roof, only they are turned in the opposite direction. If we begin at the 

 base of the bud, we can see that the two lowest scales are opposite each 

 other, and that the two next higher ones are also opposite each other, and 

 set at right angles to the position of the lower pair. In the same manner 

 successive pairs of scales alternate, so that the third, fifth, seventh, etc., are 

 exactly over the first, and the fourth, sixth, etc., are exactly over the second. 

 Aside from the fact that these brown scales fit closely together over the bud, 

 we notice that they are covered with a sticky substance which helps to keep 

 out the surface water. Thus a very complete armature is provided for the 

 protection of the young leaves inside. 



566. Leaf scars. The number of leaves developed during one season's 



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