II.] 



APEX OF SHOOT 



11 



by the removal of its closely packed leaves, appears as 

 a more or less conical or dome-shaped body on which 

 the ruptured leaf-insertions stand out as sections of the 

 base of the leaf, arranged in close spirals round the axis. 



Fig. 3. Apex of shoot dis- 

 sected from the bud and viewed 

 from the side. Highly magni- 

 fied, and showing the terminal 

 dome of tissue with the spirally 

 arranged and closely packed 

 protuberances, each of which 

 will grow out into a leaf (Sa). 



Fig. 4. Apex of shoot of Fir dis- 

 sected from the bud and viewed 

 from above. Highly magnified and 

 showing the tip of the dome, with its 

 lateral, spirally arranged and closely 

 crowded leaf-incepts, as in Fig. 3. 

 a and b lines indicating the spirals 

 (Sa). 



By means of a lens or microscope we can see that 

 even when we have with some difficulty (owing to their 

 delicate texture, small size and close packing) removed 

 the youngest leaf we can recognise as such, there are still 

 a number of tender knobs on the surface of the central 

 stem-end : these are the inceptions, or beginnings, of 

 leaves w^hich are still so young as not to have acquired 

 their flattened form, or any difference between leaf-stalk 

 (petiole) and blade (lamina); see Figs. 3 and 4. Very often 

 there are other outgrowths also in a similar young con- 

 dition, apparent as tiny knobs, which are the beginnings 



