CHAPTER III 



ANATOMY STUDY OF THE SHOOT 



Shoot. Stems and leaves are so intimately connected that 

 it is impossible to treat of one without reference to the other. 

 The term shoot is therefore used to include both the stem and 

 its leaves. At the apex of the shoot there is, as a general rule, 

 the growing point, from which the leaves and branches are pro- 

 duced. The leaves increase in size faster than the stem, which 

 causes them to overlap the apex, forming a bud. The structure 

 of the tip of the shoot can be made out by the aid of a hand lens. 

 The growing point will be found at the apex of the shoot and 

 it is surrounded by a number of minute leaves. 



EXPT. 7. Take a twig of the Horse Chestnut, and make a longi- 

 tudinal section so as to pass through the apex. 



Examine the section by the aid of a hand lens. A series of leaves, 

 the largest on the outside and the smallest near the centre of the bud, 

 will be found, and protected from injury by these overlapping leaves, 

 the growing point will be fairly easily made out. 



Buds. A bud is an undeveloped shoot, and from it leaves 

 and branches may be produced. Buds receive different names 

 according to the parts of the plant which may be produced from 

 them. If a bud develops into a branch it is known as a stem- 

 bud, if foliage leaves are formed from the bud it is called a 

 leaf-bud ; a flower-bud is one which produces a flower. 



Buds are often named after their position on the shoot. If 

 the bud is found at the end of the shoot it is called a terminal 

 bud ; when it grows in the axil of a leaf, an axillary bud ; if 

 the bud springs from any other part of the shoot it is known as 



