LEAVES A.ND BUBS. 



143 



part of an ordinary foliage-leaf the leaf -base or the leaf -stalk does 

 the bud-scale correspond ? Note the young foliage-leaves in the centre 

 of the bud : how many are there visible, and what portions of the leaf 

 are already developed ? Note the fan-like manner in which the young 

 leaf -blade is folded ; try to cut out from a sheet of paper a model of 

 the young blade. Is the young leaf smooth and bare, or has it any 

 protective covering of hairs ? 



Cut buds through, some longitudinally and some transversely, to see 

 how the leaves inside are folded up. 



j^g 49. _ Twigs of Sycamore and Stages in Opening of Bud. 



In spring, notice how the buds swell up. Make careful observations 

 on the opening of the buds. It is possible to cause them to open in 

 winter by setting a cut twig in water and keeping it in a warm room. 

 Notice how the inner scales, as well as the young foliage-leaves, expand 

 and lengthen, pushing aside the outer scales, and how the young leaves 

 unfold themselves. The buds open at end of April or early in May. 



Make notes and sketches of all the stages in the opening of the bud. 

 Note that the stalks of the young leaves, which have hitherto been very 

 short, rapidly lengthen and carry out the leaf -blades beyond the scales. 

 The lower part of the stem of the bud hardly lengthens at all, so that 

 when the bud-scales fall off they leave a number of crowded scars, 

 while the upper part of the bud-axis grows out to form a shoot, the 

 leaves becoming spaced out (in pairs) upon it. 



