iv BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS 49 



in the axils of the leaves, and generally only develop 

 into blossoms after the dropping of the leaf i.e. on the 

 leafless parts of branches and stem. 



As we shall see when we come to discuss the develop- 

 ment of the fruit, the basal part of the central axis 

 of the dichasium, and sometimes also the basal part of 

 the secondary axis, remains on the tree after the fruit 

 drops off, and from this remaining part young dichasia 

 with flowers will arise again next year. So what we 

 called a dichasium turns out to be a perennial organ. 



FIG. 12. Different forms of flower-clusters (enlarged 1^). 



In A the dichasial ramification is very apparent ; in B the axis is much reduced ; in C the 

 axis has wholly disappeared. 



From this point of view it is better to regard it not as 

 a flower-cluster, but as a twig which bears flowers. 



It must not be forgotten that the leaf-bearing twigs 

 also develop from buds situated in the axils of the 

 leaves ; and it is an interesting question, though one 

 of purely theoretical importance, whether or not these 

 buds have the same origin as those which develop into 

 flower-clusters in other words, whether twigs and 

 flower -clusters develop from different buds, both 

 situated in the axils of the leaves, or whether the same 

 bud can develop into a twig or into a blossom-dichasium 

 according to circumstances. 



To the present author it seems that the latter 



E 



