CHAPTER VII 



BUDS AND BRANCHES 



88. Occurrence of buds. If we look at the live branches of 

 any shrub or tree during the winter, many buds will be found 

 along their sides, and usually each twig is tipped with a bud. 

 Most people are aware of these facts, but they have not gener- 

 ally observed that the forma- 

 tion of these buds began 

 rather early in the summer. 

 It is not usual, among those 

 who are not botanists, to 

 speak of the buds of herbs, 

 such as beans, peas, toma- 

 toes, and cucumbers ; and 

 yet such plants are well 

 provided with buds, only 

 they are inconspicuous and 

 often nearly hidden by the 

 young- leaves at the tips of 

 the shoots. 



^o be accurate we must 

 classify buds into scaly win- 

 ter buds (or resting buds) 

 and naked buds. The latter 

 occur not only on all herbs (fig. 49) but also on the shrubs 

 and forest trees of hot countries. 



Generally speaking, scaly buds occur in woody plants which 

 grow in cold or temperate climates, where such buds are well 

 suited to resist the sudden winter changes from heat to cold, 

 and the reverse. Some of our common trees and shrubs have 



94 



FIG. 76. Opening leaf bud of rose 



a, b, c, and d show stages of transition 



between bud scales and fully developed 



leaves. After Payer 



