104 



FLOWER-LAND. 



will tell you about some leaves which are still more 

 different from the common green leaves than the 

 stipules and bracts we have been speaking of. In 

 colour they vary from shades of yellow and brown to 

 grey and almost white ; and being something like 

 scales they are called leaf-scales, or simply scales. 

 They grow upon underground 

 stems, and are often very small 

 (Figs. 44, 45, p. 66, 67). You can 

 easily see them, however, in bulbs, 

 both scaly bulbs like those of the 

 lily and tunicated ones like 

 those of the onion. If we pass 

 any hyacinths, we will get one of 

 the bulbs up, if we can, and look at 



Fig. 85. Hyacinth bulb. ,. , r , . , 



k Stem base, w roots, z it. The scales or coats of which 



scales, kn bud in axil of these bulbs are com posed, are 

 leaf scales which becomes 



next year's bulb, s flower modified leaves, or leaf-scales, 



stalk with buds b, /foliage 



leaves. and new bulbs often grow in the 



axils, just as branch buds are formed in the axils of 

 the common foliage leaves (Fig. 85). 



Sometimes leaf scales grow upon aerial stems, where 

 they are most easily found upon the buds of trees. 

 Do you remember them upon the chestnut, or the 

 sycamore? (p. 77). The outer ones are smaller, but 

 they gradually increase in size until the scale covers 

 the whole length of the bud, then again they get 

 smaller and softer, until at last you come to the tiny 

 little cluster of delicate leaves, which I hope you have 

 already seen. 



