THE CHERRY. 



487 





ss& 



FLOWERS AND FRUIT. 



The buds which contain the inflorescence are usually found 

 clustered round the leaf-bud on a short twig ; on first opening they 



display the stipules, which are conspicuous for 



their bright green and pink colouring, and which 



J are surrounded bv orange-brown scales. In the 



centre of the cluster of opening buds are other 

 small stipules with rudimentary leaf- blades. About 

 the middle of April several flower-buds, each supported by a single 

 stalk, begin t<> push their way out beyond the stipules and scales 

 of the parent-bud. Their stems soon lengthen and curve upward : 

 they are of a pale shining green, and about one and a half inches 

 I nig. The sepals turn reddish-brown and separate one from another, 

 di 1 losing the rosy pink oi the petals folded between them. As 



