THE ASH. 9 



which the double curve is again repeated, while vet another set of 

 twigs, developed from buds on the under side, are pendent irom these. 



The causes ol this mode ot growth can be traced in the torma- 

 tion of a voung shoot or sapling. The shoot which represents one 

 season's growth terminates in a bud ; immediately below this are a 

 pair of buds, either opposite or arranged one slightly below the other. 

 At intervals along the shoot grow other pairs of buds, each one at 

 right angles to the pair above it. Next year, the growth ot the 

 shoot is not continued from the terminal bud (as in the case of the 

 sycamore where the buds are similarlv arranged) : this dies away, and 

 from one ot the lateral buds springs a new shoot which takes the 

 place of the old. Sometimes, through several successive seasons, the 

 bud is always developed on the same side ot the twig, which thus 

 continues to diverge from the straight line in a series of undulating 

 curves. On the other hand, if the buds develop in successive seasons 

 on alternate sides of the twig, a line ot alternating curves is pro- 

 duced. Occasionally both the lateral buds produce branches, but one 

 is then smaller than the other, and the curving line is still apparent. 

 A leading shoot produces several pairs of lateral branches in a year, 

 and late in the season the portion ot stem intervening between these 

 branches has all the appearance of having sprung from a terminal 

 bud, though this is but rarely the case. 



The lower portion ot the trunk in the full-grown tree is an exception 

 to its usual formation, being perfectly straight, but this has been brought 

 about bv the rapid growth of the sapling. The new twigs spring from 

 the shoot in a curved line, and so the angle between them is not so 

 sharp as in the beech or birch, where the converging lines are straight. 



The form ot an ash twig is peculiar. The stem projects on 

 either side at the point where the leaf-stalk is articulated with it, 



