208 TREATISE ON FRUIT TREES. 



Although the rest stay attached to the tree all winter & appear to remain unchanged, they 

 perish in the spring and none of them are successful. 



The buds from the last nodes on the shoot remain closed all winter. If the winter 

 hasn't been too harsh & the figs haven't been damaged, they come out in the spring, in 

 April or at the beginning of May, & readily reach maturity. These are called summer figs, 

 flower figs 9 or first figs. They're bigger than the autumn ones & much less numerous. The 

 last nodes usually have two buds that sometimes bear fruit at the same time. But often 

 one develops & the other aborts, or one yields fruit in season & the other one later on. 

 Occasionally one fruit & one shoot come out. This is because several new shoots 

 normally emerge from the tip of each shoot, although only the terminal vegetative bud is 

 visible. Branches also can grow out in the middle & at the base of the shoot, & in general 

 from any of the nodes, even though no vegetative buds are visible. This happens as long 

 as the branch is young, because they re-grow with difficulty from old ones. 



Fig tree leaves are large & almost as wide as they are long. They are simple & 

 divided fairly deeply into five lobes, depending on the type. They are thick & sturdy, 

 rough to the touch, arranged alternately along the branch, & held on long, stout stalks. 

 The underside is light green, accented with very prominent whitish veins. The other side 

 of the leaf is a quite deep green, somewhat indented with furrows corresponding to the 

 veins. The margins are undulate, & some of the lobes are indented. 



The fruit of the fig tree does not originate from a flower as does most other fruit, 

 and it does not develop from the ovary of a pistil. 



