HOW ONE SEASON PKEPAKES FOE THE NEXT 



165 



6. The fall of the leaf When winter draws near 

 the leaf gives up its starch to be stored away in the 

 inner bark, and then the leaf-stalk is gradually cut off 

 from the currents of sap. A layer of cork is made to 

 cover over each sap-tube just where it enters the 

 leaf-stalk. In this way the flow is stopped, and when 

 the leaf falls there is no " bleeding " from the wound. 

 Break off a leaf of a Virginia creeper that is red for the 

 fall and you will see the corky layers clearly. 



7. When the leaves fall, the bare buds show so 

 plainly against the autumn sky that you wonder 

 that you never noticed them earlier in the season. 

 You need not blame yourself, for they are not easily 

 seen. Sometimes, indeed, it is impossible to see the 

 bud until the leaf falls. Such is the case in the plane 

 tree which beautifies so many of our streets. 



8. Puzzle : find the plane tree bud ! In the plane 



the base of the 

 leaf-stalk is 

 hollowed out so 

 as to form a 

 kind of cup 

 which complete- 

 ly covers the 

 bud. Before 

 the fall of the 

 leaves, you puz- - 

 zle yourself to 

 find the buds for 

 next year. No 

 buds ! What a 

 puzzling tree ! 



Ijeaf of plane tree, showing the cup that hides t) j, j • 



the bud during Bumnier. -tSUt OUO day m 



