BUDS 81 



finally branches. Others push upward but little and 

 bear only flowers or leaves and flowers simultane- 

 ously. They are called flower buds, or simply buds. 

 It is very easy to distinguish one kind from the 

 other on our fruit-trees, the leaf buds being long 

 and pointed, the flower buds round and thicker. 



"All summer long the leaf buds grow in the axils 

 of the leaves ; they are gaining strength to go through 

 the winter. Cold weather comes and the leaves fall, 

 but the buds remain in their place, firmly implanted 

 on a ledge of the bark, or a sort of little cushion, 

 situated just above the scar left by the falling of the 

 adjacent leaf. To withstand the rigors of cold and 

 dampness, which would be fatal to them, winter 

 clothing is indispensable. It consists of a warm 

 inner envelope of flock and down, and a strong outer 

 casing of well varnished scales. Let us examine 

 for instance the bud of a chestnut-tree. Within we 

 shall find a sort of wadding enswathing its delicate 

 little leaves, while on the outside a solid cuirass of 

 scales, arranged with the regularity of tiles on a roof, 

 wraps it closely. Furthermore, to keep out all 

 dampness, the separate pieces of this scale armor 

 are coated with a resinous cement which now resem- 

 bles dried varnish, but softens in the spring to let 

 the bud open. Then the scales, no longer stuck to- 

 gether, separate, all sticky, and the first leaves un- 

 fold covered with a velvety red down. Nearly all 

 buds, at the time of their spring travail, present in 

 different degrees this stickiness resulting from the 

 softening of their resinous coating. I will mention 



