40 Plants and their Ways in South Africa 



character of a tree. In the Blue Gum and Norfolk Pine ' the 



terminal bud continues 

 its growth throughout 

 the life of the tree. This 

 gives to the tree a tall, 

 erect habit. In Au- 

 stralia, where the Blue 

 Cums are not cut for 

 firewood, they become 

 the tallest trees in the 

 world. 



If the terminal bud 

 continues for a few sea- 

 sons and then dies, the 

 tree has a broader, 

 bushier habit. A branch 

 of the Weeping Willow 

 {Satix capensis, Thunb.) 

 grows for a season and 

 at the close the terminal 

 bud dies. The lateral bud 

 takes the nourishment and 

 continues the growth. This 

 mode of growth gives a droop- 

 ing habit, the reverse of the 

 Norfolk Pine. A rose also 

 branches in this way, causing 

 the bush to spread. 



Galls.— The tips of Clif- 

 fortia, Aspalathiis, and other 

 shrubs olten have peculiar 

 ternunal buds. ^Ve know 

 they will not produce flowers. 

 Cliffiiyfiii has two kinds of 

 flowers, hut they are not 

 borne at the tips of branches. 

 V\r,. 44. -(iiilts on ilifiorii,!. These swollen buds are Galls. 



' Araucaria (Monkey l^uzzle), see p. 34. 



