x 35 



Axillary and Latent Buds. 



Finally, in the Glcichenia we have examples of axillary 

 buds, which approach the nearest to those of trees by aid- 

 ing in the spread of the frondage by their development. 

 So far, we have dealt with buds of various kinds produced 

 on the fronds, in conjunction with their leafy portions, but 

 many ferns have a capacity of producing buds elsewhere, 

 some latent, that is, only developing when the caudex is 

 damaged, and some patent, that is, developing without 

 such need for reproduction, induced by catastrophes. 

 Some are also specific features, while others are only 

 found in abnormal forms. To take the latent class first, 

 we may begin with such ferns as Nephrolepis and Stmthiop- 

 teris. The former produces buds at the side of the caudex, 

 or rootstalk, which lengthen out into overground stolons, 

 which produce plants at their extremity, the latter does the 

 same thing, but the stolons burrow into the ground, so that 

 seemingly independent specimens spring up at a distance. 

 In the Xephrodiums or Lastreas we find a different type of 

 bud common to many other species. This bud springs 

 from the base of the frond, and sustained at first by the 

 parent plant, subsequently roots at its side, and in this 

 way, in conjunction with others, transforms the plant into 

 a bush or bunch of caudices, each with its independent set 

 of roots and fronds. 



These, obviously, are at a disadvantage, as compared 

 with the stoloniferous or travelling buds of Nephrolepis and 

 Stvuthiopferis, since they have at once to contend with the 

 parent plant and their brothers in the self-same soil for 

 root-room. In the Polystichums we find a reduced tendency 

 to this kind of bud formation, but many varieties of this 

 species produce buds on the frond stems near the base, and 

 some are even profusely proliferous all the way up the 

 fronds, buds being formed in the axils of the pinna:- and 

 even of the pinnules. 



