52 THE VEGETABLE WORLD. 
astonish with its beauty and disappear. A rose or pink bud only 
encloses the flowering petals ready to open; while the /ea/-bud,m 
its serried and complex mass, includes all the elements necessary 
to the production.of a young plant, and as we shall see, it suffices — 
to produce a new individual. ; 
Buds are the first age and the earliest form of the vegetable 
axis; they occupy the summit of the axis, viz., the arm-pit or — 
“ey 
{% \ \ es 
Foon A 
Fig. 59.—Bud of the Fig. 6l.--Evolving Fig. 60. Bud of the Horse 
fA ie leaf-bud of Horse Chestnut. Chestnut. 
axil which they are destined to prolong. In the case of herba. 4 
ceous plants in general, and with a great many trees of equinoxial 
countries, whose vegetation, so to speak, is increasing, the buds ate 
naked, that is to say, all the young leaves resemble each other, a0 
give out true leaves as they enlarge. But in countries. where the : 
winter, more or less vigorous, would destroy the delicate organs, 
the external leaves which cover the others are subjected to modi- 
fications which transform them into protecting orgaris. They ave — 
changed into scaly coriaceous membranes, frequently furnished 0D 
the interior with an abundant down of a thick hair, or with 9 
coating of resinous juice, insoluble in water, and preserving COU” 
siderable warmth. Under this shelter the rudiments of the you" 
plant are so effectually swaddled up, so to speak, as to be thoroughly 
protected from the external air. Experiment proves that where 
the buds are detached from the tree, and the wound covered oV@F 
with a varnish, they have remained for a long time under wate? — 
without experiencing the least change. * 
Es 
