COmiON GAEDEN FLOWERS. 



199 



or Currant, leaves and flowers are comlDined in the 

 same bud. The position of the bud at the ends of 

 shoots, as shown in Figs. 18, 19, 20, or at the sides, as 

 in the Poplar, Fig. 21 (terminal and side buds), has 

 been already alluded to, but with regard to the side 

 buds it may be pointed out that, although not exclu- 

 sively confined to those situations, they very generally 

 arise fi'om what is called the " axil " of a leaf, by 

 which is meant the angle formed at the junction of 

 the leaf with the branch that bears it. This little 

 nook or corner is the " axil," and a bud occupying 

 such a position is spoken of as " axillary." Generally 

 only one bud is found in the axil of a leaf, but to this 

 rule there are very many exceptions, as, for instance, 

 in the Peach, wherein on the lower parts of the shoots 

 the buds are placed singly, higher up they are 

 ranged in pairs, or in thi-ees. In the latter case the 

 side buds are usually 

 flower-buds, the cen- 

 tral, thinner and more 

 pointed, being a leaf- 

 bud. It is important 

 also to note that the 

 terminal bud of neces- 

 sity belongs to a gene- 

 lution anterior to the 

 side bud. The abso- 

 lute difference in point 

 of time may be, and is 

 generally, slight be- 

 tween the formation and development of the end 

 and of the side bud respectively; but occasionally, 

 as after an injury from frost, insects, or other 

 cause, the difference becomes one of practical im- 

 portance. 



Buds may be formed in other situations besides 

 those mentioned, wherever there is nourishment at 

 hand, and wherever there is a growing point or 

 tissues which, not being reduced to a quiescent state, 

 as in the case of the so-called permanent tissues, are 

 still capable of forming one. It very frequently 

 happens that buds are formed, but which under 

 ordinary circumstances never develop, remaining 

 " dormant." In consequence of this buds are, as 

 just alluded to, frequently developed as the result 

 of auy injury which stimulates the formation either 

 of " adventitious buds," or rouses into activity the 

 dormant buds above spoken of. Illustrations of 

 this are met with in the case of pollarded trees. 

 Buds may also be formed without previous injury on 

 the leaves, as va. Bryophyllum ; and some plants {e.g., 

 Gloxinias and Begonias) are constantly propagated 

 in this way, the leaves being fastened down to tbe 

 surface of the soil, and kept in a warm moist 

 atmosphere. Such cases do not invalidate the 

 rule that buds are formed at the expense of reserve 



materials, seeing that they derive their nourish- 

 ment in the first instance from the leaf on which 

 they are borne. 



Bud-scales. — Many buds, but by no means all, 

 are invested by scales — bud-scales, as shown in Figs. 

 18—21. This is the case with " winter buds," which, 

 formed in summer, have to remain dormant through 

 the winter till the following spring. The scales are 

 generally merely degenerate or abortive leaves — 

 serving the purpose of protecting the young growing 

 point, and the tiny delicate-structured leaves emana- 

 ting from it, from the effects of radiation, or from the 

 penetration of cold or moisture from without. They 

 serve, in fact, the same purpose as the seed-coats 

 do for the seedling plant. To these ends they are 

 not unfrequently invested with hair, or covered with a 

 resinous or waxy exu- 

 dation which answers 

 the same purpose. 

 That the bud -scales 

 are merely modified 

 leaves is seen by the 

 circumstance that 

 they are arranged in 

 the same manner, and 

 that in many jplants 

 all degrees between 

 a scale and a perfect 

 leaf may be met 

 with — as, for instance, in the bud -scales of the 

 Currant, as shown in Fig. 25. 



COMMOISr GAEDEN FLOWEES. 



STOCKS, WALLFLOWERS, SNOW-IN-SUMMEB, 

 THRIFT. 



The Grillyflower Stock {Ma thio la). —Several 

 flowers have borne the common name of Gillyflower, 

 such as the Carnation, the Leucojum, and the 

 Hesperis, or Pocket ; but now-a-days we associate 

 with the term both the Stock and the Wallflower. 

 Now the Stocks form a large group ; there are Ten- 

 week Stocks, Queen Stocks, Brompton Stocks, 

 Intermediate Stocks, and one or two others. The 

 most common in our gardens are the Ten- week 

 Stocks, but these are annuals ; the Intermediate 

 Stocks are biennial and annual both, but they are 

 generally made biennials by sowing the seeds in 

 July and August and flowering the plants in spring; 

 the Q,ueen and Brompton Stocks are true biennials, 

 flowering in spring and early summer. 



The annual or Ten-week Stocks are a large 

 group, and include a great variety of colours. They 



Fig. 25.— Bud scales of Eed Curraut, sliowing the transition from 

 scales to perfect leaves. 



