QUESTIONS ON THE LILAC.
How do the scales differ from those of Horsechestnut?
How many scales and leaves are there?
How are they arranged?
Where does the flower-cluster come in the bud?
Do all the buds contain flower-clusters?
How does the arrangement of leaves and flower-clusters differ from that of
Horsechestnut?
How old is your branch?
Which buds develop most frequently?
How does this affect the appearance of the shrub?
COPPER BEECH (_Fagus sylvatica, var. purpurea_).
The buds are long and tapering, the scales thin and scarious, the outer
naked, the inner with long, silky hairs. Remove the scales one by one, as
in Lilac. The outer four or six pairs are so minute that the arrangement
is not very clear, but as we proceed we perceive that the scales are in
alternate pairs, as in Horsechestnut; that is, that two scales are exactly
on the same plane. But we have learned in the Lilac that the scales are
modified leaves, and follow the leaf-arrangement of the species. The
Beech is alternate-leaved, and we should therefore expect the scales to
alternate. The explanation is found as we go on removing the scales. At
the eighth or ninth pair we come upon a tiny, silky leaf, directly between
the pair of scales, and, removing these, another larger leaf, opposite the
first but higher up on the rudimentary stem, and so on, with the rest of
the bud. There are five or more leaves, each placed between a pair of
scales.
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