m in the bud have only to lengthen, and to separate
the leaves from each other so that they may unfold and grow. Only a
small part of the vegetation of the season comes directly from the seed,
and none of the earliest vernal vegetation. This is all from buds which
have lived through the winter.

54. =The Arrangement of Branches=, being that of axillary buds, answers
to that of the leaves. Now leaves principally are either _opposite_ or
_alternate_. Leaves are _opposite_ when there are two from the same
joint of stem, as in Maples (Fig. 20), the two being on opposite sides
of the stem; and so the axillary buds and branches are opposite, as in
Fig. 75. Leaves are _alternate_ when there is only one from each joint
of stem, as in the Oak, Lime-tree, Poplar, Button-wood (Fig. 74),
Morning-Glory (Fig. 45,--not counting the seed-leaves, which of course
are opposite, there being a pair of them); also in Indian Corn (Fig.
70), and Iris (Fig. 59). Consequently the axillary buds are also
alternate, as in Hickory (Fig. 73); and the branches they form
alternate,--making a different kind of spray from the other mode, one
branch shooting on one side of the stem and the next on some other. For
in the alternate arrangement no leaf is on the same side of the stem as
the one next above or next below it.

55. But the symmetry of branches (unlike that of the leaves) is rarely
complete. This is due to several causes, and most commonly to the

56. =Non-development of buds.= It never happens that all the buds grow.
If they did, there might be as many branches in any year as there were
leaves the year before. And of those which do begin to grow, a large
portion perish, sooner or later, for want of nourishment, or for want of
light, or because those which first begin to grow have an advantage,
which they are apt to keep, taking to themselves the nourishment of the
stem, and starving the weaker buds. In the Horse-chestnut (Fig. 72),
Hickory (Fig. 73), Magnolia, and most other trees with large scaly buds,
the terminal bud is the strongest, and has the advantage in growth; and
next in strength are the upper axillary buds: while the former continues
the shoot of the last year, some of the latter give rise to branches,
and the rest fail to grow. In the Lilac also (Fig. 75), the uppermost
axillary buds are stronger than the lower; but the terminal bud rarely
appears at all; in its place the uppermost pair of axillary buds grow,
and so each stem bran