Stream Corner

Buds are young undeveloped shoots containing leaves and sometimes flowers. They are an important means of identification in winter when trees and shrubs are leafless. The terminal bud is located at the tip of a twig or branch and is usually solitary (in most species of shrubs), though there may also he two, e.g. in the lilac and bladdernut. Lateral buds are formed in the axils of the leaves and are alternately arranged, e.g. in the rose, currant, willow, or opposite, i.e. paired on either side of the twig, as in the common elder, cornelian cherry,'rivet, etc. In some species these buds are not always exactly pposite each other and are called subopposite, e.g. the spindle ree, privet and buckthorn. Flower buds vary greatly in shape, especially in the case of early flowering species such as cornelian cherry, Japanese quince, blackthorn and sea buckthorn.

In most woody plants the buds are clearly visible. Only in rare instances are they enclosed by the leaf stalk base and concealed from view until the leaf falls. Such buds are found, for instance, in the mock orange (Philadelphus). Small, hard or leathery leaves known as scales protect buds against damage from heat, cold and drying winds.

The area where shrubs grow naturally in the wild is called the area of natural distribution and may best be depicted on it map. When we compare the areas of distribution of the various species it is evident that some require specific temperature levels since they occur, for instance, only in southern Europe or only in coastal regions or only in a continental limate. On the other hand, some are very adaptable and grow throughout most of Europe from south to the far north, often beyond the Arctic Circle. Examples includes the dog rose, blackthorn, and water elder.

Discernible below the buds is the leaf scar where the leaf was attached to the twig. Leaf scars vary in size and often have a characteristic shape. The leaf scars of the common elder, red elder, staghorn sumach and bladdernut are quite large. Sometimes the part of the twig below the bud is swollen and this spot is called the peg.

In some woody plants a further good means of identification is the twig, the various distinguishing features being its thickness, colour, pubescence, thorniness, angularity and sometimes also the number of corky pores or lenticels.

Others are common shrubs of southern Europe but in central Europe are to be found only in warm, sheltered situations. In such localities they are often relics from the warmer period following the Ice Age when their area of natural distribution extended farther north, with only those growing in warmer situations surviving when the climate changed again. Examples are the cornclian cherry, barberry, bladder senna, box and traveller's joy.