Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1903-12-17
PLANTS WITH oILSKlNs.
They Are Protected Equally Against
Damp and Drought.

Damp and Drought.
Gather a sycamore bud just before
Il bursts and look at it closely. You
will notice that 1t is enveloped in
tough scales. There are either twelve
or fourteen of these scales, which
make a close and complete covering
around every single individual bud.
Strip them off, and in the very heart
you come upon two pairs of what Will
eventually be leaves tightly folded to-
gether.
Some Of these sycamore buds are
larger than others. These, on exami-
nation. will be found to contain
punches of flowers as well as leaves.
Sycamores, like all other trees, take
long time to make their buds for
the following season. They begin new
growth. indeed, just as soon as they
have got rid Of their old leaves In the
Autumn, and go on quietly working all
through the Winter. Hard frost would,
of course. kill the buds at once were
they not protected; while, even IL there
were no frost, the cold rains and fogs
of winter would rob the tender begin
nings of the new leaf. Bud scales,
therefore, are grown by the sycamore
and other trees simply to protect the
buds from frost and damp. They are
in fact, sort of combination over
coat and macintosh. When the leaves
break forth in generally about
the middle of April-the sycamore
buds shed their overcoats, which fall
of, and may be seen littering the
ground beneath the tree.
Every tree of the kind known as
decidueus-that is, the trees which lose
their leaves IN winter-acts in much
the same way as the sycamore; but
the form of overcoat is not always the
same. Beech buds have very tough
little brown overcoats, fringed with
white. silky hairs. The white willow
and some other trees also have hairy
or furry coats for their young leaves
and flower buds. These silky hairs
entangle air Just as animal fur does,
and so keep the buds from the colo
/
winds of spring.
All trees do not get rid Of their
bud projections. The hawthorn, Tor
instance. keeps them on all the sum-
mer. They open into small green
leaves, which do not fall until the
other leaves do.
Trees are very careful, as a rule, not
to dispense with their overcoats TOO
soon; but yet they are occasionally
caught mapping. In 1891, for instance
there was a terribly sharp frost late
In the spring, and the beech leaves,
which were almost fully out, were
caught and nipped. For weeks after
ward the beech trees had brown and
withered look; but by the end Of June
fresh leaves pushed out from younger
buds.
Regular oilskins are worn by the
horse-chestnut. Anyone who has
handled the bursting leaf buds Of this
tree knows how gummy and sticky
they are. The use of the gum which
the coverings of chestnu, buds exude
Is to protect them from moisture as
well as from cold.
Later on in the year plants need pro-
tection against the sun, which would
otherwise take up all the moisture in
their leaves and wilt them. The leaf
of cabbage has a mealy look about
it-almost as If 1t had been busted with
flour. Many grasses have a similar
appearance, and so have the leaves Of
the Australian gum-tree. All these
leaves, il examined under the miscro-
scope, will be found to be covered with
a bloom consisting Of tiny needles OF
wax. This stuff has been exuded ON
the leafpores in order to save the
water contained.