Editing Bud (section)

==Overview==
[[File:Halesia carolina, skubblare, Manie van der Schijff BT, a.jpg|thumb|right|[[Inflorescence]] bud scales in ''[[Halesia carolina]]'']]
The buds of many [[woody plant]]s, especially in temperate or cold climates, are protected by a covering of modified leaves called ''scales'' which tightly enclose the more delicate parts of the bud. Many bud scales are covered by a gummy substance which serves as added protection. When the bud develops, the scales may enlarge somewhat but usually just drop off, leaving a series of horizontally-elongated [[scar]]s on the surface of the growing stem. By means of these scars one can determine the age of any young branch, since each year's growth ends in the formation of a bud, the formation of which produces an additional group of bud scale scars. Continued growth of the branch causes these scars to be obliterated after a few years so that the total age of older branches cannot be determined by this means.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

In many plants, scales do not form over the bud, and the bud is then called a naked bud.<ref>Walters, Dirk R., and David J. Keil. 1996. ''Vascular plant taxonomy''. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co. page 598.</ref> The minute underdeveloped leaves in such buds are often excessively hairy. Naked buds are found in some shrubs, like some species of the [[Sumac]] and [[Viburnum]]s (''Viburnum alnifolium'' and ''V. lantana'')<ref>Cronquist, Arthur, and Henry A. Gleason. 1991. ''Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada''. Bronx, New York: New York Botanical Garden Press. page 512.</ref> and in [[herbaceous]] plants. In many of the latter, buds are even more reduced, often consisting of undifferentiated masses of cells in the axils of leaves. A terminal bud occurs on the end of a stem and lateral buds are found on the side. A head of [[cabbage]] (see [[Brassica]]) is an exceptionally large terminal bud, while [[Brussels sprout]]s are large lateral buds.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Since buds are formed in the axils of leaves, their distribution on the stem is the same as that of leaves. There are alternate, opposite, and whorled buds, as well as the terminal bud at the tip of the stem. In many plants buds appear in unexpected places: these are known as adventitious buds.<ref>Coulter, John G. 1913.'' Plant life and plant uses; an elementary textbook, a foundation for the study of agriculture, domestic science or college botany''. New York: American book company. page 188</ref>

Often it is possible to find a bud in a remarkable series of gradations of bud scales. In the [[Aesculus|buckeye]], for example, one may see a complete gradation from the small brown outer scale through larger scales which on unfolding become somewhat green to the inner scales of the bud, which are remarkably leaf-like. Such a series suggests that the scales of the bud are in truth leaves, modified to protect the more delicate parts of the plant during unfavorable periods.{{cn|date=June 2024}}