[Illustration: FIG. 145.--OPENING OF THE PEAR-BUD.] =How Buds Open.=--_When the bud swells, the scales are pushed apart, the little axis elongates and pushes out._ In most plants the outside scales fall very soon, _leaving a little ring of scars_. With terminal buds, this ring marks the end of the year’s growth: how? Notice peach, apple, plum, willow, and other plants. In some others, all the scales grow for a time, as in the pear (Figs. 142, 143, 144). In other plants the inner bud scales become green and almost leaf-like. See the maple and hickory. =Sometimes Flowers come out of the Buds.=--Leaves may or may not accompany the flowers. We saw the embryo flowers in Fig. 138. The bud is shown again in Fig. 142. In Fig. 143 it is opening. In Fig. 145 it is more advanced, and the woolly unformed flowers are appearing. In Fig. 146 the growth is more advanced. [Illustration: FIG. 146.--A SINGLE FLOWER IN THE PEAR CLUSTER, as seen at 7 A.M. on the day of its opening. At 10 o’clock it will be fully expanded.] [Illustration: FIG. 147.--THE OPENING OF THE FLOWER-BUD OF APRICOT.] [Illustration: FIG. 148.--APRICOT FLOWER-BUD, enlarged.] Buds that contain or produce only leaves are =leaf-buds=. Those which contain only flowers are =flower-buds= or =fruit-buds=. The latter occur on peach, almond, apricot, and many very early spring-flowering plants. The single flower is emerging from the apricot bud in Fig. 147. A longitudinal section of this bud, enlarged, is shown in Fig. 148. Those that contain both leaves and flowers are =mixed buds=, as in pear, apple, and most late spring-flowering plants. [Illustration: FIG. 149.--FRUIT-BUDS AND LEAF-BUDS OF PEAR.] _Fruit buds are usually thicker or stouter than leaf-buds. They are borne in different positions on different plants._ In some plants (apple, pear) they are on the ends of short branches or spurs; in others (peach, red maple) they are along the sides of the last year’s growths. In Fig. 149 are shown three fruit-buds and one leaf-bud on _E_, and leaf-buds on _A_. See also Figs. 150, 151, 152, 153, and explain. [Illustration: FIG. 150.--FRUIT-BUDS OF APPLE ON SPURS: a dormant bud at the top.] [Illustration: FIG. 151.--CLUSTER OF FRUIT-BUDS OF SWEET CHERRY, with one pointed leaf-bud in center.] [Illustration: FIG. 152.--TWO FRUIT-BUDS OF PEACH with a leaf-bud between.] [Illustration: FIG. 153.--OPENING OF LEAF-BUDS AND FLOWER-BUDS OF APPLE.] “_The burst of spring_” means in large part the opening of the buds. _Everything was made ready the fall before. The embryo shoots and flowers were tucked away, and the food was stored._ The warm rain falls, and the shutters open and the sleepers wake: the frogs peep and the birds come.