Flower buds have not yet bloomed into a full-size flower.

In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of the stem. Botany, plant science(s, phytology, or plant biology is a branch of Biology and is the scientific study of plant Life Plant embryogenesis is the process that produces a plant embryo from a fertilised ovule by asymmetric cell division and the differentiation of undifferentiated cells into tissues and Shoots are new plant growth they can include stems, flowering stems with flower buds leaves In Botany, a leaf is an above-ground Plant organ specialized for Photosynthesis. In Botany, a leaf is an above-ground Plant organ specialized for Photosynthesis. A stem is one of two main structural axes of a Vascular plant. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately.

The buds of many woody plants, 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. Wood is hard fibrous lignified structural tissue produced as secondary Xylem in the stems of Woody plants notably trees but also shrubs Plants are living Organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. 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 on the surface of the growing stem a series of horizontally-elongated scars. Scars (also called cicatrices) are areas of fibrous tissue that replace normal Skin (or other tissue after injury 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.

In many plants scales are not formed over the bud, which is then called a naked bud. ^[1] The minute underdeveloped leaves in such buds are often excessively hairy. Such naked buds are found in shrubs like the Sumac and Viburnums and in herbaceous plants. Sumac (ˈʃuːmæk or /ˈs(juːmæk/ also spelled sumach) is any one of approximately 250 species of Flowering plants in the Genus Rhus Viburnum ( Viburnum) is a Genus of about 150-175 species of Shrubs or (in a few species small Trees that were previously included A herbaceous plant (or in botanical use a Herb) is a Plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of 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 sprouts are large lateral buds. The cabbage ( Brassica oleracea var capitata) is a leafy garden plant of the Family Brassicaceae (or Cruciferae used as a Brassica ( Brás-si-ca) is a genus of plants in the mustard family ( Brassicaceae) This article is about the plant For the pencil game see Sprouts (game.

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. ^[2]

Often it is possible to find a bud in a remarkable series of gradations of bud scales. In the 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. For the South African Thoroughbred racehorse see Horse Chestnut (horse. 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.

Types of buds

Buds are often useful in the identification of plants, specially for woody plants in winter when leaves have fallen. ^[3] Buds may be classified and described according to different criteria : location, status, morphology, function. Botanists commonly use the following terms :

• for location,
  • terminal, when located at the tip of a stem (apical is equivalent but rather reserved for the one at the top of the plant),
  • axillary, when located in the axil of a leaf (lateral is equivalent but some adventitious buds may be lateral too),
  • adventitious, when occurring elsewhere, for example on trunk or on roots (some adventitious buds may be former axillary ones reduced and hidden under the bark, other adventitious buds are completely new formed ones),

• for status,
  • accessory, for secondary buds formed besides a principal bud (axillary or terminal),
  • dormant, for buds whose growth has been delayed for a rather long time (the term is usable for buds resting during winter or dry season, but is rather employed for buds waiting undeveloped for years),
  • pseudoterminal, for an axillary bud taking over the function of a terminal bud (characteristic of species whose growth is sympodial : terminal bud dies and is replaced by the closer axillary bud, for examples beech, persimmon, Platanus have sympodial growth),

• for morphology,
  • scaly or covered, when scales (which are in fact transformed and reduced leaves) cover and protect the embryonic parts,
  • naked, when not covered by scales,
  • hairy, when also protected by hairs (it may apply either to scaly or to naked buds),

• for function,
  • vegetative, if only containing vegetative pieces : embryonic shoot with leaves (a leaf bud is the same),
  • reproductive, if containing embryonic flower(s) (a flower bud is the same),
  • mixed, if containing both embryonic leaves and flowers. Orchids with sympodial growth have a specialized lateral growth pattern in which the terminal Bud dies For the babyfood see Beech-Nut. Beech ( Fagus) is a genus of ten Species of Deciduous Trees in the This article refers to the edible fruit For the British construction company see Persimmon plc; for the racehorse see Persimmon (horse. Platanus is a small genus of Trees native to the Northern Hemisphere.

Within zoology

The term bud (as in budding) is used by analogy within zoology as well, where it refers to an outgrowth from the body which develops into a new individual. Budding (also called burgeoning) is the formation of a new Organism by the protrusion of part of another organism Zoology (from Greek ζῷον, zoon, "animal" + λόγος, " Logos " "knowledge" is the branch of It is a form of asexual reproduction limited to animals or plants of relatively simple structure. Asexual reproduction is a form of reproduction which does not involve Meiosis, Ploidy reduction or Fertilization. In this process a portion of the wall of the parent cell softens and pushes out. The cell is the structural and functional unit of all known living Organisms It is the smallest unit of an organism that is classified as living and is often called The protuberance thus formed enlarges rapidly while at this time the nucleus of the parent cell divides (see: mitosis, meiosis). In Cell biology, the nucleus (pl nuclei; from Latin la ''nucleus'' or la ''nuculeus'' "little nut" or kernel is a membrane-enclosed Mitosis is the process in which a Eukaryotic cell separates the Chromosomes in its Cell nucleus, into two identical sets in two daughter nuclei In Biology or life science meiosis (pronounced my-oh-sis is a process of reductional division in which the number of chromosomes per cell is cut in half One of the resulting nuclei passes into the bud, and then the bud is cut off from its parent cell and the process is repeated. Often the daughter cell will begin to bud before it becomes separated from the parent, so that whole colonies of adhering cells may be formed. Eventually cross walls cut off the bud from the original cell.

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