Virtual Museum of Canada
Jardin botanique de Montréal 
Centre for Forest Research

A hidden treasure

The flowers and fruits may delight our senses, but without the more modest bud, the tree would not reach great heights. In fact, tucked inside the bud is a zone filled with undifferentiated cells that divide and specialize to turn into a branch, leaf, flower, bud. This zone is called the meristem (Tissue composed of cells able to divide into new specialized tissues.).

During the summer, oak and maple trees buds construct, on a miniature scale, next year's growth: they are predetermined. When spring arrives, they grow rapidly. Willow buds, on the contrary, are indeterminate. They only contain a few preformed leaves. The rest develop as branches lengthen.

Videoclip Transcription

Schematic of willow budbreak
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