What is a terminal bud anyhow? It sounds like a bud that is about to depart the botanical world. Most plants, including trees and shrubs, have buds.
It turns out that there are several different kinds of buds. They all contain the promise of the future growing year but serve different purposes.
A terminal bud is one that grows at the very tip of a branch, twig, or stem. It’s in charge of how much that plant will grow in the next season. Lateral buds grow on the side of the stem or twig. When a lateral bud grows above where the leaf has been attached to the stem, they are called axillary buds.
Rogue buds may develop in unusual places on a plant. They are called adventitious buds and might develop on roots or even on the sides of mature tree trunks.
Buds can serve three purposes. A vegetative bud produces leaves or shoots. A flower bud produces a flower, or a mixed bud produces both shoots and flowers.
The terminal bud produces cells that make the stem grow longer. It produces cells that make leaves. It determines how much a plant will grow in height during the year.
If a terminal bud is damaged or dies back, the next closest lateral or axillary bud will step up and take over. It becomes the terminal bud of that stem or twig.
A rose bud can be a terminal bud if it is on the tip of the plant. It is the biggest bud and will bloom first. A head of cabbage is an extremely large terminal bud and brussels sprouts are large lateral buds.
Buds are usually formed at or near the end of the previous growing season. They are small and often hidden by scale structures. They stay dormant until the days lengthen and warm in the early spring. Then they begin their enormous job of bringing the tree or plant to life for another growing season. They swell in size until the new shoot or leaf or flower bursts from its hiding place.
Spring has arrived.
Submitted by Bonnie Hinman
Photos from internet stock
