Bud

In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem.

The term bud is also used in zoology, where it refers to an outgrowth from the body which can develop into a new individual.

When the bud develops, the scales may enlarge somewhat but usually just drop off, leaving a series of horizontally-elongated scars on the surface of the growing stem.

In many of the latter, buds are even more reduced, often consisting of undifferentiated masses of cells in the axils of leaves.

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.