On Trees and Greenery: The Branching of Plants
Part Six of the Treatise: where flowers open and six rules of tree branching
The opening page of Part Six of the Treatise, headed 'On Trees and Greenery,' written in a clear upright hand across the full leaf. A first note observes that among flowers on branching herbs some bloom at the very top while others open first at the base of the stem. A second note sets out six numbered rules of plant branching, from a branch curving its tip skyward to the branching angles growing more obtuse as the boughs age.
On this page
Where flowers open on branching herbs (a)
Among the flowers that grow on the branchings of herbs, some bloom first at the topmost heights of those branchings, while others open their first flower at the very bottom of the stem. The passage is marked with the letter label a.
Six rules of the branching of plants (b)
The note lists six rules: a branch not weighed down by its own weight curves its tip toward the sky; the twigs growing below are larger than those above; twigs turned toward the tree's center wither quickly from excess shade; branchings nearest the upper outer parts are most vigorous, favored by air and sun; the angles of a tree's branch-divisions are equal among themselves; but those angles grow more obtuse as the side branches age. It is marked with the letter label b.