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Ptyxis ‍
‍Today in history, bud scales rolled back on a young hickory outside my window. Over the course of the day I literally watched baby leaves grow. How was so much leaf and stem contained in such a small package? The answer is ptyxis, an origami folding of the leaf within the bud. Ptyxis folds leaf cells using the pattern of a leaf’s venation (arrangement of veins) and once those bud scales roll back, water pushes, sunshine pulls, and by tomorrow those tender young leaves will be opening wider and wider to the wonder of photosynthesis.