Term (also known as bud or gemma in botany) for the youthful state of a new shoot. On vines, the eye is located in the leaf axils on the nodes of one-year-old shoots, which is why it is also known as the axillary bud or axillary bud. The so-called winter eye (winter bud) consists of lignified bracts that are stacked in several layers and envelop the primary, already pre-differentiated plants of the new shoot that will sprout the following year.

1 = Bud scales, 2 = bud wool, 3 = upper secondary bud, 4 = main eye, 5 = leaf scar, 6 = lower secondary bud, 7 = bark, 8 = bast, 9 = cambium, 10 = wood, 11 = pith, 12 = diaphragm (wooden bridge)

The shoot segments of the shoot axis can already be recognised in miniature form, with the laterally angled anlagen for leaves (foliage), tendrils (fastening organs) and inflorescences (pedicels). The cavities in the bud are filled with fine woolly hairs so that the shoot is protected from physical injury, frost and moisture during the winter dormancy period until budding in spring. The diaphragm (wooden bridge) is located at the nodes.

Main eye and secondary eye

In addition to the main eye (anlage for the main shoot), each winter bud also contains two lateral eyes (lateralis = sideways) at the base of the bud. These are also pre-differentiated, but have a simpler structure and serve as replacement buds in an emergency. They only sprout if the main bud or the young shoot emerging from it has been destroyed by external circumstances such as early frost, browsing by game (deer or...