budling

plural budlings

1. A small, young, or immature bud.

   "Seeing the new budling reminds me life goes on, that's all. ... Not even Temat should have to listen to him maundering on so, let alone the budling-keeper, whose biggest responsibility was making sure his charges did not kill one another [...]"

   2011, Harry Turtledove, A World of Difference

   1 more example

   When, with the entire population of 389 trees, budling size was correlated with total five-year yield of fruit per tree in the eight-year-old orchard, the coefficient was +0.517 ± 0.025; and with variants removed this was reduced to - 0.233 ± 0.034.

   1946, Herbert John Webber, Leon Dexter Batchelor, The Citrus Industry