= Apical dominance
<Apical dominance> is suppression of lateral <bud> outgrowth by the growing tip of a <shoot>. Removing that tip can allow previously inhibited <buds> to grow into branches, explaining why pinching a growing <plant> can make it bushier. The effect concerns the growth of existing <buds>, not simply whether they were formed.
It is tempting to attribute the response to one inhibitory substance. Time-resolved experiments in pea instead found that <buds> began growing after tip removal before local stem <auxin> content had declined. Sugar redistribution and <sucrose> feeding implicated resource supply in this early response. The result does not eliminate later hormonal regulation; it shows why measuring the order of events distinguishes a trigger from a correlated consequence.<Sugar demand, not auxin, is the initial regulator of apical dominance by Michael G. Mason and others>[2014, abstract and Results: bud release, auxin timing and sucrose supply]{ref}
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