buds.

The moose, when brought ashore, proved to be quite young, though full-grown, as its horns were not much more than "buds."

The Empire Annual for Girls, 1911 Various 1899

In my locality the public must have perceived more or less clearly the analogy between the heads of cabbage and the buds of trees, for when they speak of small heads they frequently call them "buds."

Cabbages and Cauliflowers: How to Grow Them A Practical Treatise, Giving Full Details On Every Point, Including Keeping And Marketing The Crop James John Howard Gregory 1868