Summary The scope of this review is limited to hormonal involvement in the induction of woody bud endodormancy and does not address dormancy maintenance or release. Knowledge of hormonal regulation of processes has become increasingly more complex, particularly with recent findings of auxin- and ethylene-triggered abscisic acid induction revealing many more responses mediated by ABA than originally considered. The intent of this review is to provide an account of the current state of knowledge of hormones in bud dormancy research within an historical context with a focus on promising avenues of research. While hormones are undoubtedly involved at some point during dormancy induction, meaningful progress in unraveling the mechanism of endo-dormancy-induction is difficult through this hormone-centered approach. The path to dormancy acquisition is a continuum. In many plants, this path begins far earlier than the traditionally-examined autumn period. Aside from more useful hormonal localization studies withi...