1U8 DEVELOPMENT OF THE 



In the axil of the third leaf there is occasionally, though rarely, 

 a third bud, formed exactly as the second, on a still smaller 

 cushion and in a much shorter canal : far more frequently there 

 is in the axil of this third leaf (in which case there is no canal) the 

 lowest and first expanding flower which is borne by a short but 

 rather strong peduncle. The same is the case with the fourth, 

 fifth, and sixth leaves. More than four blossoms are rarely pre- 

 sent, and frequently only one. Each blossom stands in the axil 

 of a leaf. The internodes between the leaves in whose axils the 

 blossoms are seated are very short. The leaves below the upper- 

 most flower are often contracted into short scales. The axis 

 is stunted above the highest blossom, and is here frequently 

 covered with small leaves and little blossoms (Fig. 1, p). Barren 

 plants agree in essentials with those which flower, except that 

 about two leaves only are in general present, and that the axis 

 ceases above the second. After the parts which appeared above 

 the ground in autumn have withered, no remarkable change takes 

 place in those vegetative organs with which we are concerned. 

 In spring the parts of the axis and leaves are gradually extended. 



Towards the end of May, when the fruit appears above ground, 

 the leaves having already come forth in the beginning of April, 

 the corm of the previous year is quite wrinkled, though still 

 rather tough. In the young sterile plant the second tall sheath 

 (i) is already withered above, and only a small portion remains 

 below, above the lowest leaf, in the form of a thin brown skin ; — 

 the outer and shorter (h), as well as the sheath (f), which at first 

 inclosed the roots, had already decayed just after flowering. This 

 sheath has, however, no part in the formation of the brown coats. 

 The lowest leaf (k) covers with its sheath, which is greatly elon- 

 gated (from four to ten inches), all the inner parts. The lowest 

 developed internode (Fig. 1, n) is much elongated and thickened, 

 and has assumed the size which is attained in large full-grown 

 corms in autumn. The portion of this internode (Fig. 1, g), 

 between the point of insertion of the first leaf and the little bud, 

 is also somewhat elongated, and since descending obliquely it 

 pushes forward beneath the bud, it forms the part which is called 

 by some authors the lateral appendage. The upper margin pro- 

 trudes as a strong raised border, since the internode is not 

 remarkably thickened above the point of insertion of the second 

 leaf. The border rises obliquely in front, towards the medial 

 nerve of the first leaf, and forms there, above the young bud, a 

 blunt projecting point. The young bud (o) is at present dormant. 



