110 DEVELOPMENT OP 



and form a circle round its base. The bud or buds destined to 

 flower in the spring are seated on the crown of the corm, which is 

 slightly depressed. Near these the dry flower-stalk of the pre- 

 ceding season frequently retains its place (Fig. 2, b) at the back 

 of the lower extremely short sheath (a) of the new bud. If this 

 bud be examined in autumn, when it just begins to project beyond 

 the dry lacerated coats of the corm, it is found to consist of about 

 five white membranous sheaths. The innermost of these incloses 

 the still extremely short leaves, which are from three to five in 

 number. There are no intermediate stages between the sheaths 

 and leaves, in which the middle never projects strongly on the 

 under side, not keel-shaped but with two angles ; the lateral 

 margins being rolled back. They have a very low almost annular 

 closed sheath of equal height all round. The leaves are not 

 strictly alternate, for their angle of divergence is less than 180°. 

 The axis on which the new leaves are seated is slightly swollen, 

 but their internodes are not yet developed. The innermost leaf 

 surrounds with its short sheath the base of the blossom, which is 

 still extremely small, and is immediately enveloped by two highly 

 membranaceous sheaths, of which the outer springs from the base of 

 the flower-stem ; the second is separated by a short articulation 

 above it and close under the ovary. The principal bud for the 

 year following is visible in the axil formed between the inner- 

 most leaf and the peduncle, the first sheath of which turns its 

 outer side to the peduncle, and the inner to the mother leaf. A 

 tolerably large bud is also not unfrequently found in the axil of 

 the last leaf but one, which is equally capable of producing a 

 blossom the next year ; and buds, though smaller, are also found 

 in the axils of the lower or outer leaves. 



As vegetation proceeds, while the roots are elongated, the 

 parts of the buds are extended ; the outermost sheath (Fig. 2, a) 

 remains very short, and indeed soon disappears altogether. The 

 same is the case with the second sooner or later. The rest are 

 elongated in such a manner that the inner always extend beyond 

 the outer. The leaves project from the orifice of the fifth and 

 longest sheath, and the blossoms from within the leaves. The 

 young bud in the axil of the uppermost leaf alters very little ; it 

 increases only slightly in circumference. The new common axis 

 gradually becomes thicker, and while the three or four sheaths 

 which remain after the time of flowering stand close together 

 one above the other as regards their point of insertion, we find 

 now between the uppermost sheath and the lowest leaf a marked 



