68 ROUND THE YEAR 



rounded and marked with concentric lines. The 

 shape, the markings, and the blue colour with iodine 

 prove that these are grains of starch. In the Crocus 

 corm many of the grains are compound, consisting of 

 several which cohere together. A great part of the 

 corm is composed of cells filled with starch. There is 

 also some sugar and a very little albumen. This food 

 is laid up for the future use of the plant, and may be 

 employed as human food. In Syria, Crocus corms 

 are sold in the markets, roasted and eaten. 



Now take a razor or a sharp knife, and slice the 

 corm through the middle, taking care to cut the 

 principal shoot symmetrically. We have now cut 

 through the mass of starchy food, and lying in it, we 

 see two or three greenish or yellow streaks. These 

 are bundles of vessels, many of which, if carefully fol- 

 lowed, will be found to pass into the bases of the leaves 

 or tunics. The shoot, when cut through, is seen to be 

 made up of leaves in successive layers. The outer 

 ones are protective merely, and soon wither ; then 

 come leaves, which will turn green and form the 

 assimilating organs. Within these are the flower- 

 sheath and the flower itself. The yellow petals and 

 the ovary with its numerous seeds can be made out 

 in a shoot an inch long, and with the help of a lens, 

 in still smaller shoots. 



All the parts which we call tunics, leaves and 

 sheath, and not only these, but the sepals, petals, 

 stamens and carpels of the flower, are essentially 

 leaves, various in form and function, but alike in 

 origin. 



If the tunics of the corm are leaves, what is the 



