178 CONSERVATIVE ORGANS. [LECT. IV. 



2. The Granulated bulb (Bulbus granulatus) is 

 named from its appearance being that of a small, 

 globular body, or grain. It is found usually asso- 

 ciated with many others, studding, as it were, the 

 root to which they are affixed ; as is beautifully ex- 

 emplified in that of grain-rooted Saxifrage, Saxi- 

 fraga granulata *. On examining a single bulb, we 

 find that it is composed of slightly curved granular 

 scales, covered with two coats -j~, and enclosing the 

 plantule, which, on vegetating, bursts the coats 

 and shoots up between the scales. As it advances, 

 these are gradually emptied, until the epidermis 

 only remains like a small shrivelled leaf; whilst 

 fresh bulbs are generated upon runners, sent off 

 from the basis of the herbage. The minuteness 

 of the scales prevents their structure being ex- 

 amined by the unassisted eye ; but, with the aid 

 of the microscope, it is perceived to be nearly the 

 same as that of those of the squamous bulb. 



III. LAMINATED BULBS are composed of fleshy 

 layers, attached at the base to a solid radical 

 caudex. Each layer consists of a plate of cel- 

 lular substance, filled with secreted juices, and 

 enclosed between two cuticles. Bundles of ves- 



* Vide Plate 2. fig. 9. which represents the bulbs congre- 

 gated on the runner of the plant a, 



f Fig. 10. a. a bulb denuded of its coats, with the plan- 

 tule in a state of vegetation ; b. a plantuie separated from 

 the enclosing scales, attached to the radical plate, and a small 

 fragment of the tunic. 



