i6o 



Science of Plant Life 



shoots, that make the bindweed so difficult to eradicate 

 from cultivated fields, gardens, and hedgerows. 



A short, upright, fleshy 

 rootstock, like that of the 

 jack-in-the-pulpit, Cala- 

 dium (elephant's ear), or 

 gladiolus, is called a corm. 

 Corms contain large 

 amounts of food, and by 

 the development of their 

 lateral buds may serve 

 to reproduce the plant as 

 well as to carry it over 

 the winter. The dasheen, 

 a tropical plant which 

 resembles the Caladium, 

 and which has recently 

 been introduced into the 



FIG. 90. Dasheen and edible conns produced United States, has an 



by it. The dasheen is related to the common ^^ QQTm ^ ^ ^ 



elephant s ear or Calad^um, and is extensively 



grown in the tropics for food. In the states important SOUrce of food. 



along the Gulf Coast it is being introduced as a A bulb ig ft fl esny U n- 

 food plant. 



derground bud, made up 



of a short stem covered with several layers of thick scales in 

 which food is stored. Tulips, hyacinths, and onions are 

 commonly propagated by means of bulbs. 



By planting bulbs of the tulip in autumn, we can have 

 flowers early in the following spring, whereas if we planted the 

 seeds, we should have to wait several years for flowers. Fur- 

 thermore, tulips do not grow well except in a very moist 

 climate, and the development of large, vigorous bulbs is im- 



