96 KAMSCHATKA LILY. 



or the cup of a thistle : and in the onion it is 

 coated, which means, composed of layers one 

 over another. 



Bulbs are commonly considered, and very often 

 described, as roots ; perhaps because they are 

 lodged entirely in the ground when planted by the 

 gardener ; but the true root of the plant is, not 

 the bulb, but the fibres that issue from its under sur- 

 face ; and if these are cut away, the bulb will not 

 grow. Linnaeus calls the bulb the winter quarters 

 of the future plant, furnished with a root suitable 



to its peculiar structure. 



% 



EDWARD. 



Are turnips bulbous roots ? 



MOTHER. 



No ; but they are sometimes described as such. 

 What we call the turnip, and generally consider as 

 the root, is only a kind of intermediate stem, swelled 

 into a bulbous form, between the real stem and the 

 root. 



The bulbous roots of the Kamschatka Lily, 

 Lil'ium Camschatcen'se, called by the natives Sa- 

 ranne, forms a principal part of the food of the in- 

 habitants of that country ; and, fortunately for 

 them, it is very abundant, all the grounds in 

 Kamschatka blooming with its flowers in summer. 

 During the season when fish is scarce, the Saranne 

 is plentiful ; and at other times the rivers supply 



