MONOCOTYLEDONS 419 



Trillium, false Solomon's seal {SmilacincC), and Ornithogalum 

 (Fig. 266). Most of these plants spring from bulbs, tubers, or 

 rhizomes, and so are adapted to a tropophytic existence and a 



Courtesy of the American Magazine of Forestry, Washington, D. C. 



FIG. 266. Ornithogalum, star of Bethlehem 

 Natural habitat and habit of a flower in bloom. Photograph by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt 



corresponding seasonal life. Many of the cultivated species origi- 

 nated in arid regions, where the short rainy season is followed 

 by a long dry period, as in California or the Mediterranean region. 

 In such habitats the underground stem enables the plant to live 

 securely during the dry season, while the great store of food in 



