PROPAGATION BY SEPARATION AND DIVISION 61 



lets have formed. It is the common practice with most hardy 

 species to allow the scales to remain in the original flats during 

 summer and to cover them the next fall, allowing them to remain 

 outdoors over winter. The succeeding spring they are shifted 

 into a bed or border, and by the next autumn having had 

 two summers' growth most species will be ready for per- 

 manent planting in the flower border for 

 bloom the following season. 



A bulblet is a small bulb borne entirely 

 above ground, usually in the axil of a leaf or 

 in the flower-cluster. Familiar examples 

 occur in the tiger lily and in 

 "top" onions. In the former 

 example, the bulblets are direct 

 transformations of buds, while 

 in the onion they take the 

 place of flowers. It is impos- 

 sible to draw any sharp line 

 of separation between bulblets 

 and buds. In some plants, 

 certain buds detach themselves 

 and fall to the ground to mul- 

 tiply the species. Sometimes these buds vegetate before they 

 fall from the plants, as in the case of various begonias and 

 ferns. For purposes of propagation, bulblets are treated in 

 the same way as bulbels, and like them, they reproduce the 

 variety from which they grow. They develop into full-grown 

 bulbs in one to three years, according to the species. 



A corm is a bulb-like organ that is solid throughout, although 

 it may have a more or less loose covering or tunic. Familiar 

 examples are gladiolus and ixia. Cormous plants are multi- 

 plied in essentially the same way as bulbous species. As a 

 rule, a new corm (or sometimes two or more) is produced each 

 year above the old one, and this commonly bears flowers the 



FIG. 49. Gladiolus corm. 



