CHAPTER XV 



Bulbs and Suckers 



When they have attained a certain degree 

 of strength the shoots of some plants leave 

 the parent stalk : they emigrate, are detached 

 from the stalk and take root in the ground 

 to derive their food thence. Now it is 

 evident that a shoot which is intended to 

 develop independently, by its own strength, 

 cannot be organised in the same way as 

 one which is never to leave its nursing branch. 

 To suffice for its first need, as long as the 

 roots which are to feed it have not entered 

 the ground, it must have a store of provisions. 

 Every shoot that emigrates carries its food 

 with it. 



A pretty little lily from the mountains is 

 cultivated in our gardens ; it has orange 

 flowers and is called the bulbiferous lily. 

 The shoots which are to live through the 

 winter and develop in the following spring 

 are situated at the axil of the leaves. They 



8 7 



