3 8 8 ULBO US PLANTS. PART n. 



manently in the condition of a bud. It consists of a disc, 

 or conical plate, which, is the point of growth whence the 

 flower-bearing stem and the leaves spring. These are 

 surrounded by leafy scales of a fleshy character overlap- 

 ping one another. The Liliacese and the Amaryllidaceae 

 contain many of the most remarkable and beautiful 

 bulbous plants known in gardens. To the former order 

 belong the hyacinth, tulip, and onion, in which the 

 growing point is surrounded by a series of fleshy tunics, 

 each of which encloses its predecessor ; as also the 

 lily itself, in the bulb of which the growing point is en- 

 closed in fleshy scales imbricated in rows one above the 

 other. One or two circles of roots descend from the 

 circumference of the disc in the form of slender, soft, 

 white cords or threads, with a spongy termination of 

 cellular tissue to imbibe water and other liquids for the 

 nourishment of the plant. These bulbs are reproduced 

 by buds, or oifsets, developed in the axils of the fleshy 

 scales, which fall off either the first or second year of 

 growth. Offsets are also produced by the arum, crocus, 

 and meadow saffron or colchicum, whose bulbs form a 

 solid mass, and are called corms. These offsets merely 

 reproduce a facsimile of the parent. In these and all 

 flowering plants fructification must take place before a 

 new form or variety can be expected. 



The Orchids surpass every plant in the vegetable 

 world, for the variety of means employed by nature 

 to continue the race. The blossoms are, for the most 

 part, at once both male and female, though some plants 

 are dioecious, but, except in rare instances, as in that 

 of the Bee Orchis, not a blossom can be fertilized with- 

 out the aid of insects. The flowers of the Orchidese 

 are constructed upon a fixed plan, which can be traced 

 through the innumerable variety of beautiful, singular, 

 and often grotesque forms which they assume. A cor- 

 responding variety is exhibited in the admirable contri- 



