SPRING FLOWERS 149 



the bulb, from which roots extend down into the soil, while the 

 unbranched stem grows upwards, bears a few foliage-leaves, and 

 ends in the single large flower. 



Such a plant has been grown from a bulb, which is usually 

 planted in the autumn to flower in the following spring. We 

 may commence by considering the construction of such a bulb, 

 and follow its development into the full-grown plant. A bulb 

 is a specially modified shoot, and consists of a small stem bearing 

 a number of leaves. This is best seen if a bulb is split in half, 

 when the small flattened stem will be found to bear a series of 

 closely crowded, white, fleshy scales. These overlap one another and 

 fit closely together. The outermost leaf is developed as a brown 

 protective scale, completely enveloping the rest of the bulb. The 

 inner surface of this thin scale is clothed with fine hairs, all pointing 

 towards the tip of the bulb. The thick, white scale-leaves within 

 contain a store of reserve food material, which was manufactured 

 by the leaves of the parent plant in the preceding season. In 

 the centre of the bulb is a yellowish shoot, a continuation of the 

 stem which bears the scales of the bulb. This shoot already 

 consists of the foliage-leaves which will expand next season. 

 These closely surround the single flower, with which the stem 

 ends. In the flower all the parts are already developed and, 

 like the leaves, only need to grow to their full size. 



When placed in the soil the short stem produces numerous 

 roots, which spring from the region between the protecting scale 

 and the lowest storage scale and so form a fringe around the 

 base of the bulb. The shoot in the centre of the bulb commences 

 to grow at the expense of the material stored up in the scales of 

 the bulb, and appears above ground as a cylindrical stem bearing 

 three or four foliage-leaves. Each of these consists of a broad 

 sheathing base, which extends completely round the stem ; this 

 passes without any leaf -stalk into the leaf -blade, which has a 

 simple oval outline. This leaf -blade is rather thick and fleshy, 

 and the veins in it can be seen to run parallel to one another. 

 No buds are evident in the axils of the foliage-leaves, and the 

 shoot remains unbranched. A longer or shorter region of bare 

 stem, the flower-stalk, separates the highest foliage-leaf from the 

 flower. 



