OF THE ROOT 



37 



Fig. 19, at a, shows a root 

 of the Ophris, one of the or- 

 chis tribe of plants. It is 

 composed of a mass or 

 crowded tubers. It is called 

 a grumose root. At 6, is a 

 fasciculated tuberous root, 

 as in the asphodel. At c, the 

 tubers are suspended from 

 an upright body or caudex, 

 as in the root of the Spiroia 

 Jilipendula. 



Roots sometimes produce a kind 

 of bud, or little bulb, called by the 

 French botanists, iurion. It appears 

 doubtful whether this, and indeed 

 the bulb, should be considered un- 

 der the head of roots or buds. The 

 figure at A shows a tuberous root 

 crowded with tvn-ions, some of 

 which, a, a, are in a germinating 

 state. At B, is a bulbous root (cro- 

 cus) showing the turions at a, a, 

 while at b, appears one which is 

 partially developed. 



7th. Bulbous root, a fleshy root, 

 of a bulbous or globular form. It 

 seems designed to enclose and protect the future plant against cold 

 and wet. Bulbous plants belong chiefly to the great division of Mon- 

 ocotyledons, or those whose seeds have but one cotyledon ; they pro- 

 duce some of the earliest flowers of spring, and afford the most 

 beautiful ornaments of the garden. Among them are the Hyacinth, 

 the Crown Imperial, the Lity, and the Tulip, with a great variety of 

 other splendid and interesting flowers. The use of the bulb being to 

 preserve the young plant from the effect of cold, we see the bountiful 

 agency of providence in the number of bulbous plants in cold countries. 

 "Bulbs seem to be analogous to buds, and in some plants grow like 

 them upon stems or branches ; as in the tiger-lily and tree-onion ; in 

 the latter, the bulbs or onions grow upon the stalks in clusters of four 

 or five, continuing to enlarge, until their weight brings them to the 

 ground, where they take root. This is a viviparous plant, or one 

 which produces its offspring alive ; such plants as produce seeds, or 

 such animals as produce their offspring from eggs, are called ovipa- 

 rous. Bulbs are solid, as in the turnip, (Fig. 21, a,) tunicated, or 

 coated, as in the onion, b, and scaly, as in the white lily c. 



Fig 20 



Explain Fig. 19— Explain Fig. 20— Bulbous root- 

 buds— Viviparous and oviparous plants. 



-Use of the bulb— Analogous m 



