^ 



OF THE ROOT. 



Fiff. 21 



Some bulbs die af- 

 ter the blossoming of 

 the plant, and new 

 ones are formed from 

 the base or sides of 

 the original bulb, 

 which, in their turn, 

 produce plants. This 

 i;^ the fact with re- 

 spect to the orchis 

 tribe ; in which every 

 year one bulb or tu- 

 ber dies, and the other throws out a new stem, (see Fig. 19, c;) by 

 this means it changes its position, though slowly, since it takes but 

 one very short step each year. 



Gardeners take up their bulbous roots as often as once in two or 

 three years. In some plants the new bulbs are formed beside the old 

 ones ; thus they become crow^ded, and produce inferior flowers. 

 Many kinds, as the tulip and the narcissus, form the new bulbs under 

 the old ones, and these become at length too deep in the earth ; while 

 the new bulbs of the crocus and gladiolus, and some others, grow 

 above the old ones, and on account of being too near the surface, are 

 liable to be injured by frosts and drought. 



Fig. 22 shows at A, a root of 

 Solomon's seal, {ConvaUaria ;) a, 

 a, are the young bulbs of the plant ; 

 b marks the spot from which the 

 decayed stalk of the former year 

 has fallen ; (/, d are the fibres or 

 true root of the plant. 



At B, is a root of the Ixia, or 

 Blackberry Lily ; a shows the 

 young bulb formed above the pa- 

 \ \ rent one, which is withering in 

 consequence of imparting its vig- 

 our to its offspring. 

 The bulbous root might more properly be termed the bidbiferous 

 or bulb-bearino' root, since all that is truly a root is the fibrous part. 

 " At A, Fig. 23, is a root of this 



kind ; a shows the disk or surface 

 where the fibres are attached to 

 the base of the bulb ; this is the 

 -1\ root-stalk. The bulb- above it con- 

 tains the leaves, steins, and flowers 

 I of the plant. B shows the same 

 / bulb cut vertically, in order to ex- 

 pose the embryo plant. 



The production by means of 

 bulbs, is only a continuation of the 

 old plant, while by means of the 

 seed, a new plant is brought forth. 

 This is an important distinction ; and it is observed that in process 

 of time, a plant continued by means of reproduction, whether by 





Different forms of bulbous roots— Difference in the production of plants by means 

 of bulbs and seeds— Reasons for taking up bulbous plants— Explain Fig. 22— Explain 

 Fig. 23— Difference between tiie continuation of plants by bulbs, &c. and by raising 

 from the seed. 



