MONOCOTYLEDONE^E, 51 



and the seed perfected, they, together with the leaves, 

 bulb, and roots of this section of the plant, are shed, 

 and separated by decay, Fig. 17. But it is not so 

 with such as iheAgapdnthus, theEucomis, and many, 

 if not all, of the Amaryllidece* . These last mentioned, 

 instead of flowers, have their foliage terminal ; the 

 flowers being produced laterally from the axillae of 

 former leaves, so that the bulbous body of the stem 

 is constituted very differently from those of the first- 

 mentioned plants. 



It may be' remarked in this place, that, with respect 

 to the term bulb, it is, perhaps, necessary it should 

 be retained, as it is now in commerce ; but botanists 

 would do well to make a proper distinction between 

 bulbs and those improperly so called, which are really 

 tubers. The former term should be confined to those 

 plants which have their collet or radicle plate defended 

 by abbreviated leaves, and consequently have tuni- 

 cated bulbs. All others having an incrassated stem 

 of a globose form, and not composed of distinct 

 laminae, but a solid body of farinaceous or pulpy 

 cellular matter, and^ which exsert flowers from the 

 sides as well as the apex, are properly tubers, and 

 should be designated as such. 



The Amaryllidece seem to partake of the conform- 

 ation of both bulb and tuber ; for, in comparing them 

 with that of the tulip, we find that they both have 

 a radicle plate or collet whence all the growth origi- 

 nates ; their bulbs are both formed of new or the 



* Lilies. 

 E2 



