THE BROAD=LEAVED WOOD GARLIC OR RAMSONS. 



{Allium ursinum). 



J AS. 



E. Mcdonald. 



Stockport. 



{Confiiiiied front page 202). 



Each plant is always capable of furnishing sufficient of these 

 roots to gain the desired effect. Adult bulbs of wood garlic 

 have from five to six of these roots, their length averaging five 

 or six inches, but may be as long as nine or ten inches. In 

 addition to root hairs, three to six rootlets are given off 

 almost at right angles from the blunt tips of the contractile 

 roots, and form an even more effective anchorage (see fig. 10). 



From each adult bulb 

 two or three foliage leaves 

 arise, and to be pro- 

 tected from injury by 

 abrasion in their passage 

 through the soil, they 

 are covered by a closely 

 sheathing scale-leaf until 

 they reach the surface. 

 At whatever reasonable 

 depth the bulb is buried, 

 this sheathing scale-leaf 

 is capable of reaching the 

 surface, when, having 

 performed its function, 

 it ceases to grow and 

 quickly decays. Each 

 scale leaf has a stiff 

 Fig. 10.— Double (twin) bulb, (partly pointed apex ; the whole 

 diagrammatic), the result of development of , . , , , , 



a bulb similar to fig. 6 ; f, rigid fibres from scale. With the enclosed 

 previous bulb ; inf, inflorescence scar ; bf^, leaves giving rigidity, 

 and bf3, bases of leaves f2 and FMn tigs. 6. pffiHent 



and 7 ; cr, new contractile roots ; ar, anchor lOrms a veiy emcient 

 rootlets ; ocr, old contractile roots ; fr, old boring organ. Even from 

 ^'^^™°^^- a seedling, that was 



buried deeper than usual, a scale leaf was found if inches in 

 length. 



The best season to notice the peculiarities of these scale 

 leaves is during winter and early spring — say from November 

 to March. When the surface has been reached, the leaves 

 emerge from the sheath, and their petioles twist to reverse the 



Naturalist, 



