78 



A TULIP WITH A RUNNER 



By Frederick H. Blodgett 



A number of young tulip bulbs were planted in November, 

 in a shallow box for indoor cultivation. On January 23, 1901, 

 one of these plants was removed from the soil for examination. 

 The leaf was several inches long, but still tightly rolled, as the 

 plants were kept in a dark room.* From the bottom of the bulb 

 a runner extended obliquely downward for two inches or more. 

 The tip was broken in lifting the plant from the soil, so that it 

 could not be examined. The appearance of the bulb is shown, 

 natural size, at Fig. I. 



Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 



The bulb was cut open in the plane of the runner. In origin 

 the runner was found to be quite similar to those of Erythronium. 

 The base of the runner and that of the leaf stalk are continuous, 

 and form a continuous core through the center of the bulb. By 

 the side of this core there was another, much less developed. 

 The leaf portion of this core was hardly differentiated from the 



* This was part of the etiolation experiments by Dr. D. T. MacDougal, who 

 kindly gave the specimen to the author. 



