THE BULB BOOK 



produce freaks. All classes of plants vary in the same way at some 

 time or another, and are regarded as commonplace, though curious, 

 by those who grow them. Many instances of roots, stems, leaves, 

 sepals, .petals, stamens, pistils, and ovaries having been distorted in 

 some way have been recorded, not only in the late Dr Masters' work' 

 on Vegetable Teratology, but also in the pages of the horticultural and 

 botanical press and journals. As might be expected, the flowers, 

 being usually the most conspicuous and ornamental parts of a plant, 

 have been noticed most frequently, but other parts, especially the 

 flower-stems, have also been noted from time to time. To give a 

 few instances : — 



Flower-Stems. — In some instances, notably in Liliums especially 

 L. auratum), the ordinary roundish stem is frequently broadened out 

 into a thin, flattish body, an examination of which shows at once that 

 several stems have fused or united together, and as each one produces 



its own blossoms, the result is 

 an enormous mass of bloom. 

 This fusion or union of several 

 stems into one is called fasci- 

 ation, and is quite a common 

 feature in the ordinary garden 

 Asparagus. 



Instances of fasciation have 

 also been noted in the flower- 

 stems of Agapanthus umbel- 

 latus,Oxalis crenata, and several 

 florists' Tulips. In the case of 

 the Tulip, there is usually only 

 one flower on one stalk, but by 

 fusion or fasciation, examples 

 bearing as many as seven 

 flowers have been met with — 

 the stems being united part of 

 the way, and then branching 

 towards the top. Fig. 23 

 shows a Tulip having three 

 flower - stems, more or less 

 fused together. 



In some Liliaceous and Iridaceous plants bulbils (see p. 21) 

 form naturally in the axils of the stem leaves. In many, however, 

 this character is undeveloped, and is probably only dormant, owing 



36 



Fig. 23. — Tulip with three flowers on one stem. 



