The Daffodil 



store material was formed it was passed down the 

 long stalkless leaves in liquid form to that store- 

 house below the ground that every DaffodU has — 

 the bulb. There it became solid starch grains 

 and swelled the bulb, and made it hard and firm 

 until needed in the New Year. 



Now a bulb, to be precise, is really a compound 

 affair. In the centre is a dwarf stem bearing leaf 

 and flower-buds ; surrounding it are layer upon 

 layer of scales, thick and white because of the 

 starch they have stored. Outside these are dry, 

 brown scales which largely protect the inner white 

 ones from small nibbling animals. By midsummer 

 days the bulb was filled, the store completed, and 

 the leaves, their work done, were yellow and dead, 

 and soon the plant had faded from the face of the 

 earth to sleep until its reappearance with the spring. 



When the increasing warmth of the sun wakes 

 it the leaves and flower-stalk push upwards. For 

 their growth they call upon the reserve store in 

 the white scales. By the action of some ferment 



3 



