i8 



'IHE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



arc not flower "roots," but usually underground stems, scaly as in lilies, or having 

 sheathing coats or tunics, as in narcissus (see page 14), hyacinth, tulip, and others of 

 a similar charaetci-. 



Corms look like bulbs somewhat, but have fibrous or membraneous coats enfolded 

 round a solid centre, as crocus, gladiolus (Fig. 9), and others possessing the same 

 characteristics. All true corms are endogenous. 



Runners are long flexible shoots bearing young plants [i.e. growing buds) at the nodes, 

 as in strawberry, some potentillas, and geums (see " ground level " A, Fig. 1, page 9). 



Stolons are leafless shoots similar to " runners," but produced underground, as in 

 bamboos, convolvulus, physalis, and lily of the valley (Fig. 1, page 9). 



All parts of a plant arc really buds in different phases of development, and some- 

 times may be produced in different positions, as in lilies. L. candidum has under- 

 ground bulbs ; so has L. bulbiferum and L. tigrinum, but the two last also produce 

 axillary buds or bulbs (bulblets) on their flowering stems. Again, seeds are buds pro- 

 duced by a union of the sexual organs of plants, and ultimately become detached and 

 distributed to continue the race. 



Leaves. 



The root and the leaf are the real working machinery of all plants ; but we must 

 remember that, in function, roots, stems and leaves are now and then interchangeable — 

 that is to say, they occasionally perform each other's w^ork. Some plants (1) are 

 rootless, for example, as wollfia, some utricularias, aldrovanda, and others ; and then 

 all the food collection and absorption is done by the stems and leaves. Then (2) we 

 have some orchids, cacti, euphorbias, etc., that are practically but there is a 

 plentiful supply of chlorophyll in their stems, and so life and health are maintained. 

 Again (3), there are one or two orchids, such as Angrcecum funale, and Aerides taenale, 

 that depend entirely upon their aerial roots, which, in the case of all Epiphytal orchids, 

 are, or should be, rich in chlorophyll. 



Leaves then, or those parts of a plant which contain active green matter.^ are actu- 

 ally the absorbing, digesting, breathing, and evaporating organs of the plant machine. 

 Leaves are really the analogue of our mouths and lungs and stomachs and skin combined. 



No matter how variable they are in size or in form or in numbers, their real life's 

 ■work is all done on the same plan. Their work consists in the formation of proteids or 

 carbohydrates, such as starch (Fig. 10, next page), sugar, and other compounds, also to lay 



