74 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



of three. Ordinarily, there is no well- 

 defined separation of the floral covering 

 into calyx and corolla, as in buttercups 

 and roses, but the parts are siroilar in 

 size and colour, and arranged at the | 

 same level on the stem, forming as in j 

 the tulip and hyacinth a single row or 

 envelope, which is called a perianth. 

 Snowdrops and daffodils are so well 

 known as to require no description for 

 any one to recognise them, but, never- 

 theless they exhibit certain peculiar 

 developments of structure that will re- 

 pay close examination. In common 

 with tulips, lilies, hyacinths, and many 

 other plants, they have a form of under- 

 ground stem, called a bulb. This is 

 composed of a flat solid portion — the 

 disk — wliLch produces numerous fib- 

 rous roots downwards, and upwards 

 many closely packed modified leaves 

 forming a compact ball ; an onion is a 

 familiar example, the dissection of 

 which will convey an accurate idea of 

 the anatomy of a bulb. The outer 

 layers are usually tbin and parchment 

 like, being simply protective, the inner 

 are more succulent and juicy, forming 

 a storehouse of reserve material for 

 the future use of the plant. The inner- 

 most two or tliree, rise up in the air, 

 becoming green, and performing the 

 functions of ordinary true foliage leaves, 

 Erom the centre, springs the flower 

 stalk, bearing flowers only and no 

 leaves ; it is caUed a scape. In the 

 snowdrop and daffodil tliere is only a 



solitary flower produced, but in the 

 polyanthus, narcissus, and jonquil there 

 are several in an umbel at the top of 

 the stalk, and in the onion innumer- 

 able small greenish flowers form a 

 dense compact head from which it 

 takes its botanic name of Allium cepa. 

 In dissecting an onion the process may 

 be a little disagreeable because of its 

 pungent odour, but it is taken as the 

 type because it is always so readily ac- 

 cessible. If an onion is split open, 

 or its successive coats peeled off,between 

 some of the various layers — that is in 

 the axils of the leaves, which is the 

 normal position of buds — there will be 

 found several bud-like bodies. These 

 are infant bulbs, which in the succeed- 

 ing season would develope in aU res- 

 pects like the parent bulb a ad main- 

 tain an independent existence. This 

 is the way in which those favourite 

 florists' flowers, hyacinths and tulips, 

 are propagated and multiplied. Al- 

 though common onions are ordinarily 

 raised from seed, the more delicate 

 " shallot,'' sometimes called " potato- 

 onion " because it is raised from*' sets," 

 may be seen in summer growing in 

 kitchen gardens, each parent bulb sur- 

 rounded by its infant progeny of half- 

 a-dozen, which attain maturity in 

 Autumn. Exactly the same process is 

 carried on when a snowdrop bulb is 

 planted, in a few years a considerable 

 clump wiU be formed around the 

 original central one, they may then be 



