OF THE ROOT, 
37 
Fig. 19 
Fig. 19, at a, shows a root 
of the Ophris, one of the or- 
chis tribe of plants. It is 
composed of a mass or 
crowded tubers. It is called 
a grumose root. At 5, is a 
fasciculated tuberous root, 
as in the asphodel. At c, the 
tubers are suspended from 
an upright body or caudex, 
as in the root of the SpircEa 
Jilipe7idula. 
Roots sometimes produce a kind 
of bud, or little bulb, called by the 
French botanists, turion. It appears 
doubtful whether this, and indeed 
the bulb, should be considered un- 
der the head of roots or buds. The 
figure at A shows a tuberous root 
crowded with turions, some of 
which, a, a, are in a germinating 
state. At B, is a bulbous root (cro- 
showing the turions at a, a, 
while at 6, appears one which is 
partially developed. 
7th. Bulbous root^ a fleshy root, 
of a bulbous or globular form. It 
seems designed to enclose and protect the future plant against cold 
and wet. Bulbous plants belong chiefly to the great division of Mon- 
ocotyledons, or those whose seeds have but one cotyledon ; they pro- 
duce some of the earliest flowers of spring, and afford the most 
beautiful ornaments of the garden. Among them are the Hyacinth, 
the Crown Imperial, the Lily, and the Tulip, with a great variety of 
other splendid and interesting flowers. The use of the bulb being to 
preserve the 5^oung plant from the effect of cold, we see the bountiful 
agency of providence in the number of bulbous plants in cold countries. 
Bulbs seem to be analogous to buds, and in some plants grow like 
them upon stems or branches ; as in the tiger-lily and tree-onion ; in 
the latter, the bulbs or onions grovv^ upon the stalks in clusters of four 
or five, continuing to enlarge, until their weight brings them to the 
ground, where they take root. This is a viviparous plant, or one 
which produces its offspring alive ; such plants as produce seeds, or 
such animals as produce their offspring from eggs, are called ovipa- 
rous. Bulbs are solid, as in the turnip, (Fig. 21, a,) tunicated, or 
coated, as in the onion b, and scaly, as in the white lily c. 
Explain Pig. 19— Explain Fig. 20— Bulbous root— Use of the bulb— Analogous to 
buds— Viviparous and oviparous plants. 
4 
Fig. 20. 
