RAMSON — continued. 
widely, and the six slender stamens are each slightly attached to the base of a 
perianth-leaf. The three inner stamens mature and burst their anthers before 
the stigma becomes receptive : then the style grows to double its length ; and 
finally the three outer anthers burst. Nectar is secreted by glands situated between 
the three lobes of the ovary and the flowers are visited by bees and flies ; but by 
this arrangement, if cross-pollination is not effected, self-pollination is possible. The 
fruit is a small three-lobed top-shaped capsule. 
An interesting study of this species has been made by Mr. G. F. Scott-Elliot in 
connection with the manner in which the bulbs bury themselves. The seeds, he 
explains, sprout on the surface of the ground ; but the elongation of the petiolar 
region of the cotyledon carries the rudimentary radicle and plumule three or four 
millimetres below the surface. Bulbs seem in this, as in most cases, to originate in 
a fleshy concave enlargement of the base of the cotyledon with other early-formed 
leaf-bases enclosed within it. 
“In April a circle of peculiar fleshy roots is formed : they grow obliquely downwards, and when they are firmly fixed by 
root-hairs at their ends, they contract, losing about 30 per cent, of their original length : in so doing they draw the bulb 
downward into the soil.** 
A similar phenomenon may be observed in the roots of Hyacinths when grown 
in a glass : as they increase in thickness they shrink in length, so that their surface 
becomes covered with transverse wrinkles. 
From May to July, Mr. Scott-Elliot continues, the green leaves are doing their 
work, and the tiny bulblets are much enlarged by the food stored up in them. 
“In September another series of roots grows, not downwards, but outwards : these are thin, they have no power of 
contraction, and simply absorb nourishment like those of ordinary plants. From November to April is the winter rest, and in 
April another circle of stout contracting roots is produced, which again drag the bulb downwards. Eventually it comes to lie 
at a depth of 10-15 centimetres.” (4-6 inches.) 
Whilst on account of its usual habitat it has been called “Wood Garlic,” it 
grows also in the well-shaded depths of the grykes or fissures in what are known as 
“ limestone-pavements ” in Ireland and in the north of England. Its scientific name 
has been translated “ Bear’s Garlic,” as to which Sir James Edward Smith has the 
delightful remark : — 
“Pliny, who first has recorded the specific name, does not account for its application. The coarseness of its qualities, like 
the manners of some human beings, may, in both cases, justify the comparison.” 
Smith has, however, overlooked a remark by the herbalist Jacob Theodor of 
Bergzabern (who styled himself Tabernasmontanus, and who, living in the sixteenth 
century when bears were more abundant in Europe than at present, may have known 
more about their tastes) to the effect that bears delight in this garlic. 
As to the name Ramson , it is apparently the plural of Ramse , a Scandinavian 
equivalent for our word rank , with reference to the smell and taste of the plant. 
