260 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, July 27, 1858. 
autumn is completely gone, so as to leave not even a vestige 
of the sheath. Such is the case also with the peduncle. The 
second leaf perishes only as far as the commencement of the 
sheath, leaving there a roundish scar. The sheath itself re¬ 
mains fresh and fleshy. In autumn the vegetation of this 
bulb awakes, which had been dormant through the summer; 
it sends out from its base through the fleshy sheath filiform 
roots, one of which frequently ascends through its bore, and 
makes its way through the aperture above. The before- 
mentioned bucl begins to elongate, and in November has fre¬ 
quently reached half the height of the sheath. Its outer 
part is a membranaceous sheath whose aperture is at the apex. 
It alternates with the sheath which encloses it. After its re- 
mo\ al either a second similar sheath appears, or, what is more 
frequent, a still tender leaf, the closed sheath of which is very 
evident. The margins of its lamina are rolled inwards, and 
the medial nerve is very strong and broad on its upper sur¬ 
face ; near it on either side the involute margin. On the 
under side, on the contrary, the nerve does not project. The 
leaves of Alstrcemeria Telegrina and other species of the 
genus, in which the under side is smooth, and the upper 
marked with many raised nerves, alternately higher and lower, 
exhibit the same phases. The proper under surface becomes 
the upper surface by means of the twisting of the lamina. 
Erorn the sheath of this first leaf the very short flower-stem 
projects : it bears at its apex tw r o bracts, of which the outer 
alternates with the first leaf, the inner stands opposite to it. 
Loth at a later period become connate and form the involucre. 
In the axil of the first a second but smaller leaf is found, 
which is turned with its back towards the stem. 
In spring, when the sheath, which is two to three inches 
long, and the two leaves (the second of which expands some¬ 
what later than the first) and the flower-stem spring forth, 
in which the leaves undergo the above-mentioned bending and 
twisting, the fleshy sheath, which remained from the second 
leaf of the foregoing year, is gradually absorbed, so that 
nothing remains except the bundles of vessels by which they 
" threaded; hence arise the bristles which were mentioned 
above. The sheath also which originally surrounded the bud 
equally perishes. The following is the result of the foregoing 
remarks:— 
I-—The two leaves, which exist at the time of flowering 
and some time later, belong to two different axes; the outer 
to this year’s basal axis which is terminated by the flower- 
stem, the inner to the lateral axis which proceeds from the 
angle which the outer leaf forms with the peduncle, and 
which in the following year is terminated by it. 
,11*—The leaves on the lateral axis (which next year becomes 
with reference to the new bud the primary axis) arc arranged 
as follows:— 
1. The inner leaf (f), whose sheath forms the true bulb or 
reservoir of nutriment when the lamina dies. It is the outer¬ 
most or lowest of its own axis. 
2. One (seldom two) membranaceous sheaths. 
3. Another leaf (d) which surrounds the flower-stem with 
its sheath, and, after the fruit is formed, entirely vanishes, 
and with which the outer leaf of the involucre alternates. 
This leaf is highest and innermost of its axis. It becomes 
external, however, by the previous destruction of the one or 
two outer sheaths. 
HI* It is remarkable, that the first or lowest leaf in this 
lateral axis is a perfect leaf, and that its evolution takes place 
at a different period of vegetation from that of the other leaf 
of the same axis. 
In plants which do not blossom there is normally but one 
leaf, whose sheath equally becomes a reservoir, while the lamina 
withers, and with it a sheath alternates : this is followed next 
. year by a leaf with a fleshy sheath. Whereas the principal bud 
m the flowering plant is axillary, it is terminal in non-flower¬ 
ing individuals, and the leaves formed at their summit always 
belong to one and the same axis. 
A bud is rarely found in the axil of the sheath. The mul¬ 
tiplication of the plant by bulbs is rare, and seeds are, there- 
lore, produced the more abundantly. It begins to sprout in 
le beginning of April. The seedling plant consists of the 
• •^ C ‘^, na 1 ca . » w hmh is firmly fixed by the process answer- 
f n lamina within the seed; a membranaceous sheath, 
tfS. T^h^h encloses a little bud in its fleshy sheath, and 
which is, with the exception of the cotyledon, in whose place 
we find in older examples the sheathing base, constructed 
exactly like the older but not yet flowering specimens. The 
cotyledon and sheath, as well as the lamina of the leaf, soon 
die and vanish. 
Fig. 1. Perfect plant when the 
fruit is ripe. 
a. old withered axis. 
b. dead roots. 
c. bristles at the base of 
bulb. 
d. sheath of first leaf. 
e. peduncle. 
f. second leaf. 
B. real lower surface of first 
leaf. 
Fig. 2. The same, with the sheath 
of the first leaf re¬ 
moved. 
a. old axis. 
a*.new axis. 
e. peduncle. 
f. petiole of second leaf. 
§. orifice of its sheath. 
Fig. 3. Vertical section of Fig. 2. 
e. bore of petiole. 
g. bud at its base. 
Fig. 4. Transverse section of (d) 
in Fig. 1. 
Tulip a Gesneriana , L. (Garden Tulip.) 
When a fertile bulb is examined towards the end of autumn, 
the following appearances are presented. It is generally sur¬ 
rounded by a thin brown skin, on the removal of which the 
dry, brown peduncle of the past season appears, furnished at 
