29 f THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 10, 1858 
NOTES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OE BULBS AND TUBERS. 
By Thxlo Lbhisch. 
{Abridged from the German original.) 
{Continued from gage 277.) 
Lilium candidum , L. L. {Martagon, and L. bulbiferum , L. 
If the bulb of L. candidum be examined in autu m n, the 
following structure is found. On the outside we observe ovate, 
rather fleshy scales, which have a scar at tlieir apex (Fig. l,b). 
The number of these varies from six to sixteen. The front 
Of the uppermost of these scales, in strong bulbs, is the 
Lilium candidum, Martagon, and bulbiferum. 
Lilium candidum. 
I’ig, 1. A rather weak bulb in 
October, from which 
only the outer decayed 
portions have been re¬ 
moved. 
b. blunt scarred scales at the 
base of bulb. 
c. small pointed scales above 
them. 
Lilium Maktagon. 
Fig. 3. a. peduncle. c. base of first leaf of pe- 
c. principal bud. peduncle. 
d. first traces of roots. f, f. scars or remains of old 
peduncles. 
Lilium bulbulium. 
Fig. 4. a. peduncle. d. roots on peduncle, 
b. uppermost scale, with bud f. scar of old peduncle, 
in its axil. 
withered stump of the peduncle of the past summer. These 
scales are succeeded by numerous perfectly fresh - pointed 
scales, varying from six to twenty, without, however, present¬ 
ing any intermediate forms. These, again, without any tran¬ 
sition, are succeeded by from six to sixteen leaves, which, like 
the scales, are spirally arranged. These enclose in their centre 
the undeveloped peduncle, richly furnished with leaves (Fig. 
2, a) ; in weak examples no flowers appear, whereas in stronger 
roots the flower-buds are visible. In the axil formed by the 
innermost leaf of the basal axis and the peduncle, there is 
the rudiment of a bud, in the shape of small fleshy scales or 
cones (c), in which a spiral arrangement is manifest. The 
larger and outermost of these are next to the flower-stem, 
without, however, enclosing the smaller. The leaves of the 
basal axis give rise to the scarred scales of the following year 
by reason of the decay of their lamina. Exactly as in the 
Hyacinth, there is an annual succession of scales and leaves, 
only in the one case the scales, and more especially the basal 
portion of the leaves, are very broad, in the other far I 
narrower; the outer scales, or sheaths, therefore, of the j 
Hyacinth involve the inner completely, and, consequently, j 
form a tolerably firm bulb ; in the Lily, on the contrary, the I 
outer scales merely imbricate the inner, and being fixed to the 
axis by a small point only, easily separate from one another. 
In the Hyacinth the produce of several years is combined in 
one bulb ; but in the White Lily, as also in the Crown Im¬ 
perial, tliat of two only, not, however, including the bud. It j 
is not, indeed, asserted that this is constantly the case. The j 
Lily bulb dili'ers from that of the Hyacinth surprisingly, in 
the evolution of its component parts ; in the former the ! 
leaves are already formed in autumn, and stand on the part j 
of the axis which in the next year is terminated by the flower- 
stem, while in the Hyacinth the leaves are first developed in 
spring, at the same time with the peduncles. 
The branched roots break forth from the lower and older 
part of the basal axis. 
The bulbs of L. Martagon and bulbiferum agree, on the 
whole, with one another; the scales of the first are smaller 
and longer than in the last, and, therefore, the whole bulb 
assumes a more slender form in one than in the other. Both 
are distinguished from L. candidum , by the circumstance that 
merely scales are found on their rather long main axis, and no 
1 leaves. 
In moderately-sized bulbs of L. Martagon there are about 
fifty scales, of which the outermost are dry and membra¬ 
naceous, though not changed, as in the Tulip, into a brown 
skin, but still yellow. The remains, or at least the scars, of 
these earlier flower-stems (Fig. 3, f, f) are visible, so that at 
the time of flowering the productions of at least four years 
are united on the mam axis j frequently, however, there are 
traces of four or even of five peduncles. In wild specimens 
; of L. bulbiferum , only one or two old flower-stems appear. 
The principal bud is seated in the axil of the uppermost 
scales (Fig. 4, b). Accessory buds ai*e also found in the axils 
of the lower scales; one of these frequently blossoms in the 
next year, together with the main bud. The peduncle of such 
a bulb, with respect to its axis, is terminal, as well as that of 
the primary bulb, and has many scales on its own basal axis, 
and a primary bud in the axil of the uppermost scale, The : 
two bulbs bear each their own magazine, but are nourished in 
common by the roots of the main axis, till this dies up to 
the place where the lower bulb is seated, and then both 
become separate. The roots arise tolerably high on the mam 
axis, often close to this year’s peduncle, nestling sometimes 
amongst their parenchym. 
From the lower part of the stem, whether it prove fertile or 
sterile, beneath the first membranaceous leaf, numerous roots 
(Fig. 4, d) spring forth in a spiral line of one or more 
volutions, so that the roots spring from two separate points ! 
—the peduncle and from the lower part of the basal axis. 
There are, however, no roots on the stem of L. candidum. 
Young bulbs of L. Martagon and bulbiferum have only one 
leaf in addition to the scale on their basil axis, from w T liich no 
d. leaves. 
Fig. 2. Young peduncle and bud 
from lig. 1. 
a. peduncle. 
b. leaves on do. 
c. principal bud. 
