Fig. 106. Section of the same.
[113.] The Bulb, strictly so-called, is a stem like a reduced corm as to its solid part (or plate); while the main body consists of thickened scales, which are leaves or leaf-bases. These are like bud-scales; so that in fact a bulb is a bud with fleshy scales on an exceedingly short stem. Compare a White Lily bulb (Fig. [107]) with the strong scaly buds of the Hickory and Horse-chestnut (Fig. [72 and 73]), and the resemblance will appear. In corms, as in tubers and rootstocks, the store of food for future growth is deposited in the stem; while in the bulb, the greater part is deposited in the bases of the leaves, changing them into thick scales, which closely overlap or enclose one another.
[114.] A Scaly Bulb (like that of the Lily, Fig. [107, 108]) is one in which the scales are thick but comparatively narrow.
Fig. 107. Bulb of a wild Lily. 108. The same divided lengthwise, showing two forming buds of the next generation.
Fig. 109. A ground leaf of White Lily, its base (cut across) thickened into a bulb-scale. This plainly shows that bulb-scales are leaves.
[115.] A Tunicated or Coated Bulb is one in which the scales enwrap each other, forming concentric coats or layers, as in Hyacinth and Onion.