Tulip. d. disc of old bulb; f. s. flower and leaf-stalk which have eaten up old bulb; n. b. new bulb and offsets.
The Liliums are a large and interesting group of bulbous plants. Many of them produce offsets freely round the base of the old bulb. There are several species, however (e.g., canadense, Grayi, maritimum, pardalinum, Parryi, superbum), which have creeping rootstocks or rhizomes, and the new offsets are produced along these at intervals as shown in the drawing.
Division.—Bulbs or corms are rarely cut up for purposes of propagation. The best example in which this method of increase is practised is the Gladiolus. The larger corms, if they show two or more crown-growths, may be carefully cut down between them with a sharp knife. The cut surfaces may be dipped in soot, not only to dry it more rapidly, but also to prevent any stray spores of fungoid diseases from germinating.
Rhizome (r) with Offsets.
[Leaf-Scales.]—The thick, fleshy, deltoid scales of many of the Liliums will develop buds at the base, as shown in the drawing, when detached and inserted almost vertically in sandy soil. In about three or four years flowering bulbs can be produced by this means.
A somewhat analogous process is adopted with Hyacinths. The old bulb is slashed across the base of the disc two or three times into the fleshy scales. The cut surfaces dry up, and by-and-bye small buds or bulblets, as shown on the sketch of the Lily scale, make their appearance. In due course these bulblets are detached and planted in light sandy soil. The propagation of the florists' varieties of Hyacinths by this means is not altogether satisfactory, as the old bulbs themselves undergo a deterioration in our variable climate.
Scale leaf (s. l.) of Lily bulb showing new growth (n. b.) at base.