The recent discussion on "What is a bulb?" sent me searching for my copy of Masha Bennett's Pulmonarias and the Borage Family. In the introduction, she summarizes the various Raunkaier life forms, which include such terms as phanerophyte, hemicryptophyte, and geophyte. (Christen Raunkaier, a Danish botanist, developed this plant growth form classification system in the 1920's.) Here is the book's definition of geophyte: "Herbaceous plants with (resting) buds below the soil surface." It looks like many "bulbs" are geophytes, but not all geophytes are bulbs. And, judging from the growth habit of Urginea maritima, Hippeastrum calyptratum, etc., not all bulbs are geophytes. Interesting. Gene Eugene Zielinski Augusta, GA USA