What's a Bulb?, was Re: chocolate scented bulbs
totototo@telus.net (Fri, 07 Jul 2006 10:05:41 PDT)

On 7 Jul 06, at 14:31, Jacinda and Barry wrote:

The terms "bulb", "tuber", "rhizome", and "corm" have rather precise
definitions in botanical use, which you can unearth in any suitable
reference.

Some plants are, as you would expect, problematic: various cyclamen
species have roots on different faces of their whatevers so the genus
as a whole presents a problem when it comes to classifying their
storage organs.

And many plants have fleshy roots that are none of these: peonies,
for example.

The storage organs of some orchids are regularly referred to as
"tubers", e.g. /Orchis/, but others are less certain. The "bulbs" of
/Pleione/ are commonly referred to as "pseudobulbs".

So in spite of nomenclatural precision by the botanists, there are,
as usual, gray areas and unclassifiable structures to keep us all
amused and alert.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate

on beautiful Vancouver Island