What's a Bulb?, was Re: chocolate scented bulbs
boutin (Fri, 07 Jul 2006 10:46:09 PDT)
Fuchsia decidua is an oddity which I saw years ago in the Sierra de Minatlan
in western Jalisco. It has a few long, thick, spongy roots, not defined
into potato-like tubers, but still tuberous. The thick roots are buried in
moss high up on the trunks of oaks. The very colorful flowers mimic the
local mistletoes. A tuberous plant but an epiphyte rather than a geophyte.
There are several epiphytic bulbs, so this shouldn't be too far off topic.
Fred
----- Original Message -----
From: <totototo@telus.net>
To: "Pacific Bulb Society" <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 10:05 AM
Subject: [pbs] What's a Bulb?, was Re: chocolate scented bulbs
On 7 Jul 06, at 14:31, Jacinda and Barry wrote:
Good question re: orchids and what counts as bulbs and what doesn't.
Have always wondered this myself!
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
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