Bulb

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Bulb

A bulb is an underground vertical shoot

Shoot

Shoots are new plant growth, they can include plant stem, flowering stems with flower buds, leaves. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop....
that has modified leaves

Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
(or thickened leaf bases) that are used as food

Food

Food is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be Eating or Drinking by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure....
storage organ

Storage organ

A storage organ is a part of a plant specifically modified for storage of energy or water. Storage organs often grow underground, where they are better protected from attack by herbivores....
s by a dormant

Dormancy

Dormancy is a period in an Organism Biological life cycle when growth, development, and physical activity is temporarily suspended. This minimizes metabolism and therefore helps an organism to conserve energy....
plant

Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
.

A bulb's leaf bases generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Bulb'

Start a new discussion about 'Bulb'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

A bulb is an underground vertical shoot

Shoot

Leaf

Food

Food is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be Eating or Drinking by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure....
storage organ

Storage organ

Dormancy

Plant

Plant stem

A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaf, inflorescence , conifer cones or other stems etc....
forms the base of the bulb, and plant growth occurs from this basal plate

Basal plate

In anatomy, basal plate may refer to:* the portion of the neural tube ventral to the sulcus limitans; see Basal plate * the portion of the decidua basalis in the placenta; see Basal plate ...
. Root

Root

In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial root or aerating ....
s emerge from the underside of the base, and new stems and leaves from the upper side.

Other types of storage organs (such as corm

Corm

A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant Plant stem that serves as a storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat ....
s, rhizome

Rhizome

In botany, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal plant stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes....
s, and tuber

Tuber

Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to overwinter and regrow the next year and as a means of asexual reproduction....
s) are sometimes erroneously referred to as bulbs. The correct term for plants that form underground storage organs, including bulbs as well as tuber

Tuber

Corm

Orchidaceae

Orchidaceae is the largest Family of the flowering plants . Its name is derived from the genus Orchis.The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew list 880 genus and nearly 22,000 accepted species, but the exact number is unknown because of taxonomic disputes....
) form above-ground storage organs called pseudobulb
Pseudobulb

The pseudobulb is a storage organ derived from the part of a stem between two leaf nodes.It applies to the orchid family , specifically certain groups of epiphyte orchids, and may be single or composed of several internodes with evergreen or deciduous leaves along its length....
s, that superficially resemble bulbs.

All plants that form true bulbs are monocotyledon

Monocotyledon

Monocotyledons or monocots are one of two major groups of flowering plants that are traditionally recognised, the other being dicotyledons or dicots....
s, and include:

Onion
Onion

Onion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa....
, garlic
Garlic

Allium sativum L., commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive....
, and other allium
Allium

Allium is the onion genus, with about 1250 species, making it one of the largest plant genera in the world. They are perennial plant bulbous plants that produce chemical compounds that give them a characteristic onion or garlic taste and odor, and many are used as food plants....
s, family Alliaceae
Alliaceae

Alliaceae is a Family of herbaceous perennial plant flowering plants. They are monocots, part of Order Asparagales. The family has been widely but not universally recognised; in the past, the plants involved were often treated as belonging to the family Liliaceae, and still are by some botanists....
.
Lily, tulip
Tulip

Tulipa, commonly called tulip, is a genus of about 150 species of bulbous flowering plants in the family Liliaceae. The native range of the species includes southern Europe, north Africa, and Asia from Anatolia and Iran in the west to northeast of China....
, and many other members of the lily family Liliaceae
Liliaceae

The Liliaceae, or the lily family, is a family of monocotyledons in the order Liliales. Plants in this family have linear leaves, mostly with parallel veins but with several having net venation , and flower arranged in threes....
.
Amaryllis
Amaryllis

Amaryllis is a monotypic genus of plant also known as the Belladonna Lily or naked ladies. The single species, Amaryllis belladonna, is a native of South Africa, particularly the rocky southwest region near the Cape....
, Hippeastrum
Hippeastrum

Hippeastrum is a genus of about 70–75 species and 600+ hybrids and cultivars of bulbous plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas from Argentina north to Mexico and the Caribbean....
, Narcissus, and several other members of the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae
Amaryllidaceae

Amaryllidaceae is the botanical name of a family of flowering plants. Plants in this family may be described as 'amaryllid'. The plants are herbaceous perennial plants that often grow from bulbs, often with showy flowers....
.
Two groups of Iris
Iris (plant)

Iris is a genus of between 200-300 species of flowering plants with showy flowers. It takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors found among the many species....
species, family Iridaceae
Iridaceae

Iridaceae is a family of plants in Order Asparagales, taking its name from the Iris . It includes a number of other well known cultivated plants, such as the Freesia, the Gladiolus and the Crocus....
: subgenus Xiphium (the "Dutch" irises) and subgenus Hermodactyloides (the miniature "rock garden" irises).

Bulbil

Some lilies form small bulbs, called bulbils in their leaf axils. Several members of the onion family, Alliaceae, including Allium sativum (garlic

Garlic

Allium sativum L., commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive....
), form bulbils in their flower heads, sometimes as the flowers fade, or even instead of the flowers. The so-called Tree onion

Tree onion

Tree onions are a strong-growing onion with a bunch of bulblets where a normal onion would have flowers.They are members of the "proliferum" cultivar of the onion , and are also commonly called Top Onions, Topset Onions, Walking Onions, or Egyptian onions....
(Allium cepa var. proliferum) forms small onions which are large enough for pickling

Pickling

Pickling, also known as brining or corning, is the process of preserving food by Anaerobic organism fermentation in brine , to produce lactic acid bacteria, or marination and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar ....
.

Some ferns, such as Hen and Chicken Fern

Asplenium bulbiferum

Mother spleenwort, Asplenium bulbiferum, is a fern species native to New Zealand. It is also called Hen and Chicken fern, and in the Maori language mouku....
grow offshoots on top of their fronds, which are also referred to as bulbils.

Most flower bulbs require a cold winter frost to bloom perennially. In the southern United States, bulbs species have developed which do not need this cold frost to return year after year and multiply. These bulbs include several narcissus, the French Roman Hyacinth, and a tulip among others.