Re: Bulbous drosera

John Taylor [The Banshee] (rphjt@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU)
Fri, 5 Nov 93 15:21:40 +0000

>But wait, is not the "tuber" of tuberous Drosera more like a potato than an
>onion?
>A bulb usually consists of a rather small amount of stem tissue, with an
>apical meristem. Bulbs often are encased in many layers of leaves,
>dried and papery to the exterior, but the inner leaves being thicker and
>fleshy, acting as the primary storage organ. In a tuber the stem itself
>is the primary food storage organ. I have never noticed tubers on tuberous
>drosera to be ensheathed by leaves. Perhaps the tuber of the tuberous
>Drosera would be better described as a CORM?

I would agree that the drosera "tuber" is more potato-like than onion-like.
>From what I can remember seeing, the inside of the tuber is much like a potato
- no layers (I don't know if onion-like layers are a requirement for bulbs).
The "leaves" surrounding the tuber are the dried husks of previous year's
tubers (or something like that) - some species have similar papery sheaves
around the upright "stem" too. What are the technical details of tubers,
bulbs, corms etc?

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| John Taylor [The Banshee] | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology |
| rphjt@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au | Department of Applied Physics |
| MOKING IS A HEALTH HAZARD. | Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA |
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