pedicel

plant part

Also known as: flower stalk

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flower anatomy

In inflorescence: Indeterminate inflorescence.
…a short stalk, called a pedicel. An example of a raceme is found in the snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus).
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In angiosperm: The receptacle
…underlying bracteole is called a pedicel. Thus, in inflorescences, bracteole is the equivalent of bract, and pedicel is the equivalent of peduncle.
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In angiosperm: Inflorescences
…a short stalk called a pedicel. The main axis has indeterminate growth; therefore, its growth does not cease at the onset of flowering. A spike is a raceme except that the flowers are attached directly to the axis at the axil of each leaf rather than to a pedicel. An…
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bulb

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A hyacinth (Hyancinthus) bulb, an underground stem that produces aerial foliage. The foliage dies back to the bulb, which houses a maturing flower bud. The bulb is common in herbaceous perennials that become dormant in response to a seasonal change in climate or water availability.

bulb

plant anatomy

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Related Topics:: root vegetable; onion; bulbil; tunicate bulb; scaly bulb

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bulb, in botany, a modified stem that is the resting stage of certain seed plants, particularly perennial monocotyledons. A bulb consists of a relatively large, usually globe-shaped, underground bud with membraneous or fleshy overlapping leaves arising from a short stem. A bulb’s fleshy leaves—which in some species are actually expanded leaf bases—function as food reserves that enable a plant to lie dormant when water is unavailable (during winter or drought) and resume its active growth when favourable conditions again prevail.

There are two main types of bulbs. One type, typified by the onion, has a thin papery covering protecting its fleshy leaves. The other type, the scaly bulb, as seen in true lilies, has naked storage leaves, unprotected by any papery covering, that make the bulb appear to consist of a series of angular scales. Bulbs can vary in size from insignificant pea-sized structures to those of large crinum lilies (Crinum species), the individual bulbs of which may weigh more than 7 kg (15 pounds).

Bulbs enable many common garden ornamentals, such as the narcissus, tulip, and hyacinth, to produce their flowers rapidly, almost precociously, in early spring when growing conditions are favourable. Other bulb-producing plants, such as the lilies, flower in the summer, while a few, such as the meadow saffron, bloom in the fall. Bulb-producing species are especially abundant in the lily (Liliaceae) and amaryllis (Amaryllidaceae) families. A few bulb-producing species are of economic importance to humans because of the taste and nutritive value of their fleshy leaves; included among such species are the onion and its relatives the shallot, garlic, and leek. Other bulbs contain poisonous compounds—such as the red squill (Drimia), the bulbs of which are the source of a highly effective rat poison.