FLOWERS THAT BLOOM IN SPRING

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 189, 12 August 1939, Page 7 (Supplement)

FLOWERS THAT BLOOM IN SPRING

. . And then mv heart with pleasure fills And dances with the daffodils." So wrote the great Nature poet in his well-known lines about the daffodils that brought such jov to him, not only in the actual sudden beholding of the host of golden beauties, but also in the reflection upon the eight at a later day.

Co|tses, pastures and banks of streams are locations where this delightful golden spring flower stows wild in many parts of England. "Beside the lake, beneath the trees," says the same poet. That is where he came upon them, and they were growing and blooming in such profusion that lie also tells us, "Ten thousand saw 1 at a glance, tossing their heads in sprightly dance."

\\ e are i>rateful to these few simple lines which tell us so vividly of the enchanting beauty of the scene, and with our "inward eye" we, too, feel that we can see and enjoy the same sight.

"Ix'nt lily" is a very beautiful najne given by our I*"njrlit=li cousins to the daffodil, and that name reminds us that tlie season at which they lend their golden brilliance to landscape and warden, falls six months earlier in the year than our springtime.

I suppose the horticultural term most readily applied to the daffodil is that of "bulb," and by this rather general description we mean that it belongs to that family of bulbous plants. Tnli|is. hyacinths, lilies and other well-known garden flowers also grow from the formation we call

a "bulb." liiit for the present we will turn our attention to the daffodil and learn something more about this graceful gold-cupped bloom of spring.

The long spear-like green leaves are well known to all. as is also the slender sheathed hud, borne on its erect, slender stem until it reaches that stage where it will burst from this coat and fling one more drop of rich gold beneath the skies of this "tenderest of all seasons."

Before we consider the growth and ft ructure of daffodils in particular, let us turn hack fur a few moments to what wo discovered some weeks ago in the article 011 plants not grown from seed. There we discussed such things ari tubers, cornis and bulbs, and found that a bulb, which may be described as a specialised underground bud. is made up of a thickened short stem to which are attached a number of overlapping fleshy scales or moditied lea\es. This is the reserve supply of food stored by the growth of one season, for the Ivcnetit of the growth of the next, there being sufficient moisture in an apparently dry hull) to set, the new season's growth on its way even when kept out of the ground. Having derived its life, therefore, from the food-store provided for it in this thoughtful manner, the daffo-

11. — The Golden Daffodils

By ' Olga P. Burton

dil of each season, after it has finished it<s flowering period, proceeds to lav in a store of fresh food in the form of new bulbs, in order that its kind may be further propagated the following spring. Leaves of the. daffodil are still exposed to air and light throughout the weeks of early summer, after the flower lias bloomed and faded, and during this time the food store underground is replenished for the next generation. If we take either a shooting or flowering daffodil bulb and examine it, we will readily recognise its component parts—the long white roots, the outside thin brownish withered scales (which are the remains of the leaf bases of two seasons ajio). and wrapped within those the white bases of last season's leaves which now form bulb-scales.

Above the sheathing leaf-bases the Greenish-blue long, narrow leatblades rise in the familiar sword shape; the veins in these leaves do not form a net-work, but run parallel to the midrib along the length of the blade. The long, slender ribbed green stalk is also a \ erj familiar part of the daffodil plant, and the same can be said of the brown membrane which forms a sheath to enclose and protect the bud.

This slioath is attached to the stem a little distance below the flower; the short region of stem or flowerstalk above' the sheath continues into the flower. When the bud is still closed this part of the stem is straight and erect, but shortly before the flower opens it curves, directing itself so that the flower will face the strongest source of light.

In the case of the daffodil (Narcissus pseudo-narcissus) a stem but one flower, but with jon(jhils and other species of the narcissus family further flowers may develop in the axils of the bracts which form the sheath.

The long, graceful tube or "trumpet" of -the flower is probably its most characteristic feature, and

from a position some distance alone the tube there diverge the two seta of three free, pointed perianth segments what we call the "petals." Thee® are practically at right angles to

the "trumpet," and the inner set of three are not as broad as the o<uter set. Deeper yellow is the colour of the tube, as it continues beyond the point where these segments diverge from it. This portion is known aa the "corona," and lias a frilly edge which is, perhaps, the "final touch" which makes the daffodil such & bloom of grace and beauty.

The style and stamens are completely covered and protected by the corona, which extends forward beyond them, housing them within its golden walls.

The style is cylindrical, and proceeds from the ovary; it bears at it« summit the three lobes of the stigma (the top of the pistil).

Six stamens are borne on the inner surface of the tube, three being found at a slightly lower level than the others. These stamens have short stalks, yellow in colour, and are completer! bv the anthers, which are large, and bear the pollen. They aire grouped closely around th« cylindrical stvle.

After the daffodil h3S bloom mi, and has been fertilized by means of pollen coming into contact with the stigma (a process in which the assistance of the bee is of great importance), the trumpet-shaped corona withers away, and the remaining ovary enlarges and thns bears fruit.

This fruit is in the nature of a capsule divided into three compartments, each of which holds two rows of smooth seeds, black in colour. The ripened fruit eventually splits into its three segments, thus allowing the seeds to be dispersed. They are not scattered far, however, but fall near the parent plant.

It is from the reserve of food which the plant is now storing in ita leaf-bases, however, that the bulb of next season will take its nourishment, this general course of the annual history of bulbous plants being -wellknown to those who work in a garden, and are familiar with thesft various phases in the life of such plants.