What Are the Parts of a Bulb?

Take a hyacinth bulb and cut it in half lengthwise. Look at the bulb and its many parts.

Make a drawing of what you see and label the parts. Be sure to find the tunic, the scale leaves, immature leaves, flower buds, flower stem, and the basal plate.

Now that you have discovered the various parts of the bulb, what does each one do? The tunic protects the bulb from damage and drying out. The scale leaves hold stored food. The immature leaves, flower buds, and flower stem make up the new plant that will grow and bloom next year. It has all the parts needed to grow and expand. The basal plate is the area on the bottom of the bulb that produces roots.

Now that you know what a bulb is, let's see if you can grow a paperwhite narcissus bulb into a beautiful flower!