A corm of a garden gladiolus, with developing cormels. The picture shows a corm that has been removed from the soil in Autumn, after flowering. The co
A corm of a garden gladiolus, with developing cormels. The picture shows a corm that has been removed from the soil in Autumn, after flowering. The corm has a red/purple hue, and a fibrous covering of modified leaves (brown).Many small cormels are visible, some showing the thick stolon (white ) that attaches them to the base of the parent corm. As the cormlets, initially pale pink, dry in the air, they develop a fibrous outer layer (brown shades).Gladioli exemplify plants known as geophytes, that produce underground storage organs. The corm (and each cormel) is a solid tissue capable of growing into an entire new plant. Cormels are an easy way for gardeners to propagate gladioli; they produce a flowering size plant within 2-3 years. In nature, cormels provide a survival strategy should the main corm suffer predation from ground living herbivores.
Size: 3468px × 5212px
Photo credit: © DR JEREMY BURGESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: corm, cormel, garden, geophyte, gladiolus, horticultural, horticulture, organ, plant, propagation, stolon, storage, strategy, survival, vegetative
