Bulbil Formation in Sedum telephium

Abstract

A VEGETATIVE plant of a species of Sedum, afterwards identified as S. telephium, was collected in a hedgerow on Rothamsted Farm on June 9, 1958, and placed with its roots in a jar containing tap water to keep it alive for further study. The jar stood on the laboratory window-sill for three months, when it was observed that, although the specimen failed to flower, bulbils had formed in the axils of the upper leaves–positions in which flowering stems would normally arise. Some axils contained several bulbils as shown in Fig. 1. Each bulbil bore scale-leaves and numerous white roots, each of which had a conspicuous dark root cap. When separated from the parent plant and placed on damp filter paper, each bulbil quickly developed into a new plant. Fig. 2a shows such a plant after six days growth and Fig. 2b after 13 days growth respectively. At the first two or three nodes the leaves were simple and opposite, but the fourth node produced irregularly dentate leaves typical of the adult plant.