Identify bulb plants leaves is a task that can be done to various species because most of them look the same but later on grow out to be different plants.
Well, this can be a problem if you are new to gardening or have even been an enthusiast because these bulbs are very similar and can be hard to distinguish between them.
Luckily, some sure tell-tail signs and unique characteristics can help you identify them. This article will take you through a four-stepped bulb plant’s leaf identification process for Crocus, Allium, and Hyacinth species.
Contents
How To Identify Bulb Plants Leaves?
You can identify any bulb plant leaves by looking at their leaves that would grow a little above the ground. In addition to this, you will also identify them as the leaves grow in spring, with an elongated and pointy shape.
Bulb plants are a family of plants that start growing from an underground bulb. These bulbs are packed with everything necessary to grow a plant, so they can be transplanted very easily and keep the leaves well looking. They can also be very easily identified if you know their unique characteristics, and tell that this plant grows from a bulb.
– Bottom Part
The leaves that are on the bulb would grow quite long and thin. In addition, the bulbs and leaves do not grow much higher than the ground, which is their unique characteristic. You can find the leaves well above the ground only in rare cases of some varieties and when the bulb has matured greatly, you would see the key location where they are growing from.
Other than that the bulb and its leaves stay close to the ground because in most cases the bulb also stays buried inside the soil. However, when it is mature, you will see the bulb’s sending part and the leaf’s starting point.
– Shape and Texture
The shape of the leaves does not vary greatly when it comes to bulb plants. Most leaves are pointy, long, and slender in shape. They go around the bulb and sometimes present one above the other.
The texture of the leaf, on the other hand, is smooth in its texture. The bulb on the other hand is bulky and round with a neck, and in this part, you will feel like the leaf is quite softer because it is newly growing.
– Color of Leaves and Bulbs
The bulbs are mostly in varying shades of white or green with red and brown hues. The bottom part would be lighter in color; for instance, white to light green, the middle part, be green, and the upper part, darker in the shade of green. This is due to the fact that the leaves are prone to be subjected to the more light source, and they would have more chlorophyll content.
Because the bulbs are mostly underground, they tend to pick up a lot of soil in the crevices. So to know the actual color of the bulb, it must be thoroughly cleaned and washed.
– Flowers of the Bulbs
Some very distinctive bulb plants can grow flowers. In such cases, the flowers are present in closed-knitted bunches and are very colorful and vibrant, coming out of the green leaves. The flowers do not spread around and are only present on the plant’s main stalk.
The bulb plants and their leaves grow best in the spring and summer seasons, and this is when they would grow longer and smoother in texture. These plants are not very fond of the cold winters and rough autumns. So if you are going to go looking for them, keep these seasons in mind.
How To Identify Bulb Plants Foliage of Crocus?
To identify bulb plant foliage of crocus, you should check the pointy leaves coming from the bulbs. Moreover, examine how they would be thin in their shapes and smooth in their textures growing in multiple shoots together in an erect manner.
The crocus plant is a seasonal plant, meaning it will grow in one season only: spring. It is a flowering plant belonging to the family of Iridaceae. These colorful flowers remain on the ground as they are low-rising plants. After flowering the crocus becomes dormant and the plant is mostly used for plucking its flowers only.
The interesting fact about the crocus plant is that its flowers close at night and bloom in sunlight. After all these unique facts, you would still need a keen eye to differentiate its bulb and leaves. Following are some of the characteristics that will help you do so:
– Visibility Season
The crocus plant will be visible in the spring as this is the only time they bloom, which is why you will start seeing them and try to identify them in pollination season.
So it will be next to impossible if you are looking to find crocus bulbs in winter or summer. In these weathers, you will only find the bloomed crocus flower ready to pluck.
– Length of the Foliage
Most of the bulbs will be hidden under some other leaves and plants because of their low height. The best way is to check the length of the foliage, as they will grow in a smooth and long shoot.
This is why you will see the plant’s bulb as low-rising, and it does not rise any higher than the ground. So when looking for the crocus plant, look near the stumps, and under other foliage.
– Growing Shape
The bulb leaves of the crocus are sharp and pointed toward the sky. These pointy bulbs are just some inches above the ground with a strong base. They might be more than one bulb of crocus bunched together.
The real color of the bulb is green but due to the soil and other foliage around, they may be covered in dirt and may look brownish. However, the foliage would be growing in white in the beginning till it thrives slowly.
How To Identify Bulb of Allium Leaves?
The best way to identify the bulb plant leaves of allium is to look for a starburst formation of leaves that diverge from the base towards the sky. The leaves start to shoot from the bulbs in springtime and grow long.
The allium is a genus of various flowering plants commonly used in our daily lives like garlic, leek, chives, and shallots. These plants occur in temperate climates, and some are only used as ornamental plants. Allium belongs to the family of Amaryllidaceae and has around 57 genera and 500 species which is a big number.
– Visible in Spring
The season where the allium plants grow and are visible, the most is spring. Even though these plants grow in temperate regions and some in barely tropical regions, they are still climate-sensitive.
As the family contains many daily-use crops, the farmers plant them in large quantities in spring so that the yield can last the whole year, but mostly you will see them in spring. The yield is dry in nature so they can withstand long storage time and also shelf life.
– Length of the Foliage
The bulb leaves grow out to be long and slender with time. They can reach any length between two and six inches. The surface of the leaves is flat, and they are attached to the base of the bulb. In some cases, these leaves are part of the edible crop; in others, they are not.
These long basal leaves are surely a unique characteristic of the foliage of this family. The tuberous roots of the allium plants do not form a tight connection with the soil, so they are also very easy to pull out from the ground.
– Shape of the Leaves
The shape of the initial bulb and its leaves is that of a starburst. You can see the leaves surrounding one another in a circular formation. The bulb grows in the starburst formation; thus, the long leaves appear on top of one another.
The bulb is fresh green, but with the nearby mud and dirt, the green color may get hidden. The allium mostly has purple or white flowers, but it largely depends upon the species and the place of growth.
How To Identify Bulb Leaves of Hyacinth?
You can identify the bulb plant leaves of hyacinths by looking for sharply pointed leaves that protrude from the bulb with a stalk of flowers and look thicker than normal leaves. The bulb has linear flowers going all around the rim which grow away from the center.
They bloom in the spring as they are mostly flowering plants. The hyacinths are native to the eastern Mediterranean part of the world and belong to the family Asparagaceae. These are highly fragrant plants and very unique due to their flower arrangement. The name hyacinth defines the bunch of flowers on a single stalk in the center of the plant, from their beautiful and thick growing leaves.
– Visible in Warm Climate
The hyacinths grow mostly in the spring weather and are native to the Mediterranean region of the world like Israel and Turkey. Still, for a long time, they have been engineered to grow in various climatic conditions.
They can thus also be found in some summers and winters across the globe. The hyacinths are mostly flowering plants and no edible yield is gained from them.
– Long and Thick Foliage
The leaves of hyacinth are thick, pointy, and linear at the start of the growth. They grow around the rim of the bulb because they need to make space for the stalk in the middle. The leaves grow along with time and away from the center, forming a protective sheath around the main stalk.
At the start of spring, the leaves of a hyacinth bulb are short and contained to the basal area. With time, the leaves grow immensely and also grow away from the center. This is because they need to give space to the hyacinth flowers in the middle of the plant. On the other hand, the flowered stalk can grow anywhere from six to 7.8 inches long.
– Color of the Bulb
In the earlier spring, the flowering bulbs of the hyacinth are a mixture of various colors like purple, red, and green.
As time goes on, the leaves only pick the green color. The flowers that grow from this bulb are very vibrant and dark.
FAQ
1. How To Transplant Bulb Plant Leaves?
You can transplant a bulb plant with leaves by simply digging up the bulb from the ground and placing it in a pot of moist soil. You need to ensure the bulb has the roots intact and the leaves are alive and well.
This is the simplest way that you can use to transplant any bulb plant into any pot of your choice. The main things to look out for are the age and shape of the bulb, the nature of the soil being used, and the roots of the bulb.
If you have all of those in check, you can successfully transplant any plant, bulb or not, into a pot plant or a new location. After transplanting, make sure to keep the plant under strict supervision for a few days as these days are crucial for the start of the regrowing process.
Conclusion
In this article, we talked extensively and exclusively about how you can identify the bulb plant’s leaf of Crocus, Allium, and Hyacinth species.
Still, in case you missed something, here is a short review of important points:
- To identify the bulb plant leaves of various species, you need to note the season, the length of the foliage, the shape of the bulb leaves, and the color of the bulb.
- The best way to identify the bulb plant leaves of crocus is to look for the pointy bulb at the start of the spring because they are most visible and growing at that time.
- The best way to identify the bulb plant leaves of allium is to look for a starburst formation of leaves that diverge from the base towards the sky.
- You can identify the bulb plant leaves of hyacinths by looking for sharply pointed leaves that protrude from the bulb with a stalk of flowers.
Here we come to the end of the article. We hope this article was helpful to you and that now you can positively identify the different bulb plants and their leaves. You can grow alliums by planting bulbs in your garden and seeing their beautiful leaves.
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