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Gemmae

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast
Are gemmae analogous to the cormels one sees in gladioli when uprooting them for winter storage?
 
No, they are different. Corms are formed by the roots, but the gemmae are actually the abbreviated arms and traps of the sundew. The production of growth auxins responsible for petiole and leaf production are turned off during the short winter days.
 
Actualy cormels ARE NOT grown from the roots! They are small corms that grow beside the mother corm,much in the way temperate pings grow "gemae".:D
 
Corms form on corms. Uproot an Arisaema or Aroid, you'll see the little corms all around the top of the bulb/corm near the growing point. So other types of bulbs/corms DO form other corms near the roots/on them. Take Acidenthera (Peacock orchids) for example. It forms them on the roots mostly but also near the top. It just depends what type of plant you have and if it forms corms/bulblets correctly.
 
So, like, are they kinda similar sort of? Do they perform a similar function?
 
To an extent yes. Gemmae are asexually brood bodies whose sole purpose is to survive and grow into another plant. Think of gemmae as a space pod. Once it is launched from home base (the parent plant) it lands on the ground and rapidly deploys itself to another stable base, then later on this base can send out more space pods and more bases can be "setup".
 
Beautiful analogy! Live long and prosper.
 
I think Tamlin was using root in a general sort of plain english stuff that isn't leaf and stem way.
 
My supervisor, who does a lot of gardening, likened gemmae to strawberry runners.
 
  • #10
Well yes that is also a very good way to look at it also. Only thing is gemmae aren't attached to the parent for an extended period of time like the runners are. But the resulting offspring with be genetically equivelent to the parents so yes gemmae and runners are similar due to asexual vegatative propagation.
 
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