Hi Jim and all, Thank to explain this! Now I understand the Latin description of the bulbs in the Flora Iranica: "Bulbus. in collum longum productis." Now that makes sense. Very interesting. The image of a 'bulb tree' look a good model to understand certain aspect of what is a bulbous plant. The only amaryllid I know with long basal plate is old Clivia. But as it don't make real bulb, the look is different. Last year, I was surprised because the basal plate of my Ismene longipetala was 1 or 1,5 cm long. But now I see that was not really long! Regards, Pascal Vigneron, France >... Each year as more bulb scales are added > and old ones rot away, the basal plate does not deteriorate. This > means that as the bulb ages these basal plates form an under-bulb > 'stem' the diameter of the plate and up to a couple of inches in > length sort of like a pencil stub coming out of the bottom of the > bulb, but consisting of 'woody' basal plates stacked on top of one > another. ...