Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 June 2017
Microscopic examination of central and soft offset bulbs of wild garlic (Allium vineale L.) at senescence of the parent plants in May and June revealed embryonic plants with numerous root primordia and four or five shoot primordia. Hardshell bulbs and aerial bulblets contained only one or two root primordia and three leaf primordia. The embryonic plants of central, soft offset, and hardshell bulbs elongated slowly during the after-ripening period. Rapid cell division, cell elongation, and initiation of new leaves took place after termination of the after-ripening period in all but the dormant hardshell bulbs. In November, new hardshell bulbs could be seen at the base of plants developed from central and soft offset bulbs.