bulbil

American  

[buhl-bil] / ˈbʌl bɪl /

noun

1. Botany. Also bulbel bulblet.

2. Mycology. a rounded mass of fungus cells resembling a sclerotium but of simpler organization, most commonly produced by certain basidiomycetes.

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bulbil British  

/ ˈbʌlbɪl, ˈbʌlbəl /

noun

1. a small bulblike organ of vegetative reproduction growing in leaf axils or on flower stalks of plants such as the onion and tiger lily

2. any small bulb of a plant

3. any small bulblike structure in an animal

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Etymology

Origin of bulbil

1825–35; < New Latin bulbillus, equivalent to Latin bulb ( us ) bulb + -illus diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

A swollen bud or bulbil in this situation is not uncommon in some cultivated tulips and lilies.

From Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants by Masters, Maxwell T.

A bulbil is a bud which becomes an independent plant before it commences to elongate; it is generally fleshy, somewhat after the manner of a bulb, hence its name.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886 by Various