Also bulbel. [ad. mod.L. bulbillus dim. of bulb-us.] a. A small bulb formed at the side of an old one. b. A small solid or scaly bud, which detaches itself from the stem, becoming an independent plant.
1831. Macgillivray, trans. Richard’s Bot., 110.
1848. Forbes, Brit. Medusae, 86. The buds … are thrown off like the bulbels of certain plants.
1863. Oliver, Less. Bot. (1873), 138. The axillary bulbels of Bulbiferous Toothcress.
1884. J. E. Taylor, Sagacity & Mor. Plants, 190. Whenever excess of food-materials have been elaborated we get bulbils (or buds from the bulbs).
