Primary xylem of scilla hyacinthoides (liliaceae)- the wool-bearing bulb of theophrastus

The "wool" of bolbos ho eriophoros described by Theophrastus in his Historia plantarum or Enquiry into plants is the primary xylem of the bulb scales of Scilla hyacinthoides (Liliaceae). When bulb scales are pulled apart transversely the gyres of the helical secondary wall deposited on the thin primary wall of the waterconducting elements are stretched and appear to be woolly threads.