tubers & roots & bulbs - oh my!!

So tubers are a mass that grows off the roots, like a node but bigger. Potatoes are an example of a tuber. If you remove a potato but not the plant or the roots, then the plant will grow on. In mountainous terrains of Ireland, the potato plants can grow quite big, and you can undig and harvest potatoes for many seasons yet.

'Roots' in reference to vegetables, are vegetables where the edible part is the root itself; usually they are large masses growing underground. The stalk grows up from it, but is not a part of it in technical terminology. When you pull up the root, you pull up the whole plant. Beets are an example of roots.

Bulbs are extensions of the stalk, large masses that grow above ground, where the roots sprout beneath it. Although the roots can be a separate entity beginning lower than the bulb's terminus, often the roots sprout directly from the underside of the bulb. Pulling up the bulb would, in effect, kill the whole plant (unless it were for transplanting purposes). Garlic and onions are good examples of bulbs.