Tucked inside the bulbs are fledgling plants complete with flower stems, blossoms and foliage, all just waiting to get out. Given warmth and just a little water to wake them up, they'll sprout and grow, drawing from the protective white nutrient layers to fuel their initial activity. This is why it's not necessary for amaryllis to have extensive roots to produce their first set of blooms. For subsequent seasons' flowers the bulbs will need roots to take up nutrition from the soil, but for the first round, they're all set.

Here's an amaryllis that's been sliced open so the plant-to-be is visible. Pretty cool, huh?

That Mother Nature is quite the magician. . .