538 



Handbook of Nature-Study 



keep away the ins.cts which carry the teasel's pollen. The pollen of 

 the teasel is white and globular, with three little rosettes arranged at equal 

 distances upon it like a bomb with three fuses. These little rosettes are 

 the growing points of the pollen grains and from any of them may 

 emerge the pollen tube to push down into the stigma. The teasel pollen 

 is an excellent subject for the children to study, since it is so very large; 

 and if examined with a microscope with a three-fourths objective, the 

 tubes running from the pollen grains into the stigma maybe easily seen. 



In blossoming, the teasel does not always seem to count straight in the 

 matter of rows of flowers. There may be more rows in the upper band 

 than in the lower, or vice versa; this is especially true of the smaller 

 secondary blossoms. But though the teasel flowers fade and the 

 leaves fall off, still the spiny skeleton stands, the thorny stalks holding 

 up the empty flower-heads like candelabra, from, which the seeds are 

 tossed far and wide, shaken out by the winds of autumn. But though 

 battered by wintry blasts, the teasel staunchly stands; even until the 

 ensuing summer, each bract on guard and its heart empty where once 

 was cherished blossom and seed. Alas, because of this emptiness, it has 

 been debased by practical New England housewives into a utensil for 

 sprinkling clothes for ironing. 



The spines of one species of teasel were, in earlier times, used for raising 

 the nap on woolen cloth, and the plant was grown extensively for that 

 purpose. The bees are fond of the teasel blossoms and teasel honey has 

 an especially fine flavor. 



The teasels are biennial, and during the first season, develop a rosette 

 of crinkled leaves which have upon them short spines. 



LESSON CXLVII 



THE TEASEL 



Leading thought The teasel is a plant in armor, so protected that it can 

 flourish and raise its seeds in pastures where cattle graze. It has a 

 peculiar method of beginning to blossom in the middle of the flower-head 



and then blossoming 

 upward and down- 

 ward from this point. 



Method In Sep- 

 tember, bring in a 

 teasel plant which 

 shows all stages of 

 blossoming, and let 

 the pupils make ob- 

 servations in the 

 schoolroom. 



Observations i. 

 Where does the tea- 

 sel grow? Is it ever 

 eaten by cattle? 

 Why not? How is it 

 protected? 

 A teasel winter rosette. 2 What sort of 



Photo by Verne Morton Stem has it? Is it 



