Wild-Flower Study 591 



for this giant floret at the center of the wide, circular flower-cluster 

 is a mystery; and so far as I know, the botanists have not yet explained 

 the reason for its presence. May we not, then, be at liberty to explain its 

 origin on the supposition that her Royal Highness, Queen Anne, was wont 

 to fasten her lace medallions upon her royal person with garnet-headed 

 pins? 



When the flowers wither and the seeds begin to form, the flower-cluster 

 then becomes very secretive ; every one of the little umbels turns toward 

 the center, its stem curving over so that the outside umbels reach over and 

 "tuck in" the whole family; and the threadlike bracts at the base reach 

 up as if they, too, were in the family councils, and must do their slender 

 duty in helping to make the fading flowers into a little, tightfisted clump; 

 and all of this is done so that the precious seeds may be safe while they are 

 ripening. Such little porcupines as these seeds are ! Each seed is clothed 

 with long spines set in bristling rows, and is a most forbidding-looking 

 youngster when examined through a lens ; and yet there is method in its 

 spininess, and we must grudgingly grant that it is not only beautiful in its 

 ornamentation but is also well fitted 

 to take hold with a will when wandering 

 winds sift it down to the soil. 



The wild carrot is known in some 

 localities as the "bird's-nest weed," be- 

 cause the maturing seed-clusters, their 

 edges curving inward, look like little 

 birds' nests. But no bird's nest ever 

 contained so many eggs as does this imi- 

 tation one. In one we counted 34 tiny 

 umbels on which ripened 782 seeds; and 

 the plant, from which this "bird's nest" 

 was taken, developed nine more quite as An inner and a border floret and a 

 large. bract of Queen Anne's lace, 



Altogether the wild carrot is well enlarged. 



fitted to maintain itself in the struggle 



for existence, and is most successful in crowding out its betters in pas- 

 ture and meadow. Birds do not like its spiny seeds; the stem of the 

 plant is tough and its leaves are rough and have an unpleasant odor and 

 acrid taste, which render it unpalatable to grazing animals. Winter's 

 cold cannot harm it, for it is a biennial; its seeds often germinate in the 

 fall, sending down long, slender taproots crowned with tufts of incon- 

 spicuous leaves; it thus stores up a supply of starchy food which enables 

 it to start early the next season with great vigor. The root, when the 

 plant is fully grown, is six or eight inches long, as thick as a finger and 

 yellowish white in color; it is very acrid and somewhat poisonous. 



The surest way of exterminating the Queen Anne's lace is to prevent 

 its prolific seed production by cutting or uprooting the plants as soon as 

 the first blossoms open. 



' ' Tis Eden everywhere to hearts that listen 

 And watch the woods and meadows grow." 



THERON BROWN. 



