I/O 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



or crown, which botanists term a pappus. Of this the dandelion and 

 John Go-to-bed-at-noon, so called from its habit of shutting its flowers 

 about mid-day, are well-known examples. Tufts of hairs, which are 

 themselves sometimes feathered, are developed in a great many Com- 

 posites, though some, as, for instance, the daisy and lapsana, are with- 

 out them : in some very interesting species, of which the common 

 Thrincia hirta of our lawns and meadows is one, there are two kinds 

 of fruits, as shown in Fig. 13, b, one with a pappus and one without. 

 The former are adapted to seek " fresh woods and pastures new," while 

 the latter stay and perpetuate the race at home. 



A more or less similar pappus is found among various English 

 plants in the Epilobium (Fig. 13, a), Thrincia (Fig. 13, b), Tamarix 



Fig. 13. a, willow herb {Epilohium) ; b, two forms of seed of Thrincia hirta ; c, Tamarix ; d, wil- 

 low {Salix) ; , cotton grass {Eriophorum) ;/, bulrush {Typha). 



(Fig. 13, c), willow (Fig. 13, d), cotton-grass (Fig. 13, e), and bulrush 

 (Fig. 13,y) ; wliile in exotic species there are many other cases as, for 

 instance, the beautiful oleander. As in the wings, so also in that of 

 the pappus, it is by no means always the same part of the plant which 

 develops into the crown of hairs. Thus in the Valerians and Com- 



