COMPOSITE— COMPOSITE FAMILY 



DANDELION 



I Tardxacum tardxacum. Tardxaciim dens-lednis 



Name from tarasso, to disquiet, in allusion to its me- 

 dicinal properties. 



Perennial. Perhaps our most common weed; with basal 

 leaves, brilliant yellow flowers and milky juice. Introduced 

 and indigenous. Everywhere. January to December. 



Root. — Large, whitish, bitter. 



Leaves. — Basal, 'oblong to spatulate in outline, coarsely 

 and irregularly toothed, with teeth projecting backward; 

 juice milky. 



Scape. — Erect, hollow, milky, bearing a large solitary 

 head of flowers. 



Flower-head. — Composite, golden yellow, solitary, one 

 to two inches across, containing one hundred and fifty to 

 two hundred perfect ray florets on a flat receptacle at 

 the top of a hollow scape two to eighteen inches high. 



Involucre. — Of two rows of bracts; outer row of short 

 bracts reflexed; inner row of long linear bracts erect. 



Calyx. — Tube united with the ovary, the pappus 

 crowning its summit composed of many soft white bristles. 



Corollas. — Strap-shaped or ray florets, all having both 

 stamens and pistils; each strap with five small teeth. 



Stamens. — Five, with anthers united into a tube. 

 Pistil. — One; style two-cleft at the apex. 

 Fruit. — Akenes oblong, ribbed, rough; the apex pro- 

 longed into a slender beak attached to abundant soft, 



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