COMPOSITE FAMILY 



white pappus, all of one head together forming when 

 mature a silky white globe. 



Pollinated by many insects; capable of self-fertiliza- 

 tion. Pistil matures later than the stamens. Abundant 

 nectar. 



"Dear common flower that grow'st beside the way 

 Fringing the 4usty road with harmless gold." 



— Lowell. 



Anna B. Comstock, writing of the Dandelion, says: 

 *'I always look at a Dandelion and talk to it as if 

 it were a real person. One spring, when all the vege- 

 tables in my garden were callow weaklings, I found 

 there in their midst a Dandelion rosette with ten great 

 leaves spreading out and completely shading a circle 

 ten inches in diameter. I said: 'Look here, Madame, 

 this is my garden!' and I pulled up the squatter. 

 But I could not help paying admiring tribute to the 

 tap-root, which lacked only an inch of being a foot 

 in length. It was smooth, white, fleshy, and when 

 cut bled a milky juice, showing that it was full of 

 food. It was as strong from the end pull as a whip- 

 cord; it also had a bunch of rather fine rootlets about 

 an inch below the surface of the soil and an occasional 

 rootlet farther down; and then I said: 'Madame, I 

 beg your pardon; I think this is your garden, and 

 not mine.' " 



Consider the Dandelion ! Roadsides and lawns, 

 hamlet and village are all in the grasp of this wonder- 

 ful plant. Upon what meat does this our floral Caesar 

 feed that it has grown so great? What are the tactics 

 of our golden lord? Study shows us that they are 

 many and all successful. In late autumn and early 



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