FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS 55 



to us all, such as the Anemone, the Hepatica, the 

 Larkspur. 



In some respects the Poppy Order or Family,^ comes 

 rather near to it. Many of the plants in this Order 

 also manufacture fruits unwholesome and even hurtful 

 in kind. From the Poppy itself comes that stupef^dng 

 and deadening Opium, which works such terrible harm 

 in Eastern countries. 



A Poppy flower has many stamens, but only two 

 sepals and four petals. Its pistils are joined together, 

 and do not grow separately, as with a Buttercup. Its 

 juice is often milky in character. 



Now let us turn to one of our oldest and commonest 

 and dearest little friends, the Daisy, beginning with 

 what a poet of to-day has said about it — 



" I know why the Daisy is white, my dear, I know why the skies 



are blue ; 

 I know that the world is a dream, my dear, and I know that 



the dream is true ; 

 I know why the Rose and the Toadstool grow, as a curse and 



a crimson boon — 

 Hey ! diddle, diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over 



the Moon,:' 2 



With which unexpected ending we will take a Daisy 

 in hand and examine it. 



The golden centre is there, which we often call the 

 Daisy's " eye," because with it the flower seems to 

 gaze so cheerfully upward. And around this golden 

 centre — which you might take for a mass of stamens — 

 are pure white rays, or white rays tipped with crimson, 



^ Order, Pap averages. 2 Alfred Noyes. 



