38 DANDELION 



Where are the dandehon seeds ? About how many 

 seeds are there ? What is the shape of the part of 

 the flower stalk to which the seeds are fastened ? 

 What is its size ? Notice the fringe just beneath it. 



Pull a seed off from a head. What is the size of 

 the seed ? What is its shape ? What grows from its 

 top? Blow a seed away from you and notice the 

 manner in which the seed floats through the air. 

 With which end up does it alight ? Of what use does 

 the fluff seem to be to the seed ? 



Drawing and Composition. — Draw a picture of a 

 ripe dandelion head, and another picture of a single 

 seed. Then describe the same things in word pictures 

 by writing a paragraph about each of them. 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORK 



Ripening Changes. — Cut a dandelion flovrer in two length- 

 wise and look for the same parts that are in a ripe head. Find 

 the green seed and the white fluff. How near to the seed is 

 the fluff in the yellow head ? How near is it in a ripe head ? 

 When a dandelion flower begins to wither, it closes up, and the 

 tongues of its green fringe shut together in a tight covering so 

 that the head looks like an unopened bud. The seeds now ripen 

 and send up slender stems which lift the fluff up like umbrellas, 

 and push the dried flowers out so that they fall away. Then 

 the head opens once more, and its seeds are blown away. 



Wind-carried Seeds. — If you blow a ripe dandelion head to 

 pieces, how far will a seed travel ? If a seed had no fluffy 

 tuft, would the plants spread as they do? Why do dan- 

 delions spring up on lawns after all the old plants have been 

 killed ? 



