46 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 



floret is a little oval, white body, which is the 

 baby fruit, and around each floret a circle of silky 

 hairs, the reminiscence of an ancestral calyx. After 

 the yellow corolla has withered away, these hairs 



Groundsel calyx, altered into 

 down. (From the Vegetable 

 World) 



Bur-marigold calyx, Orange hawkweed 

 altered into prongs. calyx, altered into 

 (From Yearbook, bristles. (From Year- 

 Department of book, Department of 

 Agriculture, 1896.) Agriculture, 1896.) 



FIG. 5. Some altered calyces of composite flowers. 



remain at the post of duty, for they have still a 

 task to fulfil in the plant's economy. They are 

 to aid the wind in distributing the little dry fruits 

 not seeds which develop after the disappearance 

 of the yellow florets. 



For the word "fruit" to the public at large 

 suggests a juicy edible, with a rich or delicate 

 color, and with, generally, a pleasant taste. But 

 " fruit " to the botanist means whatever comes as 

 the normal result of the fertilization of a flower. 

 It may be a tiny brown object unadorned, desic- 

 cated, and quite destitute of gastronomic interest. 

 The little freights of the dandelion blow-aways, 



