A COMPOSITE FLOWER. 43 



CHAPTER VIII. 



EXAMINATION OF COMMON PLANTS WITH EPIPETALOUS STA- 

 MENS DANDELION CATNIP. 



60. Dandelion. The examination of this flower will 

 be somewhat more difficult than that of any we have yet 

 undertaken. 



Provide yourselves with specimens in 

 flower and in seed. 



The root of the plant, like that of the 

 Mallow, is a tap-root. 



The stem is almost suppressed, and, 

 Fig. 54. as in the case of the Hepatica, the leaves 



are all radical. They are also net-veined. 



The flowers are raised on scapes, which are hollow. At 

 first sight the flower appears to have a calyx of many 

 sepals, and a corolla of many petals. Both of these ap- 

 pearances, however, are contrary to facts. With a 

 sharp knife cut the flower through the middle from 

 top to bottom (Fig. 54). It will then appear that 

 the flower, or rather flower-head, is made up of a 

 large number of distinct pieces. With the point of 

 your needle detach one of these pieces. At the 

 lower end of it you have a small body resembling 

 an unripe seed (Fig. 55). It is, in fact, an ovary. 

 Just above this there is a short bit of stalk, sur- 

 mounted by a circle of silky hairs, and above this a yellow 

 tube with one side greatly prolonged. This yellow tube 

 is a corolla, and a close examination of the extremity of 



Fig. 54. Vertical section of Dandelion flower. 

 Fig. 55 Single floret. 



