THE DANDELION. 



Taraxacum dens-leonis. Nat. Ord., Composite. 



IKE the buttercup or the daisy, the 

 dandelion has been so well known to 

 us all since the earliest childhood that 

 we feel almost induced to follow 

 on the track that is so tempt- 

 ingly laid down by the writer 

 of an old botanical book in our 

 possession wherein he says, " it 

 is vain to describe an herb so 

 well known." This style of 

 treatment is a somewhat fa- 

 vourite one with our old author. 

 Under the heading dock, we find 

 that " many kinds of these are 

 so well known that I shall not 

 trouble you with a description 

 of them. My book grows big 

 too fast ; " while of the wood- 

 bine he says, " It is a plant so 

 common that every one who hath eyes knows it, and he that 

 hath none cannot read a description if I should write it." 

 Tempting as this mode of treatment may appear when 

 writing on our common wild plants, we must nevertheless 



