MEADOWS, FIELDS AND PASTURES— SUMMER 223 



for those of the Dandelion that are frequently seen in company w ith 

 them on pasture land. Its specific name is due to the short, 

 stifE hairs, often more or less branched, that clothe all parts of the 

 plant. The leaves are all radical, long and narrow, decreasing 

 in width towards the base, and cither coarsely toothed or deeply 

 cut into pointed lobes. The flower-stalk widens immediately below 

 its solitary head, 

 which is sur- 

 rounded by 

 hairy bracts — 

 two or three 

 whorls of short 

 ones without, 

 and a whorl of 

 long ones with- 

 in. All the 

 florets are ligu- 

 late or strap - 

 shaped, and 

 yellow. The 

 fruits are long 

 achenes, nar- 

 rower towards 

 the top; and 

 the pappus con- 

 sists of a few 

 short, outer 

 hairs, surround- 

 ing about twice 



the number of brown, feathered ones three or foiu" times as long. 

 The flower stalks vary from a few inches to a foot or more in 

 height, and the flowers bloom from June to September. 



Equally abundant is the Autumnal Hawkbit {Leoniodon 

 autumnalis), which is also found in pastures. It is a very similar 

 plant in many respects, but may be easily distinguished by its 

 smaller heads of flowers on branching stalks. The flowering stems 

 are erect, from six to eighteen inches high, each with one or two 

 branches bearing a few small scales and a single head of flowers. 

 The involucre consists of several rows of smooth, closely-overlapping 

 bracts, and is narrowed at the base into the enlarged upper part 

 of the stalk. The florets are all ligulate, as in the last species ; 



The rough hawkbit. 



