CYNTHIA DANDELION. THE DANDELION CYNTHIA. I 43 



Dandelion, is a corruption of the French, which means " Lion's 

 tooth," and is in allusion to the tooth-like margins of the leaf of 

 the true Dandelion, which the root-leaves of our plant resemble. 



The Cynthia Dandelion is one of the earliest flowers of its 

 season in the districts where it grows. This district, in a general 

 way, may be described as from Maryland west to Kansas, and 

 from there southwardly to Texas. The flowers are often open 

 before the frosts are wholly gone; and before March has de- 

 parted the " yellow buds " break forth in all their spring beauty, 

 and clothe the meadows with their brilliant flowers. In the 

 more mountainous districts, as noted by Professor Wood, the stem 

 often branches a little ; and, as this character was overlooked in 

 the diagnosis of the first describer, that form has been given a 

 new name, Cynthia montana, and it is in this condition that our 

 artist has taken it from a specimen furnished by Mr. Jackson 

 Dawson, of the Arnold Arboretum, but, as it is the same species, 

 it is not worth while to perpetuate a separate name. 



On critically examining Cynthia Dandelion, the student will 

 find many points of general interest. The root-leaves will be 

 noted as having the base so tapering as to be almost like perfect 

 leaf-stalks, and with the largest or widest diameter at the end (Fig. 

 4). But, on the flower-stalks, this order seems to be inverted. 

 The base widens, and the apex becomes more slender in pro- 

 portion to the distance from the root-leaves (Fig. 7). The soft 

 spines, or teeth, however, remain about the same size on both 

 classes of leaves. But, when we come to the flower, we find 

 that the strap-shaped florets are wider at their termination than 

 at their bases, and, in this respect, take after the root-leaves in 

 their general oudine ; and this lesson will be found very common 

 in plants of this order. All the parts of plants are but modified 

 leaves ; but the phases of rhythmic growth decide what form 

 the new modifications shall take. When a flower is to be formed 

 in a plant of this character, a wave of growth starts from between 

 the root-leaves. As the litde waves, marked by each stem-leaf, 

 eet weaker, the forms o^ the leaves chanee in accordance with 



