324 ] The Fascination of Flowers 



completely opened. When all the florets on a head have bios' 

 somed, the dandelion closes for good until its seeds are formed. 

 Each seed is equipped with a fluffy, parachute-like head. When 

 this head is dry it can "parachute" the seed to new growing 

 ground. 



How the Dandelion Got Its Name: You need a good imagination 

 to see that the notched edges of dandelion leaves resemble lions' 

 teeth; but that is what they looked like to someone in France who 

 named the plant dent-de-lion, whence we get our name for it. 



FROM "DAY'S EYE" TO DAISY 



This flower, which has much in common with the dande- 

 lion, is a great favorite with children. Like the dandelion, it is 

 an amazingly persistent weed; and it is also a composite. At its 

 center we find numerous short, yellow, tubular disk flowers. 



These are surrounded by twenty or more ray flowers "petals" 

 to children, who love to pull them off one by one with "he loves 

 me, he loves me not." If you look closely at these ray flowers you 

 will see that each has a pistil which shows a two-part stigma at 

 its base. The flowers ripen many seeds but they lack the traveling 

 equipment of the dandelion. 



In the yellow daisy, commonly called "black-eyed Susan," the 

 purple-brown disk flowers form a conical, button-like center for 

 the orange ray flowers. Still more color is added to the flower 

 when brilliant orange pollen appears. 



Like the dandelion, the daisy opens in the morning. It owes its 

 name to this trait people in Old England called it "day's eye," 

 which finally became our "daisy." 



BUTTERCUPS SOMETIMES THREE FEET HIGH 



Growing as they do in the same fields, buttercups and 

 daisies are commonly associated in children's minds. There is an 

 essential difference, however; whereas the daisy is a composite, 

 the buttercup is a single flower. The five (and sometimes more) 

 wedge-shaped petals are slightly curved, giving the flower its cup- 

 like form. 



