328 ] The Fascination of Flowers 



QUEEN ANNE'S LACE BEAUTIFUL YET TROUBLESOME 

 This plant is very beautiful, as its name suggests, but it is 

 also a very troublesome weed. You are likely to find it in waste 

 places and fields almost anywhere. It is also called the wild carrot, 

 and it is really closely related to the garden carrot. On a fully 

 grown plant, the yellowish root is six inches long or more; but it 

 isn't good to eat. 



The Flower Cluster: Each large flat flower cluster, with its radiat- 

 ing pattern as fine as lace, is made up of many small flower 

 clusters, each in turn with a stalk of proper length to fit into just 

 the right place in the medallion pattern. These small flower 

 clusters each have twenty or thirty tiny white blossoms in a 

 rosette design. 



If you look down at one of the large flower clusters, you will 

 notice that the outside blossoms have small bracts the special 

 leaves which, in this case, resemble the petals. These are larger 

 than the petals and create a pleasing border effect for the complete 

 cluster. Often you will find a single wine-colored floret in the 

 center on its own stalk. 



When Queen Anne's lace begins to wither, each of the small 

 clusters curves inward until the whole unit suggest a tiny bird's 

 nest. Thousands of seeds develop on each plant, and many live to 

 germinate. 



GOLDENROD ANOTHER COMPOSITE FLOWER 



From early summer to late fall you can see these bright 

 yellow flowers on dry, sandy roadsides, along moist riverbanks and 

 seashores, at the edges of woods, in sunny meadows, in moun- 

 tainous regions, and on flat barren plains. In all these localities 

 there are many kinds of goldenrod more than fifty all told. 



The goldenrod is another interesting example of a composite 

 flower. Each flower head is very small, but the plant makes a 

 bright showing because the florets are set close together. On each 

 delicate branch there is a procession of ray flowers with short but 

 brilliant banners, and a few tubular disk flowers that open out 



