172 SHARP EYES 



the more characteristic forms which are now floating 

 about us with more or less frequency in our autumn 

 walks. I have pictured a fanciful eddy wafting aloft 

 such a winged swarm, and, considered simply as designs 

 in the abstract, how interesting they are ! 



The lower member of the group might at first glance 

 be taken for a dandelion seed, but if seen in its natural 

 state no such mistake would be possible, for this para- 

 chute is the largest and one of the rarest of our balloon- 

 ing seeds, being the fruit of the oyster-plant, a species 

 having escaped from gardens, but now becoming natu- 

 ralized. The total length of the seed is shown natural 

 size, and it appears a giant by the side of the dandelion, 

 its winged disk measuring an inch in diameter. The 

 feathered rays, perfectly flat when at rest, suggest a 

 diminutive spider web. 



The form close behind this is the tiny shuttlecock- of 

 the Galinsoga, a weed which I have found more com- 

 monly in city yards than elsewhere, each seed being sur- 

 mounted with a jagged silvery white star, so appearing 

 when viewed from above, but in the wind assuming the 

 shape shown. The milk-weed and the dandelion are 

 seen immediately over this, with the long feathery tail 

 of the clematis in the background. 



In all of these specimens the flying apparatus has 

 been of a simple character, the seeds contenting them- 

 selves with uniform plumes. But here we have an in- 

 dividual which sports a double assortment of wings, a 

 ring of round white scales alternating with long needle- 

 pointed awns. It is the pretty star-shaped pappus of 

 the dwarf dandelion (Krigia), whose small yellow flat 

 flower is followed by a silvery ball of these seeds quite 

 as pretty as the blossom. 



