210 SEEDS. DOWN OF DIFFERENT KINDS. 



the florets expand, and closes when they fall off, 

 as if to confine the young seeds ; but as the seeds 

 ripen and increase in size, it opens again to make 

 room for them ; and in some plants turns quite 

 back, to let them escape. The Dandelion and 

 Coltsfoot are in this state, when you see their heads 

 covered with down. 



The seeds, in several of the species, are very 

 remarkable : they are placed below the corolla, 

 and there is never more than one to each floret. 

 In many instances, they are topped with a beautiful 

 down, consisting of a great number of spokes 

 or rays; the spokes, themselves, are sometimes 

 branched or feathered : and in some cases, as in 

 the common Dandelion, an entire crown or wheel 

 formed of the branches is fixed upon a sort of 

 stem, or pillar, which is itself attached to the 

 seed. Thus : 



Seed. Simple Down. Feathered Down. Feathered Down 



on a pillar. 



The down is a beautiful object for the micro- 



