5 6 THE SCHOOL GARDEN BOOK 



double row of long, pointed, greenish, leaf-like growths 

 called bracts. 



When the flowers appear the plant becomes very con- 

 spicuous and attractive. Three colors are commonly grown. 

 In one the flowers are a beautiful glistening white, in another 

 they are an exquisite pink, and in the third they are a deep 

 red, the last-named variety being the least attractive of the 

 three. 



While the ordinary varieties do not come into bloom until 

 the autumn is well advanced, strains of the dwarfer sorts 

 flower continuously from midsummer. These are more de- 

 sirable for children's gardens, although their flowers are not 

 so rich and large as the typical sorts. They may be grown 

 in-doors. The late varieties are well adapted to the school 

 garden, since they bloom when schools are in session, and 

 when the flowers of many plants are disappearing. 



The structure of the flower of the cosmos shows at once 

 that it belongs to the great group of composite plants. 

 Around the base of the blossom there is a double row of long, 

 pointed, deep-green bracts, with a more definite lighter-col- 

 ored series above them. The chief attractiveness of the 

 blossom is given by the petal-like ray florets, of which there 

 are usually eight, and which are sent out in a plane at right 

 angles to the axis of the flower. These petals are grooved 

 in a most interesting fashion and are scalloped on the outer 

 ends in a way that adds greatly to their decorative effect. 

 In the petals of the pink variety, the color of which is really 

 a light violet red, there is at the base a spot of rose color 

 which forms a delightful bit of what the artists call a domi- 

 nant harmony. The disk florets which form the "eye" of the 

 flower have a general yellow color, due to the yellow petals 



