DANDELION. 115 



DANDELION. 



(LEONTODON TARAXACUM.) 



" Thine, full many a pleasing bloom 

 Of blossoms lost to all perfume; 

 Thine, the dandelion flowers, 

 Gilt with dew, like sun with showers " 



The Dandelion is a common weed on the commons and 

 meadows. The outer scales of the involucre are bent 

 back, the leaves runcinate, glabrous, toothed, thro wing up a 

 stem six inches high, with a yellow flower at the extreme. 

 When the seed is ripe, it forms a ball, and each seed is fur- 

 nished with a soft down, and is easily carried a great dis- 

 tance in the air by the wind. This will account for the 

 plant being so abundant in all directions. How frequently 

 are the productions of nature used for the benefit of the 

 livino- ; even to the assistance of the lover, for in their time 



& l * 



of uncertainty do we see the fair sex, when anxious to 

 know if the object their " soul holds most dear," retains one 

 kind remembrance of them, will take the scape with the 

 matured seed, blow it gently, and if there remains one or 

 more tufts of seed, their soft and tender feelings, prompted 

 by curiosity, seem satisfied that their anticipations are re- 

 ciprocated, thus gi v ing a decisive satisfaction, once mantled 

 with fear, making their love flow more smoothly through a 

 complication of uncertainty. 



Linnaeus considers this plant more regular in expanding 

 its flo\vers than any yet known. On careful examination, 



