WILD FLOWERS yellow and orange 



bud opens, the numerous deep yellow florets, which are 

 rolled lengthwise into tiny, hollow tubes gradually 

 unfold, and become strap-shaped, with their square 

 tips finely toothed. The outer ones open first and 

 curve gracefully backward, until finally, the beau- 

 tiful flower head assumes, when at its best, the shape 

 of a flat, round and nearly semi-circular golden tuft 

 of overlapping parts. They are held in a cup of many 

 narrow, dark green, leafy bracts, and set singly on the 

 tip of the long, tube-like stem. They open widest in 

 the bright sun, and partly close at night. The plant 

 contains a bitterish, milky juice that exudes freely 

 when any part is broken, and which stains the hands. 

 As the flowers fade, they are succeeded by a round, 

 gray ball of light, feathery plumes, to which are attached 

 the tiny seeds. The Dandelion is found in blossom 

 the year round. While I am writing this description 

 to-day, the third of January, in the vicinity of New 

 York, my notes are supplemented with a freshly opened 

 blossom, which I have just picked from the lawn of our 

 suburban home. Dandelion is an obscure name, but 

 is generally believed to be a corruption of the French 

 dent-de-lion, meaning lion's tooth, and refers to the 

 outline of the leaf which is said to resemble that of the 

 teeth in a lion's jaw. 



COMMON SOW THISTLE. HARE'S LETTUCE. 

 MILK THISTLE 



Sonchus oleraceus. Chicory Family. 



A tall and usually single-stajked annual, naturalized 

 from Europe, and growing from one to ten feet high, 



195 



