TEASEL FAMILY 



In June the oblong flower-head begins to blossom. 

 In the Clovers the bloom begins at the base and moves 

 upward, the Sunflower's florets open on the outer 

 circumference and the flowering impulse moves toward 

 the centre, but in the Teasel-heads the florets open in 

 the middle zone of the great oblong heads, and the 

 bloom moves toward apex and base with equal strength 

 until the head shows two rings of florets receding from 

 each other, one passing off at the base, the other at 

 the apex. 



The arrangement of these flower-heads is very inter- 

 esting, at the summit of the stem is the largest head 

 of all. In the cultivated species this is known as the 

 king and brings the highest price in the market. In 

 each axil of the first pair of leaves arises a long, stout 

 flower-stem which bears a head, not quite so large as 

 the king nor does it usually grow so high, though some- 

 times higher. The next pair below also produces two 

 heads, and so on down to the two lowest pairs on the 

 stem. In our wild species thirteen to seventeen heads 

 is a very large number for one stalk to produce, five 

 or seven is a more common number. Lavender is 

 the flower color; corolla, filaments, anthers, style, 

 and protecting bract — all are lavender, here and 

 there a little darkened. 



Botanically the plant is closely allied to the Com- 

 posites, the ma'in difference being in the fourfold 

 instead of fivefold structure of the florets. The plant 

 which wanders along the highway is Dipsacus sylvestris, 

 of no commercial value, but it is blood brother to 

 Dipsacus fullonum, which is the Teasel of commerce; 

 both are of European origin. 



The Fuller's Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum, is a plant 

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