14 WONDERS OF PLANT LIFE 



In a well-developed Dandelion, where the growth 

 is quite free, a most perfect rosette is often 

 formed, each leaf falling into its place with a 

 wonderful regularity. The little Shepherd's Purse, 

 a very common cruciferous weed, which sends its 

 clusters of dainty white blossoms up to a con- 

 siderable height, employs the greater part of its 

 foliage in covering the ground in its immediate 

 vicinity. Examples of this plant will easily 

 spread over a rough circle of land which is as 

 much as nine or twelve inches in diameter. 

 Through the dense, matted growth of leaves 

 formed by these plants, there is little chance 

 that any smaller species could hope to make 

 headway. 



The Dwarf Plume Thistle, a plant commonly 

 found in meadows near the coast in the south 

 of England, has proved itself to be a most per- 

 nicious weed from the farmer's point of view. 

 The leaf arrangement round the central stem 

 which bears the short-stalked flower, really forms 

 a most attractive pattern, and one which shows 

 plainly by what a rigid code of rules the plant 

 is designed. From the agriculturist's outlook, 

 however, the Dwarf Plume Thistle is anything 

 but a welcome addition to the pasture land. 



As a strong-growing perennial, when once the 



