THE COMPOSITE. 



145 



pearances. This part of florets, from its singularity, 

 has received the special name of pappus. In some, 

 you observe, it does not exist at all, the adherent tube 

 of the calyx forming an indistinguishable part of the 

 ovary ; in such cases the limb is said to be obsolete. 

 Again, it is a mere rim, or border ; sometimes it is 

 cup-shaped, or bristly, or composed of teeth, scales, 

 awns, or beards. 



In the dandelion (Fig. 302) and the thistle it 

 is silky. The reason given for this singular con- 



Fio. 802. 



FIG. 303. 



FIG. 304. 



dition of the calyx-limb is, that it is starved and 

 stunted while growing, by the constant pressure of 

 the florets against each other. In the case of the 

 dandelion, while the seed is maturing, the tube of 

 the calyx is prolonged above the ovary into a kind 

 of stalk, and the pappus is said to be stipitate. 



But let us return to the florets. "We have not yet 

 examined their essential organs. Just below the 

 stigma, in the disk floret (Fig. 301), is a cylindrical 

 body, which, at first, you may not understand. Slit 



