THE STUDY OF THE DANDELION. 



17 



things that were 

 overlooked be- 

 fore. (See Fig. 

 10.) Wtten'we 

 merely pull up 

 or dig up a 

 plant, and shake 

 off the earth, we 

 see very little of 

 the root system. 

 Besides the 

 strong central 

 root, or tap-root 

 (shown in Fig. 1), 

 we now discover 

 a multitude of 

 branches, many of 

 them very minute, 

 spreading widely 

 in all directions/ What 

 are they and the strong 

 tap-root for? Any boy who has 

 tried to pull dandelions will tell 

 us that the strong root holds the 

 plant firmly in the ground ; it is 

 almost impossible to pull it out. 

 Of how little value the minute 

 roots are for this purpose ! If 

 we dig up a root before the plant has gone to seed, it is 

 full of milky juice. A root of a plant which has formed 



Fig. 10. 



Roots and Rootlets of 

 Dandelions. 



