WEEDS OF ROADSIDES AND WASTE PLACES 5 



lions become established. To a greater or less extent, 

 practically all the other weeds have similar advantages, 

 and one of the interesting things about the study of each 

 is to find out what these advantages 

 are. This will often point the way 

 to the best means of checking the 

 increase of the plant. 



The Dandelion also illustrates an- 

 other general truth, namely, that the 

 way in which we think of a plant 

 depends upon our point of view. To 

 farmers and to the owners of lawns, 

 the Dandelion is a weedy pest, fit 

 only to be exterminated. To gar- 

 deners, it is a profitable crop plant, 

 worthy to be carefully cultivated. 



To physicians, it is a storehouse of 



r J DANDELIONS 



remedies for human ills. To bota- 

 nists, it is a species of great interest because of its adapta- 

 tions to the conditions of plant life. To artists and poets 

 and many other lovers of nature, it is of inestimable value 

 in decorating the landscape and lighting up the fields with 

 its wonderful disks of gold. 



SUNFLOWER FAMILY 



The Dandelion is a typical example of the great group 

 of plants called the Sunflower family, or Compositae. The 

 principal character of this group is the association of many- 

 tiny florets in a flower head. A large proportion of our 

 weeds belong to this family, the members of which have 

 many advantages in the struggle for existence. 



The various adaptations for the dispersal of the seeds are 

 among the important advantages of the composite plants. 



