STRUCTURE OF COMPOSITE FLOWERS. 459 



tubular ; and that a little thread ending in two horns, issues 

 from the tube ; this thread is the forked style, the stamens being 

 here deficient. The coloured perianth in both these classes of 

 flowers is evidently to be regarded in the light of a corolla ; 

 where, then, is the calyx ? In the Daisy none is to be found ; 

 but in the Dandelion and many other Composite plants, we may 

 observe that, on rooting up each floret from the receptacle, a few 

 little narrow hairy scales are attached to their lower end, form- 

 ing a sort of down ; and this down or pappus is the only repre- 

 sentative of the calyx. We shall presently see that, where it 

 is present, it has an important function to fulfil. Below the 

 pappus is the ovary, which is one-celled, and contains but a 

 single ovule. The corolla of the florets of the disk is tubular 

 from the bottom to the top ; at the top it widens, and is cleft 

 into five little divisions, indicating that it consists of five ad- 

 herent petals. The style terminates in two stigmas, which pro- 

 ject beyond the mouth of a little hollow cylinder, that is found 

 at the orifice of the flower. This cylinder, when examined with 

 a magnifying glass, is found to consist of the anthers, which 

 adhere together, side by side, so as to form a tube ; in other 

 respects their structure does not differ from the usual character 

 of these organs. The nature of this cluster of flowers may be 

 better understood, by comparing it with an umbel, of which the 

 radiating stalks have not been developed, so that the flowers 

 which should be borne on them are all crowded together at the 

 summit of the flower-stalk, from which these branches would 

 have arisen. The fruit of each flower is a little grain, looking 

 like a seed, but really consisting of a seed enclosed within the 

 ovary. When the downy calyx exists, it remains attached to 

 this, and forms a feathery plume, by which it is wafted through 

 the air; and thus the seed is diffused and scattered by the wind. 

 Every child who blows the delicate feathery balls of the Dande- 

 lion, thus assists in the multiplication of the plant ; which it is 

 very difficult to eradicate, when once it has gained a footing in a 

 neglected garden, on account of this curious provision. 



630. This order is one of very great extent, containing many 

 thousand species ; and it is desirable to state its principal sub- 



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