PAPPUS, THE SEED-DOWN. 



and Goat's-beard, t. 434, in which the part in que- 

 stion is elevated on a footstalk,yi 204. In Car- 

 duus, or rather Cnkus, t. 974, 975, it is sessile, 

 though still feathery ; in real Carduus, t. 1112 and 

 973, bristly; but in Cichorhtm, t. 539, consists of 

 mere chaffy teeth, more clearly evincing its affinity 

 to a Calyx. In Scabiosa it is double. In Bidens, 

 . 1 1 13, 11 14, the Pappus is formed of two, three 

 or four rigid barbed bristles. The use of this organ 

 js evidently to transport seeds to a distance from- 

 their native spot, either by resigning them to the 

 power of the wind, or by attaching them to the 

 shaggy coats of animals. In due time the crown 

 separates, and leaves the seed behind it, which hap- 

 pens sooner with the Thistle than most other plants. 

 Hence the vacant down of that genus is frequently 

 seen wafted in light masses over a whole country > 

 which has not escaped the notice of poets. 



The same term is ased by the generality of bota- 

 nists for the feathery crown of seeds furnished with 

 a capsule, as Epilobium, t. 1 1 77, Asclepias, Cynan- 

 chum, &c., G&rtn. t. 117, as well as for a similar 

 appendage to the base or sides of any seeds, as 80//>, 

 EngL Bot* t. 183, 1403, Eriophorum, t. 873, &c., 

 neither of which can originate from a Calyx. For 

 the former of these Gaertner adopts the term Coma, 

 for the latter Pubes, which last also serves for any 

 downiness or wool about the Testa of a seed, as in 



