PLANTS GROWING IN DRY SOIL. 287 



DANDELION. 



Taraxacum Taraxacum. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Chicory. Yellow. Scentless. General to the Rockies. April-October. 



Flower-heads: roundish, of innumerable strap-shaped flowers. Involucre: 

 closing after blooming until the fluffy ball is ready to mature and be blown 

 away by the wind, when it opens, turns downward, and bears up the pappus. 

 Leaves: at the base ; much cut. Stem : hollow. Juice: milky. 



There seems to be something pathetic about the dandelion 

 as it grows old. Gradually it is deprived of its golden rays 

 and upon its stalk is left a little cloud of gossamer. It is then 

 whorled aloft and away, torn and scattered upon thorny bushes 

 and dashed into angry streams by pitiless winds. Or the chil- 

 dren blow it to tell what o'clock it is. There are usually four 

 good blows in a ball of down and this fact has won for it the 

 name of " four o'clock," each blow signifying an hour. The 

 plants are eaten as a pot herb, and their medicinal properties 

 are generally known and appreciated. 



FALL DANDELION. 



Leontodon autumnale. 



Or little dandelion, as it is sometimes called, extends its 

 bloom throughout the summer and autumn. On a nearer 

 acquaintance we find it has rather different habits from our 

 early dandelion but is very much like the hawkweeds. Its 

 Greek name refers to the medicinal properties of the root. 



PLANTAIN-LEAF EVERLASTING. flOUSE-EAR 

 EVERLASTING. 



A n ten n a ria p la n tag in if bit a . 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Composite. White. Scentless. Mostly north. March-May. 



Flower-heads : of tiny tubular flowers clustered closely together in a corymb; 

 sterile and fertile flowers growing on different plants. Leaves: those of the 

 stem, lanceolate; pointed ; soft; silky underneath ; those of the base, oval ; on 

 petioles; nerved. Stem: sometimes approaching one foot high ; covered with 

 a soft down. The plant spreads by runners. 



In rocky fields and on dry slopes we find this everlasting. 



