COLTSFOOT FLOWERS. 



frozen earth remains chilly underneath, the 

 buds make no stir ; but as soon as the sub- 

 soil begins to rise in temperature to a very 

 modest point the flower-heads grow apace 

 from the buried material, exactly as hyacinths 

 do from a bulb when placed in water in a 

 slightly warm atmosphere. And such a 

 raising of temperature in the subsoil is one 

 of the surest signs that winter has spent 

 itself. 



The flower-stem of coltsfoot rises bare 

 and leafless, save for a few small scales, 

 such as one sees on asparagus ; but it is 

 thickly covered with a warm cottony wool, 

 to keep out winter, and the buds are bent 

 clown so as to protect them at once from 

 chill and from injury. Each stem termi- 

 nates in a single pretty fluffy yellow flower- 

 head, composed of innumerable golden florets 

 of two kinds those of the ray very narrow 

 and ragged, giving the entire head its 

 characteristic tasselled appearance ; while 

 those of the central disk are much larger, 

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