COMPOSITE FAMILY 



these bright yellow flat-topped dandelion-like heads, on 

 slender, wiry stems. The rosette of dull green and bluntly 

 lobed leaves is at the base and usually well hidden in the grass. 

 Although both the Leontodon autumnalis and the variety 

 are abundant on Nantucket, Mr. Bicknell says they are 

 very scarce on Martha's Vineyard. "The var. pratensis 

 seems to have made its appearance only on a few lawns at 

 Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven, not far from where the 

 Nantucket boats make their landings." Thus may Nan- 

 tucket help to populate the world! 



COMPOSITE COMPOSITE FAMILY 



Taraxacum officinale, Weber. 



Yellow Common Dandelion Yellow Gowan, 



Blow-ball. Lion's Tooth, 



From early spring to One 0' Clock, Milk-witch, 



autumn, and sometimes Fortune-teller, Monk's-head, 



throughout the winter. Puff Ball, Priest's Crown, 



Cancer Wort, Arnica, 



Horse Gowan, Witches' Gowan. 

 Irish Daisy, 



Taraxacum: Greek, to disorder, in allusion to the medicinal 



properties. 

 Officinale: Latin for workshop, the place where the drugs 



were compounded. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: waste places and gardens. 

 THE PLANT: from a thick, deep root, often ten inches long. 



THE LEAVES: tufted at the base; pinnatifid; oblong to 

 spatulate; three inches to ten inches long; rather succulent; 

 usually with short, soft hairs; acute or obtuse at the apex; 

 narrowed into stems; dentate or rarely with the margin 

 wavy, or nearly entire. 



THE SCAPE: erect, two inches to eighteen inches tall, 

 without hairs. 



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