44 NATURE STUDIES. 



daisy-plant, root and all, with my cane ; and when 

 one comes to look closely at its structure, the secret of 

 its success in life is not difficult to decipher. In the 

 first place, there are the leaves. These we seldom 

 notice when we are examining a daisy, because they 

 ^ire so very retiring and unobtrusive. They lie flat 

 upon the ground, in a small, round, spreading rosette, 

 pressed as tightly as possible against the soil beneath. 

 That is one of the tricks by means of which the daisy 

 secures itself a place in the world. It grows gene- 

 rally in open pastures and commons covered with 

 grass ; and as the grass tends always to raise its tall 

 blades as high as possible, the daisy might easily be 

 overshadowed by that powerful competitor. Now, 

 there are two ways in which different plants living in 

 such circumstances can avoid being elbowed out of 

 existence. One way is by sending up taller and 

 bigger leaves than the grasses, so as to intercept the 

 .air and sunlight ; and this is the plan adopted by such 

 weeds as dock, burdock, coltsfoot, and some plantains. 

 As a rule, however, such tactics can only be followed 

 by plants which possess a reserve fund of food-stuffs 

 laid by in their roots or stocks, for otherwise the 

 young leaves would be choked and starved before they 

 could grow high enough to overtop the competing 

 grasses. Or, to put it more definitely, those kinds 

 alone have succeeded in this way which happened to 

 develope both large leaves and rich reserves of starch 

 at one and the same time. The second plan is that 

 followed by the daisy, the hoary plantain, and many 



