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FIRST STUDIES IN PLANT LIPE 



US is the flatweed. The yellow flower 6n the long 

 stalk of the flatweed gives more colour to our fields 

 in winter than any other flower. The balloon of the 

 flatweed is a beautiful object when seen through a lens, 

 but it is not so perfect as that of the dandelion. If you 

 can get a dandelion that has just hoisted its balloon to 

 the wind, try in how many jDuffs you can blow away 

 all the seeds. In some lands the children say as they 

 blow: "One o'clock, two o'clock," and so on. Well, 

 we shall suppose that you have puffed them all away 

 except one, that stands alone on the pitted disc. I 

 shall ask you to draw this seed with its balloon. You 

 cannot draw the beautiful silky sheen of the hairs, 

 but your drawing may show how wonderfully the seed 

 is planned for travel. All the thistles use this plan for 

 making their seeds travel. Can you wonder that 

 thistles soon spread over a whole country ? 



5. How the willow-herb scatters its seed. In 



few plants is the balloon of hairs so delicate as in the 



willow-herb — a plant often found on river 



flats and other damp places. It is a 



plant from two to four feet high, bearing 



a pink flower, that ripens into a long, 



slender pod. When this pod splits, it 



shows many small seeds, each of which 



has a delicate tuft of silky hairs. The 



pod opens from the top downwards, and, 



as the topmost balloons are blown away, 



the lower ones push the pod farther apart 



so that the wind miiy blow them away in 



Seed-case of their turu. Look at these beautiful seeds 



spuufng 'i>™ei with your lens, and you may find that 



fly away.* ^"'^ some of the seeds are not fully grown ; 



