TEASEL HOLLOW 



71 



beard under an old man's chin. On some of the 

 side branches the purple appears in a horizontal 

 band around the middle of the head, while in 

 others the cen- 

 ter is brown and 

 bare, with bands 

 of purple above 

 and below. 



I watched a 

 teasel head come 

 into flower and 

 learned the secret 

 of these alternate 

 bands of purple 

 and brown. The 

 head is made up 

 of hundreds of 

 flowers, each 

 guarded by a bay- 

 onet-like point 

 which makes the 

 teasel so thistly. 

 The flowers do 

 not all mature 

 at once. Those 

 midway between 

 the top and bot- 

 tom of the head 

 come out first, a narrow band of them perhaps a 

 half-inch wide. These are discovered by honey- 

 loving insects, rifled and pollinated at the same 

 time. Their needs satisfied, the flowers shrivel and 



'TEASEL AND MULLEIN, LIKE MARKS OF 

 PUNCTUATION " 



