Wild-Flower Study 589 



hollow or solid? Where upon it are the spines situated? Are the 

 spines all of the same size? Can you take hold of the stem anywhere 

 without being pricked ? 



3. What is the shape of the leaves? How do they join the stem? 

 Are the leaves set opposite or alternate? If one pair points east and 

 west in which direction will the pairs above and below point? How 

 and where are the leaves armed? How does the cow or sheep draw 

 the leaves into the mouth with the tongue? If either should try to do 

 this with the teasel, how would the tongue be injured? 



4. Where do the flower stems come off? Do they come off in pairs? 

 How are the pairs set in relation to each other? 



5. What is the general appearance of the teasel flower-head? De- 

 scribe the long involucre prongs at the base. If the teasel is in blossom, 

 where do you find the flowers? How many girdles of flowers are there 

 around the flower-head? How many rows in one girdle? Where did the 

 first flowers blossom in the teasel flower-head? Where on the head will 

 the last blossoms appear? Where are the buds just ready to open? 

 Where are the ripened seeds? 



6. Examine a single flower. How is it protected? Cut out a flower 

 and bract and see how the long-spined bract enfolds it. Is the bract spear 

 long enough to keep the cattle from grazing on the blossom? Is it long 

 enough to keep the bees and other insects from visiting the fl.owers? 

 Where are the longest spines on the teasel head? 



7. Study a single flower. What is the shape of its corolla? How is 

 it colored? What color are the stamens? How many? Describe the 

 pollen. If the pollen is being shed where is the stigma ? After the pollen 

 is shed, what happens to the stigma? 



8. What do you find at the base of the flower? How does the young 

 seed look? Later in the season take a teasel head and describe how it 

 scatters its seed. How do the ripe seeds look? How long will the old 

 teasel plants stand? 



9. For what were teasels once used? How many years does a teasel 

 plant live? How does it look at the end of its first season? How is this 

 an advantage as a method of passing the winter? 



QUEEN ANNE'S LACE, OR WILD CARROT 

 Teacher's Story 



Queen Anne was apparently given to wearing lace made in medallion 

 patterns; and even though we grant that her lace is most exquisite in 

 design as well as in execution, we wish most sincerely that there had 

 been established in America such a high tariff on this royal fabric as to 

 have prohibited its importation. It has for decades held us and our 

 lands prisoners in its delicate meshes, it being one of the most stubborn 

 and persistent weeds that ever came to us from over the seas. 



But for those people who admire lace of intricate pattern, and 

 beautiful blossoms whether they grow on scalawag plants or not, this 

 medallion flower attributed to Queen Anne is well worth studying. It 

 belongs to the family Umbellijerae, which one of my small pupils always 



