Music of the Wild 



Much lias been written about field flowers, and 

 many jjoets and nature-lovers have celebrated their 

 The favorites. I sing for dandelions. If we had to 

 Lion's iii^port them and they cost us five dollars a plant, 

 all of us would gro^v them in jjots. Because thej^ 

 are the most universal flower of field and wood, 

 few people jjause to see how lovely tliey ai'e. In 

 the first place, the plant is altogether useful. The 

 root is a fine blood-purifier. To a less extent the 

 leaves partake of the same property, and thej^ are 

 beautiful; long and slender, reminding some sci- 

 entist of the ragged teeth of a lion — "dent de leon" 

 — dandelion. They are of dark green color when 

 full-grown, pale yellow -green at half growth, and 

 if at all sheltered, almost white when young. 

 Properly cooked, there is nothing better to eat. 

 The bloom is a flat, round, thickly-])etaled head of 

 gold, dusted Avith pollen that the bees gather, and 

 it gi^es a delicious tang to honey. 



After a few days of bloom the flowers draAV 

 into tightly-closed heads, and stand maturing the 

 seed. At the same time the stems rapidlif lengtlien, 

 to lift the heads high ■\\here the AA'ind can have free 

 l)lay u])on them. Then at a touch, ahvays when 

 Me are not looking, the heads o])en into perfect 

 balls of misty white. These stand like crystal 

 globes for a short time, ripening, and then the 

 wind harA'ests the seed and sows it broadcast, so 

 that the dandelion is the most miiversal flower that 



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