736 Studies of Weeds. [march, 



flowers rarely, or never, bear fertile seeds. Honey is produced 

 by the flowers, and flies, bees, and other insects pay visits to 

 them for it. 



The outermost " ray " florets, of which there are from 20o1to 

 300 in each head, are irregular, with a narrow strap-shaped 

 extension of the corolla. They are female only, having ho 

 stamens and therefore no pollen. The stigma, which is divided 

 at the top, projects a short distance from the tube of the corolla. 

 It is protruded, and ready for the reception of the fertilizing 

 pollen before the central florets of the same flower head are 

 open, so that fertilization, if it is effected at all, is brought about 

 by pollen which has been transferred to it by insects from 

 older distinct flower heads. 



Cross-fertilization is the rule, and fertile seeds arise in the 

 ovaries of the " ray " florets. Each ripened fruit or " seed " is 

 a thin elongated structure, orange-red in colour, and bears at its 

 apex a bunch of white fluffy hairs or down called the pappus, 

 just as in thistle "seeds." These "seeds " are carried about by 

 the wind, and spread over the land in the neighbourhood of the 

 parent plants. They only germinate readily under shady con- 

 ditions in loose, damp soil, or on ground covered with herbage, 

 between the leaves of which the seeds ultimately find their way 

 when they settle. In dry situations or on smoothly-pressed 

 soil they germinate very irregularly or not at all. 



The seedlings are remarkably small, with two very narrow 

 cotyledons. After a week or two the first broad, somewhat 

 heart-shaped leaf appears (Fig. 3). 



The blooming of the first flowers and the sowing of the seeds 

 occur very commonly before the leaves of the plant are sent 

 above ground, a peculiar feature which it is essential to empha- 

 size. x\fter the flowers have been developed some time the 

 leaves begin to appear. They arise from underground buds of 

 the rootstock, distinct from those out of which the flower heads 

 arise (Figs, i and 2). The leaves, when fully developed, are 

 generally from four to eight inches across, roundish or heart- 

 shaped, with a few marginal teeth and downy beneath. In 

 shape they bear a fanciful resemblance to the foot of a colt, 

 hence the name of the plant (Fig. 2). 



The rootstock branches below the surface of the ground^and 



