COMMON DANDELION. GARLICK. 



49 



teeth. Stamina: filaments five, capillary very short ; anthers 

 miited into a cylindrical tube. Pistil : germen nearly ovate ; 

 style thread-shaped, as long as the florets; stigmas two, re- 

 volute. Pericarp none, except the oblong, straight, at length 

 reflexed, calyx. Seeds solitary, oblong, rough ; down capil- 

 lary, stipitate. Receptacle naked, dotted. 



Essential character, — Receptacle naked; calyx dotted, 

 imbricated with rather lax scales. Down stalked, hairy. 



The " Common dandelion," or the " Leontodon taraxacum," 

 has the outer scales of the calyx reflexed. Leaves lion- 

 toothed, smooth. Flowers fi'om April to July. The root is 

 deep and perennial, and very branching. Leaves radical, 

 runcinate, toothed, of a bright green colour, smooth. Flower 

 stalks simple, longer than the leaves, hollow, brittle, milky, 

 and single-flowered. Flower terminal, large, golden-coloured, 

 closing in the evening ; styles hairy ; seeds obovate, furrowed, 

 bearing on a long footstalk a tuft of simple radiated down. 

 The whole herb is milky and bitter. 



The dandelion is a troublesome though handsome weed. 

 Goats eat it ; swine devour it greedily ; sheep and kine are 

 not fond of it ; horses refuse it ; small birds are fond of the 

 seeds. The young leaves are used in salads, and the plant 

 is diuretic in quality. Hence it may be useful in pastures. 

 It is coarse, but good in hay with grasses. The eradica- 

 tion may be effected as in the case of the last two men- 

 tioned weeds. 



13, " Garlick," or the "Allium" of botany, is frequently 

 found as a weed on very good pastures. The plant belongs 

 to the class and order " Hexandria monogynia" of Linneus, 

 and the natural order " Asphodelese" of Jussieu. 



Generic character. — Calyx : spathe common, roundish, 

 withering, many-flowered. Corolla : petals six, oblong. 

 Stamina : filaments six, subulate, often the length of the 

 corolla ; antherse oblong, upright. Pistil : germ superior, 

 short, bluntly three-cornered, the corners marked with a 

 line ; style simple ; stigmas short. Pericarp : capsule very 

 short, broad, three-lobed, three-celled, three-valved. Seeds 

 few, roundish. 



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