170 
FINDING NATURE’S TREASURES 
“There are many different kinds of burs,” continued 
Uncle Jack. “There are some tiny flat burs called stick- 
tights, because they stick to your clothes so tightly that 
it is hard to get them off. Then there are some with only 
two spines, which are so long they make the bur look 
like a fork.” 
“How do seeds that are not in burs travel?” asked 
Buddy. 
“Some of them are carried away by the birds. Others 
float away on the water when it rains. And some fly 
through the air. Each seed of the cottonwood tree has 
fastened to it a little fluffy silk, like a sail, so that the 
wind can blow it a long way.” 
“I know another kind that flies through the air,” said 
Marylee. 
“What kind?” asked Buddy. 
“The dandelion,” replied his sister. “Each seed has a 
little bunch of white hairs on one end of it. It’s fun to 
blow the seeds and watch them float away like tiny 
balloons.” 
“It may be fun to blow those seeds,” said Buddy, “but 
it isn't fun to taste the bitter milk in the stems of the 
dandelion.” 
“The dandelion does not want the cows or horses to 
eat it before its seeds have a chance to sail away,” said 
Uncle Jack. “That is why the milk, or sap, in its stem 
is bitter.” 
“Are there any other ways that seeds travel?” asked 
Fred. 
