Plants and their children

by Frances Theodora Parsons

THE LAST OF THE FLOWERS

We found, you remember, that the dandelion head was made up entirely of strap flowers; and we saw that the daisy and aster and golden-rod were made up partly of strap flowers, and partly of tube flowers.

And here you have a great thistle head (Fig. [274]). If you should pull it to pieces, you would find only tube flowers.

The Composite family always makes up its head in one of these three ways, using either nothing but strap flowers, or nothing but tube flowers, or else using tube flowers for the center of the head, and strap flowers for the outside.

Fig. 274

Now, I hope you will remember these three ways in which this important family puts together its little flowers.

Fig. 275