7. Dandelion
Taraxacum officinale
I wrote about our expedition to discover more about the dandelion in our Outdoor Hour Challenge. But then I realized that this handy, resilient little plant could serve more than one purpose: by looking up the official name of this bright fellow, I could bring my 100 Species Challenge list up to the whopping total of 7!
Before doing our study of the dandelion, I already knew about the long, strong taproot which makes the plant virtually ineradicable. I recognized its leaf shape, knew about the way it chokes neighbouring plants out by shading them, and had watched the flowers go from bud to blossom to seed.
What I didn't know was that the dandelion is actually a composite flower, each head being made up of hundreds of individual florets. And I knew that the head changed from sunny yellow to white fluff, but didn't realize that the head took several days of opening and closing (morning and night) before it opened fully, and then it would stay closed for a couple of days (I have yet to watch one to see how many) before reopening as the fuzzy white ball that is so much fun to play with.
The plants grow to slightly exceed their neighbouring plants in height. When on a short grassy lawn they are short themselves, the bloom stalks being only a couple of inches in height. But when in a grassy field, they grow taller, always outstripping the plants around them.
The leaves on the ones we observed were between 3 and 5 inches in length, slender (only about an inch wide at the widest part), and deeply notched. They are said to resemble the teeth of a lion (dents de lion), which are quite jagged, apparently. The flower heads were from 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter when fully open, the buds less than 1/2 of an inch tall and about 1/4 of an inch across.
It was hard for me to follow all the structural information about the dandelion. Some familiar terms came up (anther-tube, stigma, corolla, etc.), but new terms like involucral bracts, akene, and pappus will take some getting used to.
All the information I gathered about the taraxacus officinale came from Anna Botsford Comstock's fabulous book, Handbook of Nature Study. I really like the way Comstock talks about the specimens as individuals. She gives them character and invites us to be friends with them. What a great way to learn about nature.
I like this challenge!
ReplyDeleteDid Anna Botsford Comstock mention the fun things you can do with dandelions? Like making little curly-q's, or what I like to call wet mini-octopi? Simply take the stem, dividing it into long strips, keeping one end still fully attached, then dip strips in a puddle or sprinkle water on the strips and they curl up! Kids find this fascinating and I, honestly, find it a little addicting ;)
Stephanie, check out these words from Anna Botsford Comstock:
ReplyDelete"The hollow stalk of the blossom-head from time immemorial has been a joy to children. It may be made into a trombone, which will give to the enterprising teacher an opportunity for a lesson in the physics of sound, since by varying tits length the pitch is varied. The dandelion-curls, which the little girls enjoy making, offer another lesson in physics - that of surface tension, too difficult for little girls to understand." (HNS p. 532)
Comstock knows her stuff AND what engages children! :)