Whether considered a hardy plant or nuisance weed, the dandelion is truly amazing. In wet weather or dry, even when uprooted, it survives and spreads. What makes it so successful is described and pictured in this beginning botany book by a twosome widely known for their fine pictorial studies.
Together they follow the life cycle of the dandelion plant, as it sprouts from seed, sends down its thick tap root, grows its rosette of jagged-toothed leaves, and blossoms. They explain the several ways that pollination can take place. Insects may carry pollen from one plant to another, the flower may pollinate itself, or the flower may actually form seeds without any pollination at all. Finally they show the development of the blowball, whose silky gray parachutes carry the seeds into the air. A final section gives interesting uses that people have found for the dandelion.
