Jul 27, 2006 The Dandelion

There is always something new to
learn of Dandelion.


Dandelion can make her home anywhere,

When she lives in wet places she
has thin leaves with many pores.

When she lives in dry places she
has thick tough leaves with fewer
and closed pores.

When she lives on the hillside she
has short stems and her blooms are
close down among the mosses.

When she lives in the meadow
where the grasses are tall she makes
long, long stems for her blooms and
for her leaves that she may catch her
share of sunbeams and breezes.

On such days Bee finds her doors
all locked and goes away disappointed.
Do you know why she notches her
leaves in that odd way she has? It
is so the sunbeams can fall on every
leaf.

Do you know why dandelion’s
stem will curl when you split it?
Because the outside skin of the
stem “pulls” one way and the inside
skin pulls another way.

These stem coverings are like the leaf
coverings — waterproof.