The leaves of the Nipplewort vary much in shape. Some are like a feather of which the lower part is cut away almost to the centre stalk. Others are regularly oval, with wavy edges all round, and these leaves end in a sharp point. They are dark green in colour, with hairs all round the edge. 2. AUTUMNAL HAWKBIT The Hawkweeds are a very large family, and it will be a long time before you learn to recognise them all. The Autumnal Hawkbit is the commonest, and it is found nearly everywhere, in meadows, in pastures, and in waste places. It flowers in late summer and autumn. The leaves grow in a rosette close to the ground. They are dark green, rather smooth, and are shaped like narrow feathers, with the edges irregularly cut into deep, rounded teeth. They all spring from the centre root. The heads of yellow flowers grow on tall, slender, wiry stalks. Very tiny scale-like green leaves grow up the stalks at intervals. Each yellow head is made up of many small yellow tubes with a strap at the mouth, and these strap tubes are crowded together all over the flower-head. When the yellow flowers are withered, the seed-vessels remain, each with a tuft of feathery cotton down attached to it But the down ball is not a perfect one as in the Dandelion; and the down looks grey. The top of the flower-stalk is clothed with layers of narrow pointed green leaves which are tinged with red, and are sometimes woolly. These layers are pressed tightly one above the other like the scales of a fir-cone, and they cover the yellow flower completely when it is in bud. 3. YELLOW GOATSBEARD The Yellow Goatsbeard is fairly common in this country. It grows in meadows and pastures and in waste places, and it is in flower all summer and autumn. It belongs to a large family of plants which are very difficult to distinguish the one from the other, and you will find several Goatsbeards that seem very much alike. This Goatsbeard is a wiry, straight, slender plant. The dark green stem is round, and the leaves grow close to it without stalks. These leaves are like a broad blade of grass at the bottom where they join the stem, but near the top they get very narrow and are folded together, so that they appear almost round, and they end in a sharp point. The flowers grow singly on round, smooth stems. They look like small Yellow Dandelions with fewer yellow rays, and like the Dandelion they are made up of many little yellow tubes grouped together, some of which have yellow straps at the edge, while others have none. When the flower is half open you will notice that it stands in a green cup made up of eight narrow leaves with long, fine points. These points are much longer than the yellow rays of the flower, and stand up beyond them when the flower is closed. The flowers of the Goatsbeard have the curious habit of closing at midday, even when the sun is shining. PLATE IX: 1. COLTSFOOT 2. COMMON GROUNDSEL 3. COMMON RAGWORT 1. COLTSFOOT