Boys are often hired to dig dandelion roots out of lawns, and near large cities poor women may often be seen digging them out for the sake of the young leaves which, when they first come up in the spring, make very good “greens.” These people sell them or eat them instead of spinach. Tender young dandelion leaves are very good indeed, and some people like them better than spinach. Dandelion plants have a wise way of protecting their seed children until the time for flight. The flower buds come out of the center of the leaf rosette, close to the ground. They have very short stems and seem to sit right on the rosette. [Illustration: 1. A cluster of flowers. 2. One flower (magnified).] There are a great many flowers in one dandelion head. Each little yellow part of the dandelion flower head is a separate blossom, and each separate blossom has one seed case with a seed inside growing to the bottom of it. All of these blossoms are shut up at first in a case of green, leaf-like parts, and form the bud. [Illustration: The bud.] As the bud grows older its stem lengthens a little, as you can see in the picture on page 9—unless it is on a lawn. Then it does not lengthen; it seems to know the lawn mower will come along and take off its head if it grows taller, so it stays close to the ground. After a while the green bud opens, the many little yellow flowers push their way out, and the dandelion is in bloom. Towards night the dandelion shuts up again; the tiny yellow flowers press close together, and the outer covering of green bracts, as they are called, closes up, too, and shuts them in all snug and safe. When the dandelion has once closed it does not open again. But its stem, which was very short, begins to lengthen. It is a hollow stem, as you know, and has a bitter, milky juice. [Illustration] Longer and longer grows the stem with the closed-up flower cluster at its top. But this wise stem does not stand up. Oh, no, indeed! it lies down or leans over, concealed by the grass and weeds, unless it grows on a lawn. Then the wise stem does not lengthen much; it is afraid of that lawn mower. If the dandelion is growing among tall grass, the stem will grow very long indeed; if among short grass it will not grow so long. By this time you can guess why. When the seeds are ripe and the silky plumes all nicely formed that stem stands up! It stands straight up and looks over the tops of the grasses. Then the green bracts on the outside turn back, and the silky tufts spread out and pull themselves free from the remains of the tiny flowers which have withered and are no longer yellow. They do not fall off when the flower first closes, but make a little cap to protect the growing akenes, and when these get ready to open out the cap is pushed off by them. [Illustration: Opening out and pushing off the cap.] The hollow stem stands up, and its lovely silky head of plumed akenes shines in the sunlight.