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Project Noah Nature School
Taraxacum officinale
Weeds that invade places all over the world. But did you know that the seed of the dandelion, the thing that you have fun blowing off, is a fruit? Achenes are small fruits containing single seeds which nearly fill the fruit cavity. The seed coat doesn't stick to the "fruit wall." In our backyards, achenes are the fruit-type of the huge composite family, which includes sunflowers, daisies, dandelions, dahlias, zinnias, coreopsises. Buttercups, in the buttercup family, shown at the right, also produce achenes. In the picture "A" at the top of course is the buttercup flower showing five petals, many stamens, and in the flower's center there are many separate pistils. "B" shows a flower after it has been pollinated. All but one of the yellow petals have fallen off, just a few stamens remain, and the pistils are growing . "C" shows a head of achenes. Later the achenes will drop off independently. If the achenes stuck together to form a berry-like fruit, the fruit would be considered an "aggregate fruit," considered on another page. At the left is one of the best-known examples of the achene-type fruit. It's the fruiting head of a Dandelion. You can barely see inside the fluffy head dozens of brownish achenes. Atop each achene is a white "parachute" that carries the achene away when you or the wind blow on it.
http://www.backyardnature.net/frt_simp.h... - Want to see more info about fruit? You may be surprised at what you find!
Spotted on May 1, 2011
Submitted on May 8, 2011
43 Comments (1–25)
Fun fact! The name "dandelion" comes from the French name for the plant "dents de lion" which means "teeth of the lion" referring to its jagged leaves. An alternate French name is pis-en-lit, which literally means, “wet the bed” in English, in reference to its diuretic powers! Although they are the bane of gardeners worldwide, dandelions originated in Asia, and were introduced to Europe and the Americas as an edible herb. https://upload.facebook.com/projectnoah/...
would you consider adding this to http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/2108...
i know it's not technically a flower but i'll make an exception. This is extraordinary!
I did not know that! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Kittycat :)
Wow That's amazing!!! Absolutely stunning!!!
This would be a great addition to the seed and seed pods mission. Please consider joining. Thnx!!
http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/8362...
Haha :)
Well congrats, you acheived the 'dramatic effect' haha! :)
Thank you dohkofire!
good picture, make me feel in peace
Haha I was waiting for someone to notice!! Actually, It was a very cloudy day, so I pulled out a flo-tone background and set it up behind it to add a dramatic effect.
Thank you though! :D
Is that the real sky behind it?? haha it seems too blue to be real! but still absolutely gorgeous photo! xx
Thanks Katherine!!
IT is an AMAZINGG photoo. Connngratss!!
Awwww Thanks so much Elsa :D
You definitely deserve a lot of credit though Shea, because it is absolutely stunning! :)
I don't think it is the BEST photo by the way. There are some pretty amazing shots on project noah!!
Hahaha Thank you very much Jonathan :)
I LOVE IT!!! AHHHH!!!!! YOU SHOULD WIN!!!!!
This is the best photo on this website!!!!
Thanks Emma!!
Great pic!
In beef soup? I think i'll have to try that sometime! How can you tell if it is the young leaf or not?
It might be a pest of a weed for some but the leaf is good that you could eat mixed in your salad or to your beef soup just get the young leaf though.
Thanks Aislinn!!