"This is the most persistent and indomitable of weeds, yet I think the world would be very lonesome without it's golden flower-heads and fluffy seed-spheres.  Professor Bailey once said that dandelions in his yard were a great trouble to him until he learned to love them, and then the sight of them gave him keenest pleasure." - Handbook of Nature Study, pg. 531

 (click the picture, click "full-size" to enlarge; notice the tiny delicate beautiful flowerettes on top...My daughter says these look like hundreds of dancing ladies or upside down jokers shoes!)

Who knew the Common Dandelion could be so much fun?!  Since they are readily presenting themselves (much to my husband's grief) all over our yard right now, we've found it quite unavoidable to want to know more about them.  With all the neat things we've learned, we will never again call such a beautiful flower, a "weed" !  We read a great story book about the life cycle of a dandelion, with a neat facts section in the back.  We have read this book in years past, but really enjoyed visiting it again.

 Dandelion Adventures - by L. Patricia Kite

We learned how the Dandelion got their name.  Dandelion leaves have jagged edges.  The French thought the leaves looked like lions' teeth.  So they called the plant dent de lion, or "lion's tooth."  Over the years that name changed, in the English language, to dandelion.

Another neat fact is the flower head closes up at night, guarded by their "shutters" and reopens in the morning.

Most of the time, before a dandelion head opens, it is likely to bend down, but the night before it is to bloom it straightens up.  After the blossoms have matured it may again bend over, but straightens up when the the seeds are to be cast off.

(bending back up to get ready to open up and  cast off seeds)

We spent some time learning about the life cycle of a Dandelion:

When Dandelions are ready to disperse their seeds, they undergo an amazing transformation over the course of several days, which my kids likened to the transformation of a caterpiller to a butterfly.  They close up their shutters and when they open up again, what a different appearance has the dandelion head!

(click on the above picture, click "full-size" to enlarge; do you see the one little seed akene sticking out on the bottom right trying to make an early get-away)

Now they are ready to partner with the wind (or breath!), and one after another all the parachutes go sailing off!  SHHH, don't tell my hubby we did this!!

 (click on the above picture, click "full-size" to enlarge; see the beautiful seed parachutes flying away?!)

The seed parachutes are a truly amazing thing to look under a magnifying lens and observe.  The little seed akenes hanging at the bottom of the parachute have an overcoat armed with grappling hooks which are ready to cling fast to the ground where it drops!  God's design never ceases to put me in AWE!

(click on the above picture, click "full-size" to enlarge)

DANDY DANDELION INFO:

www.thinkingfountain.org/d/dandelion/dandelion.html - photos of how dandelion seeds disperse like tiny parachutes; and instructions on how to build your own parachute!

www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Dandelion.html - basic info on the life cycle of a dandelion.

DANDY DANDELION FUN:

~ Make a Dandelion Nature Print in Clay.

~ The Forgotten Art of Dandelion Chains - do you remember making a dandelion chain as a child?  I do!

~ Sketch the different parts of the Dandelion and it's stages, including the leaves, for your nature journal.  And/or press a Dandelion head and other parts, and tape it in your journal.

~ Play "Keep the Seed Flying"!  We took the small parachutes and gently blew them in the air (inside) to try and keep them flying!

~ Observe a Dandelion through the day and watch it open in the morning and close at night.  Note at what hour it opens and closes.

~ Take a blossom not yet opened and observe the brackets (shutters) that cover the unopened flower. 

~ Observe the curly flower tops through a magnifying glass.  Make sure to draw these in your journal.

~ Observe a seed akene through a magnifying glass.  Draw this in your journal too.

~ Dig up a Dandelion root and observe the thick root system and how this helps it to survive.

~ After the seeds come out, blow all the seeds off of the head and observe the "bald head" with a magnifying lens and note the holes where the seeds were set.

~ Read pages 531-535 of the Handbook of Nature Study, especially the listing on page 534 of the tactics by which the Dandelion conquers us and takes possession of our lands!!

And how about a little Dandelion poetry?

 To the Dandelion

~ James Russell Lowell

Dear common flower, that grow’st beside the way,

Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold,

First pledge of blithesome May,

Which children pluck, and, full of pride, uphold,

High-hearted buccaneers, o’erjoyed that they

An Eldorado in the grass have found,

Which not the rich earth’s ample round

May match in wealth, thou art more dear to me

Than all the prouder summer blooms may be.

My childhood’s earliest thoughts are linked with thee;

The sight of thee calls back the robin’s song,

Who, from the dark old tree

Beside the door, sang clearly all day long.

And I, secure in childish piety,

Listened as if I heard an angel sing

With news from heaven, which he could bring

Fresh every day to my untainted ears

When birds and flowers and I were happy peers.

Please feel free to share with me any of your Dandelion resources and FUN!!