 Did you know that the little yellow flowers you have been seeing everywhere are the same as the white flowers you blow to make a wish with? I certainly didn't. These changing flowers are called dandelions. Not only are they color changing, they also change their appearance entirely. Most people think of the dandelion as a pesky weed that never stops growing back, but in the 1800’s people would pull their grass so the dandelions could grow in.
If you are like me and had no idea that the two flowers are the same thing or even if you did still keep reading to find out why the change. The dandelions first start as two false leaves or cotyledons which has all the nutrients the plant is going to need to grow. Soon after the cotyledons appear the true leaves will start to form. The first leaves are a yellowish greenish color, after the first leaves forms the stem starts to develop more. Soon after a yellow green, hollow, tubelike stalk appears in the center of the rosette and a bright yellow bud opens. The second step of a the dandelion process is pollination and fertilization. This begins when bees or other insects pollinate the flower after the flower has been pollinated then each fertilized floret produces a seed called an achene.Each seed pushes up through the floret and develops a feathery filament called a pappus. This pappus looks like a white puff ball. This is the process through which the bright yellow flower turns into the white puff ball flower we know as the dandelion. Time lapse video of dandelion growing- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ_QqtXoyQw\ Story by Maya Fuchs Sources- http://mydandelionisaflower.org/did-you-know/ http://www.naturenorth.com/summer/dandelion/Dandelion2.html http://homeguides.sfgate.com/dandelions-turn-cottony-seeds-78063.htm |
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