Pappus (botany)
In Asteraceae, the pappus is the modified calyx, the part of an individual floret, that surrounds the base of the corolla tube in flower. It functions as a wind-dispersal mechanism for the seeds. The term is sometimes used for similar structures in other plant families e.g. in certain genera of the Apocynaceae, although the pappus in Apocynaceae is not derived from the calyx of the flower. In Asteraceae, the pappus may be composed of bristles (sometimes feathery), awns, scales, or may be absent, and in some species, is too small to see without magnification. In genera such as ''Taraxacum'' or ''Eupatorium'', feathery bristles of the pappus function as a "parachute" which enables the seed to be carried by the wind. The name derives from the Ancient Greek word ''pappos'', Latin ''pappus'', meaning "old man", so used for a plant (assumed to be an ''Erigeron'' species) having bristles and also for the woolly, hairy seed of certain plants. The pappus of the dandelion plays a ...
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Taraxacum - Dandelion Clock (KK)
''Taraxacum'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and North America, but the two most commonplace species worldwide, ''Taraxacum officinale, T. officinale'' (the common dandelion) and ''Taraxacum erythrospermum, T. erythrospermum'' (the red-seeded dandelion), were introduced from Europe into North America, where they now propagate as wildflowers. Both species are List of leaf vegetables, edible in their entirety. The common name ''dandelion'' ( , from French language, French , meaning 'lion's tooth') is also given to specific members of the genus. Like other members of the family Asteraceae, they have very small flowers collected together into a composite Head (botany), flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a ''floret''. In part due to their abundance, along with being a ...
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