Pappus

“ Involucre cylindrical, of 5 to 14 linear scales in a single row, and a few small bractlets at base. Achenes short, linear-oblong, striate or grooved, not contracted at the apex. Pappus of copious straw-color or brownish and rough capillary bristles.—Perennial herbs, with upright leafy stems arising from spindle-shaped (extremely bitter) tubers, very variable leaves, and racemose-panicled mostly nodding heads. Flowers greenish-white or yellowish, often tinged with purple; late summer and autumn. Our species belong to the subgenus Nábalus. The original European species has soft white pappus. ”

“ Leaves pinnatifid (2-8 dm. high; flowers yellow) — 172. 78a. Bracts of the involucre dry and chaffy, at least at the tip; plants always pubescent and usually white-woolly — 79. 78b. Bracts of the involucre green or colored, but never dry and chaffy — 90. 79a. Pappus none; heads 3-4 mm. wide, in ample panicled spikes (flowers yellowish, late summer) — 74b. 79b. Pappus a minute ring or crown; leaves crenate (5-10 dm. high; flowers yellow, summer) — 93a. 79c. Pappus of hairs; heads in flat-topped clusters or slender spikes — 80. 80a. Heads sessile or subsessile in small flat-topped clusters ”

“ Periclinium pluriseriale, imbricatum, foliolis linearibus, setaceo-mucronatis nervo [Pg 334] infra apicem tumente herbaceo. Achænia cuneiformi-angusta, erostria, sericeo hirta. Pappus pilosus, denticulato scaber, pluriserialis, radiolis exterioribus brevioribus. Fruticulus foliis alternis pinnatisectis, laciniis spinuloso-setigeris.
This genus is next to Aplopappus, Cass., from which it is distinguished, besides the habit, by the unequal pappus, and by the scales of the involucrum below the mucro, which are herbaceous, and marked with glandular swellings. ”

“ The lemmas which Pappus gives in connexion with the
porisms are interesting historically, because he gives (1) the fundamental theorem that the cross or an harmonic ratio of a pencil of four straight lines meeting in a point is constant for all transversals; (2) the proof of the harmonic properties of a complete quadrilateral; (3) the theorem that, if the six vertices of a hexagon lie three and three on two straight lines, the three points of concourse of opposite sides lie on a straight line. ”

“ Pappus minutely barbellate. Corolla rose-purple. Heads corymbed or panicled, the involucre little imbricated.
Tribe III. ASTEROIDEÆ. Heads discoid, the flowers all alike and tubular; or else radiate, the outer ones ligulate and pistillate. Anthers not caudate at base. Branches of the style in the perfect flowers flat, smooth up to where the conspicuous marginal stigmatic lines abruptly terminate, and prolonged above this into a flattened lance-shaped or triangular appendage which is evenly hairy or pubescent outside.—Leaves alternate. Receptacle naked (destitute of chaff) in all our species. ”

“ His treatise on Conics gained him the title of The Great Geometer, and is that by which his fame has been transmitted to modern times. All his numerous other treatises have perished, save one, and we have only their titles handed down, with general indications of their contents, by later writers, especially Pappus. After the Conics in eight Books had been written in a first edition, Apollonius brought out a second edition, considerably revised as regards Books i.-ii., at the instance of one Eudemus of Pergamum ”

“ Involucre few–many-flowered, commonly of a single row of equal scales, often becoming thickened at base. Pappus copious, white and soft. Annuals or biennials, not pilose. Otherwise as Hieracium. (The Greek name of some plant, from κρηπίς, a sandal.)
C. biénnis, L. Somewhat pubescent, 2° high, leafy; leaves runcinate-pinnatifid; heads rather large, corymbose; achenes oblong, glabrous.—Vt., Mass.; rare. (Nat. from Eu.)
C. tectòrum, L. Slender, branching from the base, 1° high; leaves narrow, runcinate; heads small, in a loose panicle ”

“ Each floret has a calyx, the tubular part of which is rarely sufficiently distinct to be perceptible, but the limb is generally cut into long feathery segments called pappus. The ovary of each floret contains only one seed; and the fruit, which is called an achenium, retains the pappus when ripe, and falls without opening. There are five stamens, the filaments of which are distinct, but the anthers grow together so as to99 form a kind of cylinder, through which passes the style, ending in a two-lobed stigma (see a in fig. 41) . Most of the corollas are of two Fig. ”

“ Leaves all radical, very variable in size, 2–10 in. long, narrow-linear to lanceolate, flaccid, entire or irregularly toothed or pinnatifid; the lobes narrow, distant, spreading. Scapes usually exceeding the leaves, rarely shorter, sometimes puberulous above. Heads solitary, 1⁄2–1⁄3 in. long; involucral bracts linear, acute, rather fleshy, with membranous borders. Florets longer than the involucre. Achenes linear, deeply grooved. Pappus-bristles slightly dilated below, serrulate or shortly plumose.—Fl. Tasm. i. 226, t. 66; Handb. N.Z. Fl. 164; Benth. Fl. Austral. iii. 676; Kirk, Students' Fl. ”

“ I had some poppies once though, perfectly wonderful poppies. Miss Moran gave me the seeds. I hadn’t ever planted any flower seeds at all till one day I was down at her house and she was working in the flower garden and let me help. I sowed some seed of those great big blue larkspur—delphiniums she calls them, but I think larkspur’s nicest, don’t you?—and some poppies too. Poppies have got the cunningest baby seeds that you don’t dare cover up warm at all for fear you’ll choke them to death. ”

“ A dislike of the scent of Field Poppies is often found among English folk. The author of A World in a Garden speaks in disgust of "the pungent and sickly odor of the flaring Poppies—they positively nauseate me"; but then he disliked their color too.
There is something very fine about a Poppy, in the extraordinary combination of boldness of color and great size with its slender delicacy of stem, the grace of the set of the beautiful buds, the fine turn of the flower as it opens, and the wonderful airiness of poise of so heavy a flower. ”

“ Pietro began, as he took one of Pappina's curls in his hand, "bella, bella [Beautiful, beautiful] , but she has a temper of her own at times. She ain't always sweet and gentle as she looks; are you, bambina? You, signor, don't know her or her ways. She ain't like any of the others. We love her best of all. No, signor, we can't give up Pappina." He looked at the child with love and pride.
Then Guiseppe with his glib tongue started all over again. He was ready with many arguments why it would be best for Pietro to hire Pappina to him. ”

“ And that convergence, too, explained why the Pippin had accompanied him so meekly toward the shed—the Pippin's one aim and object at that moment had been to avoid the police! He leaned suddenly forward over the man—the Pippin was going fast now. There was one thing yet, a thing that was vital, paramount, above all others.
"Pippin," he said quietly, "you're going out. Who put up this plant? It wasn't the Mole, he's not big enough, he's only a tool like yourself. Who was it?"
"No—not the Mole," murmured the Pippin. "He—he isn't big enough. ”

“ The story of the Shirley Poppies is one of magic, that a flower-loving clergyman who in 1882 sowed the seed of one specially beautiful Poppy which had no black in it, and then sowed those of its fine successors, produced thus a variety which has supplied the world with beauty. ”

“ When I read about the poppies Alphonse Karr sowed in the wild nooks of his native country, it made me think of John's French poppies, and paeony poppies, and ranunculus poppies, and carnation poppies, some very [65] large, some quite small, some round and neat, some full and ragged like Japanese chrysanthemums, but all of such beautiful shades of red, rose, crimson, pink, pale blush, and white, that if they had but smelt like carnations instead of smelling like laudanum when you have the toothache, they would have been quite perfect.
In one way they are nicer than carnations. ”

“ Flora May!
There are two men in every one of us. I used to think there were ten in Pippin, but for one instant all ten were paralyzed, looking helplessly into the blue eyes that burned into his; then one of them woke, the one who would have been a physician if Pippin had been reared in a home instead of a cellar. ”

“ Rough-Stemmed or White Prickly Poppy (Argemone hispida) is a bushy, leafy-stemmed plant growing about 2-3 ft. high. It is distinguished from several other very abundant white-flowered poppies by the fact that it has rough hairs as well as spines on the stem. The flowers as a rule are larger, often being 4-6 inches broad. The unusual sepals of the prickly poppies should be noted, as they sometimes cause the flower buds to be confused with the fruits. There are usually 3 sepals, which are horned or hooded, armed with spines, and snugly overlapping each other by a narrow margin. ”

“ Pippin's hair curled thick and close all over his head, like an elastic cushion. He ran his fingers through it and produced a small file.
"Anybody needs a file, you see!" he explained. "There's your nails, for one thing; a crook has to keep his nails and hands just so, or he'd lose his touch—and yet an honest man takes care of 'em too, or ought so to do! This file is a good friend to me!" He replaced it carefully, the other following his motions with wondering eyes. "But a jimmy, you see, sir," turning an animated face toward his companion, "is a crook's tool, and no one else's. ”

“ The only youths, who, dressed in their best, had come of a Saturday evening to lean on the little shelf before the window of the beehive and cast boldly admiring glances and random and irrelevant remarks at the postmistress, were of the verdant and irrepressible sort that Gilbert would not have tolerated for a moment, and that Poppea had effectually withered by giving absolutely no more heed to their pleasantries than to the wind muttering about the windows. ”

“ They cannot move of themselves, but the wind sways the poppy pod this way and that on its long stalk, and the little seeds are shaken out only to be caught by the wind and blown away.
Perhaps you think that is not a very sure way for [60] the seeds to escape, but if you examine a poppy head that has been ripe for some time you will find scarcely a seed in it, so it proves to be a better way than it looks.
Nature’s way is generally the best way to accomplish an object.
Poppies are often seen growing by the roadside or in the garden, far from the flower beds ”

“ Paphos was the seat of the worship of Venus, the goddess of love, who was said to have been born of the foam of the sea at this very spot; and her worship was carried on with the wildest licentiousness. It was a picture in miniature of Greece sunk in moral decay. Paphos was also the seat of the Roman government, and in the pro-consular chair sat a man, Sergius Paulus, whose noble character but utter lack of certain faith formed a companion picture of the inability of Rome at that epoch to meet the deepest necessities of her best sons. ”

“ In a priceless vase near the open window they held their heads in high disdain—those four red poppies who had gleefully chuckled and chatted together on the yesterday; but the fifth and silent poppy drooped upon her breast. I turned to go; she did not stay me; I stole to the door. "Take us away with you," cried those four garrulous poppies; "we are willing to die, and at once if need be, but not here in her hateful presence. Take us away." But the poppy on her breast only drooped and drooped the more and said not a word. ”

“ Couldn't a man get a wink of sleep without condemned [Pg 192] galoots hollering their prayers through a megaphone?
"I'm real sorry, brother!" said Pippin pacifically. "I didn't know I'd riz my voice."
"Riz your voice! You go hire yourself out as foghorn to a Sound boat, and you'll make your fortune!"
"You've got a powerful organ of your own," replied Pippin. "If you'd like to have a prayer meetin', I'd be pleased to have you join in. Are you a Gideon?" ”

“ These are Pippin and Mary; she in white, with white roses in her pretty hat, he—but no one could ever tell what Pippin had on.
At sight of him the chaplain looses his hold of the two boys. They make one bolt for the door, fall out of it together, wriggle up again, and rush like a double whirlwind to the gate, rolling under the wheels of the car, which has fortunately come to a standstill.
Pippin and Mary spring down. Seeing them, the cottage becomes all eyes, guests, helpers, delegates, crowding to the windows. Most of the women begin to cry. Foolish creatures! What is the matter with them? ”

“ Pippin was like that, he thought. An Israelite without guile; the child of the slums, the young desperado; Pippin the Kid, alias Moonlighter, alias Jack-o'-lantern. Strange and true, and blessed! Out of the mouths of babes—gutter babes as well as those of Christian homes! But how absurd, how utterly unreasonable, this very crystalline quality made the boy! He had thought that once he found the girl, all would be plain sailing. He had actually expected Mary to start with him, hand in hand like two children, that very morning for Cyrus Poor Farm, thirty miles away. ”

“ Papyrus nearly six thousand years old has already been found, and it appears doubtful whether we shall ever be able to trace the name of the first man who thought of using the stem of the papyrus plant in so useful a manner.
It seems likely that the discovery may have been due to Egyptian children. If you walk about the English country-side when the bulrushes are flourishing, [Pg 16] it is a common sight to see children plucking the rushes and skinning them to make flowers out of the pith. ”