Dandelion Flowers and Facts: A Cheerful Sign of Spring
“The only difference between a flower and a weed is judgment.”
-Wayne W. Dyer
The dandelion flower is symbolic and has spiritual meaning too. Dandelion is the symbol of emotional healing. Since they can endure almost any living condition, they represent overcoming every hardship by standing strong and proud. Heat and power of the sun – Dandelion is a symbol of the sun always encouraging you and giving you strength.
Dandelions have the scientific name Taraxacum officinale. They belong to the family Asteraceae, which is also known as the aster or daisy family. The family’s earlier name of Compositae is sometimes used today. The latter name refers to the composite nature of the flowers, which are technically inflorescences consisting of multiple florets instead of a single flower. The center florets of many species in the Asteraceae or Compositae family are disk ones and the surrounding florets are ray ones, as in a daisy flower.
A dandelion “flower” (or inflorescence) is a bit different from a daisy one. All the dandelion’s florets are ray ones. The flowers close in the evening and open in the morning. The flower stems are sometimes red, as can be seen in the photo above.
I like to photograph plants and flowers. My photograph of a simple Dandelion clock which I show the secret of creation by illustration the star seed theory of the earths’ creation. I processed the image using Fractalius and called the image “Dandelion Unity”
A personal favorite.
You will find beauty in everything, just look!!!
The back of a Dandelion seed head (clock).
Children LOVE them!
We don’t like them in our gardens… AND YET: The dandelion plant is a beneficial weed, with a wide range of uses, and is even a good companion plant for gardening.
Its taproot will bring up nutrients for shallower-rooting plants, and add minerals and nitrogen to soil.
It is also known to attract pollinating insects and release ethylene gas which helps fruit to ripen.
Taraxacum seeds are an important food source for certain birds.
Taraxacum, the common name is dandelion (from French dent-de-lion, meaning “lion’s tooth”), after flowering is finished, the dandelion flower head dries out for a day or two.
The dried petals and stamens drop off, the bracts reflex (curve backwards), and the parachute ball opens into a full sphere. Finally, the seed-bearing parachutes expand and lift out of it.
The parachute drops off the achene when it strikes an obstacle.
After the seed is released, the parachutes lose their feathered structure and take on a fuzzy, cotton-like appearance, often called “dandelion snow”. Another thing I love about being a photographer, you start looking at things in a ‘different’ way?
So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.
Unity
Baha’u’llah quotes (Iranian Theologian and Philosopher, b.1817.
About ‘BEAUTY’artists sculpt, architects build, painters paint, photographers make images… the ‘makers’ and ‘keepers’ of beauty of moment?
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