pappus
Dandelion's feathery crown
A pappus is the tuft of fine hairs or bristles that crowns certain seeds, most familiarly the white fluff of a dandelion.
The structure acts as a parachute, carrying seeds on the wind.
Botanically, the pappus develops from the calyx of the flower.
Plural: pappi or pappuses.
Yellow flower, white puffball
- thistleSpiny flowering weed
- sunflowerTall daisy-family plant
- lettuceLeafy salad vegetable
- asterMitotic spindle anchor
goldenrod · salsify · hawkweed · groundsel · ragwort · asteraceae · composite · floret
Ornamental feather or rising column
- bristleCoarse animal hair
- acheneClosed one-seeded fruit
- tuftCluster joined below
- hairFibrous scalp covering
filament · awn · barb · feathery · scale · crown · appendage · ring
Carried by air currents
- parachuteDrag-creating descent device
- airborneTraveling through air
- driftGradual movement, no direction
- buoyantAble to float
seed · propagation · float · glider · tufted · spread · colonization · lightweight
dandelion
Yellow flower, white puffball
aster · goldenrod · salsify · hawkweed · groundsel · ragwort · asteraceae · composite · floret · seedhead
plume
Ornamental feather or rising column
hair · filament · awn · barb · feathery · scale · crown · appendage · ring · beak
windborne
Carried by air currents
- parachuteDrag-creating descent device
- airborneTraveling through air
- driftGradual movement, no direction
buoyant · seed · propagation · float · glider · tufted · spread · colonization · lightweight · carried
feathery
Light and soft-textured
awned · barbed · simple · branched · deciduous · persistent · reduced · absent · variable · dimorphic