Translations:Benutzer:Arian/Klett-Mini-Test/1487/en

The Outward Appearance of the Dandelion

The dandelion reveals in all its members a wealth of phenomena that astonish and point to a singular character that sets it apart even from the particularity of the Compositae family (composites). It is a spring bloomer — a few yellow splashes of colour appear again towards early autumn. — Following the delicate white-violet veil of the cuckoo flower (Cardamine pratensis), the meadows, pastures, and roadsides cover themselves in April with a golden-yellow carpet of dandelions coming into bloom. This happens precisely at the moment when the earth breathes out its soul-spiritual being once more into the periphery from its wintry withdrawal. The sea of dandelion blossoms appears as an image of this reconnection of earth and cosmos. As quickly as it appeared at the end of March, so quickly does it vanish from sight at the end of April behind the neighbouring grasses and herbs now growing swiftly up around it. Through the whole year following the blossom, it concentrates and preserves the forces from cosmos and earth which then, under the rays of the ascending spring sun of the following year, cause the flower stalks to shoot upward suddenly overnight, wave upon wave. They carry the flower buds upward, which open on the broadly spreading receptacle and turn the basket full of ray florets towards the sun.