Dandelion Clocks

Dandelions are flowering plants also known as taraxacums. When dandelions turn to seed it produces little white parachutes (or dandelion clocks) that blow off in the wind to sow further dandelions.

I can remember a childhood game where we counted how many blows it took us to blow all the parachutes off and that would tell us the time!

I was out walking and saw an abundance of dandelions that had turned white. Some of the white downy parachutes lay on the path. The white parachutes against the green leaves was quite striking.