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Lesson 74 Only A Weed
第74課 蒲公英
All through the summer, and during spring and autumn as well, our meadows and waste places are thickly dotted with the bright-yellow flowers of the common weed called the dandelion. And even throughout the winter the leaves of this hardy plant remain green. Let us dig up a dandelion, root and all, and examine it; for though it is only a weed, we can learn from it many things about the life of plants.
無論是春天、夏天還是秋天, 草地和荒原上總是鋪滿了一層明黃色的小花, 這種開著黃花的植物就是蒲公英。就算是到了冬季, 這種頑強植物的葉子依舊綠意盎然。讓我們連根拔起一株蒲公英, 仔細觀察。雖然它只是一種野草, 但我們還是可以從中了解到植物生活的許多細節。
The root is long, thick, and tapering, and it has many small fibres or rootlets growing from its sides and from the end. The root of a plant, as you already know, fixes the plant in the ground, and its fibres suck in food for the plant out of the soil. But the root of the dandelion does more than this: it stores up in its thick part much food for the use of the plant, to help it in producing its flowers and seeds.
蒲公英的根呈錐形, 又長又粗, 兩側與末端生長出很多細小的纖維或細根。你已經知道, 植物的根能將植物固定在土地中, 而根須則負責從土壤中吸收營養。然而, 蒲公英的根卻具備跟多功能：肥厚的根部能夠儲存食物, 以供自身消耗, 從而生長出花朵與種子。
The dandelion has no long stem or trunk, but from the top of the root a number of green leaves spread out and form a rosette. These leaves have broad points and very jagged edges. The side of each leaf looks a little like the jaw of a lion, and our name dandelion comes from the French name of this plant, which means "lion's tooth. "
蒲公英沒有長長的莖干, 不過在根的頂部卻生長出一些向外擴散的綠葉, 從而形成蓮座叢。這些葉子頂端較寬, 邊緣則呈鋸齒狀。從側面來看, 每一片葉子都好像獅子的下腭, 蒲公英的名字正是從這種植物的法語名稱而來, 意思就是“獅子的牙齒”。
These curious leaves are not flat. Their edges curve upwards, so that each leaf forms an open water-pipe. When rain falls, the leaves carry the refreshing water to the centre of the rosette, and pour it down among the roots. If you look at other plants, you will find many of them with leaves that gather the rain-water in this way and carry it to the roots.
這些形狀奇特的葉子并不是扁平形狀。它們的邊緣向上彎曲, 于是, 每一片葉子實際上就成了一個沒有封閉的水管。下雨時, 葉子就會將清新的雨水送到玫瑰結的中間, 然后再注入根里。觀察其他植物, 就會發現, 很多植物也都長有此類葉子, 并且通過這種方法把水分送到根部。
