--- title: Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, nettles, daisies, clover and plantain — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, nettles, daisies, clover and plantain», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: A weed is not a kind of plant; it is a plant growing where somebody does not want it. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, net… # Weeds and wildflowers: dandelions, nettles, daisies, clover and plantain Lesson 340 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 16 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/0/) — A weed is not a kind of plant; it is a plant growing where somebody does not want it. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/1/) — The same dandelion is a weed on Dad's lawn and a feast for the first bees of spring. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/2/) — Run through the long grass in shorts and the nettles bite back: their hairs are tiny brittle needles that snap and push stinging chemicals into your skin. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/3/) — Then you spot black spiky caterpillars on those same nettles, the babies of peacock and red admiral butterflies. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/4/) — Children play with wildflowers everywhere: blowing a dandelion clock to «tell the time», holding a buttercup under a chin to see who likes butter, firing plantain heads like little guns, and hunting for a lucky four-leaf clover. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/5/) — Most of these games prove nothing, but the plants behind them are clever: parachute seeds, shiny petals, stings for defence, and roots that make their own fertiliser from the air. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/6/) — Each dandelion seed hangs from a tiny parachute, a dandelion clock holds about 150 to 200 seeds, and blowing it does not tell the time. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/7/) — The name dandelion comes from French words meaning «lion's tooth», because the leaves have jagged teeth, and dandelion flowers close at night and in rain. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/8/) — Nettle hairs are tiny brittle needles that break and push chemicals into the skin; the sting fades in a few hours, and rubbing with dock leaves may help a little, but there is little proof. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/9/) — Peacock and red admiral caterpillars eat nettles, so a nettle patch helps butterflies, and young nettles can be cooked into soup and lose their sting. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/10/) — A daisy is not one flower but hundreds of tiny flowers packed together; its name comes from «day's eye» because it opens in the day, and it grows low so mowers miss it. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/11/) — Clover leaves usually have three leaflets, and four-leaf clovers are rare, about one in many thousands, though some people find many by looking hard. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/12/) — Clover roots have tiny lumps full of helpful bacteria that make natural fertiliser from the air, so farmers grow clover to feed the soil. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/13/) — Ribwort plantain stems can be looped to flick their heads like little guns, and in Ukraine people put plantain leaves on cuts, but a cut is best cleaned with water and covered with a plaster. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/14/) — A weed is just a plant growing where people do not want it; many weeds feed bees and other insects, and dandelions are among the first food for bees in spring. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/340-weeds-and-wildflowers-dandelions-nettles-daisies-clover-and-plantain/15/) — A buttercup held under the chin makes a yellow glow because a shiny layer in its petals reflects light; everyone's chin glows, so it proves nothing about liking butter. - ← previous: [Park trees: telling oaks, maples, chestnuts, birches, limes and willows apart](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/339-park-trees-telling-oaks-maples-chestnuts-birches-limes-and-willows-apart/) - next →: [Where milk comes from: cow to carton, cheese, butter and yoghurt](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/341-where-milk-comes-from-cow-to-carton-cheese-butter-and-yoghurt/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)