pappus

noun pl. pap′pi′-ī′

Bot. a group or tuft of prongs, bristles, scales, or simple or branched hairs, as on the achenes of the dandelion, forming the modified calyx of the composite and certain other families and serving in the dispersal of the fruit

Etymology: ModL < L < Gr pappos, old man, grandfather (see papa), hence substance resembling gray hairs