﻿INTRODUCTION 
  TO 
  BOTANY 
  

  

  CHAPTER 
  I 
  

   INTRODUCTORY 
  

  

  1. 
  Interest 
  in 
  plants. 
  All 
  people 
  are 
  in 
  some 
  way 
  interested 
  

   in 
  plants, 
  although 
  not 
  every 
  one 
  recognizes 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  this 
  

   interest. 
  We 
  all 
  live 
  largely 
  on 
  plants 
  or 
  plant 
  products, 
  and 
  

   most 
  of 
  the 
  world's 
  workers 
  earn 
  their 
  livelihood 
  by 
  some 
  

   kind 
  of 
  industry 
  which 
  deals 
  with 
  plants 
  or 
  with 
  their 
  prod- 
  

   ucts. 
  A 
  glance 
  at 
  the 
  food 
  on 
  any 
  well-furnished 
  table 
  will 
  

   suggest 
  to 
  what 
  an 
  extent 
  our 
  daily 
  bill 
  of 
  fare 
  consists 
  of 
  

   vegetable 
  substances. 
  Our 
  animal 
  foods 
  -- 
  meat, 
  milk, 
  eggs, 
  

   fish, 
  and 
  the 
  rest 
  - 
  - 
  are 
  only 
  plant 
  foods 
  transformed 
  more 
  

   or 
  less 
  directly 
  into 
  animal 
  tissues 
  or 
  animal 
  secretions. 
  Our 
  

   spices 
  and 
  flavors 
  and 
  most 
  of 
  our 
  medicines 
  are 
  plant 
  sub- 
  

   stances 
  or 
  extracts. 
  Part 
  of 
  our 
  clothing 
  is 
  made 
  from 
  plant 
  

   material. 
  Our 
  houses 
  are 
  often 
  almost 
  wholly 
  constructed 
  

   from 
  timber, 
  the 
  furnishings 
  are 
  made 
  from 
  timber, 
  and 
  a 
  

   home 
  is 
  scarcely 
  complete 
  without 
  some 
  growing 
  plants, 
  

   which 
  assist 
  in 
  decorating 
  the 
  house 
  and 
  in 
  giving 
  pleasure 
  

   to 
  the 
  occupants. 
  

  

  How 
  raw 
  materials 
  derived 
  from 
  plants 
  underlie 
  most 
  of 
  

   the 
  world's 
  great 
  industries 
  cannot 
  adequately 
  be 
  shown 
  in 
  a 
  

   single 
  paragraph. 
  It 
  is 
  quite 
  evident 
  that 
  the 
  farmer, 
  the 
  

   gardener, 
  the 
  lumberman, 
  the 
  carpenter, 
  the 
  paper-maker, 
  the 
  

   cotton 
  manufacturer, 
  and 
  the 
  sail-maker 
  are 
  dealing 
  with 
  

   plants 
  or 
  with 
  materials 
  that 
  are 
  derived 
  from 
  them, 
  but 
  the 
  

   multitudes 
  of 
  workers 
  who 
  make 
  their 
  living 
  by 
  sinking 
  and 
  

   operating 
  oil 
  wells, 
  by 
  refining 
  petroleum, 
  by 
  mining 
  and 
  

  

  