WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS 



DISTRIBUTION INTO FAMILIES AND GENERA. 



By means of the following analytical arrangement, the name 

 and the place in the volume of any plant described, may he 

 readily found. Each line is a question to be asked in regard 

 to the plant whose description is sought. In case of an affirm- 

 ative answer, the reader is referred by the Arabic number at 

 the end of the line to the next question, which will be indicated 

 by the same number at the beginning of a line. By pursuing 

 this course, he will be finally referred to the place of the family 

 and genus where the description is given. The Roman num- 

 bers refer to the family ; the Arabic numbers which follow the 

 Roman, refer to the genus under that family. 



A few words of explanation are necessary to enable the reader 

 to understand the arrangement of the table and the language 

 used in reference to the flower and fruit. 



A complete flower, the apple blossom, for example, is composed 

 of, 1, an empalement or calyx of one or several leaves, called 

 sepals of the calyx; 2, within these, of the flower leaves or petals 

 of the corolla, usually colored of some other color than green ; 3, 

 of one or more stamens, thread-like, crowned by anthers which 

 contain the fertilizing dust or pollen ; and 4, in the centre of the 

 flower, of one or more pistils, which are made up of the ovary 

 or vessel containing the ovules or future seeds, surmounted by a 

 stigma, which is often supported by a slender column called a 

 style. A perfect flower is one which contains both stamens and 

 pistils. 



The matured ovary, with the seed or seeds which it contains, 

 is called the fruit. A stone fruit with a fleshy covering, like the 

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