86 



The Living Things of the Earth unit i 



I'k;. 1 19 Tl?e i^ild rose. Hoiv does it differ froiii 

 all the many cultivated roses that you have 

 seen? (Brooklyn botanic garuen) 



at least one member of each of four 

 prominent tree families. 



Another family that many of you will 

 know includes the \\ illows and the pop- 

 lars. You often see willows lined up along 

 the banks of streams. In dry, otherwise 

 treeless regions, a group of poplars al- 

 ways is a sign of water trickling through 

 the soil. Their wood is unusually soft 

 for hardwood trees and is therefore 

 much used for paper making. 



All these trees bear flowers although 

 the flowers of many of them are so small 

 that you might not recognize them as 

 flowers. 



The rose family. There are some fam- 

 ilies rhar coiiraiii species ranging in size 

 all the wav from a small, soft-stemmed 

 herb to a gootlsizctl shrub or tree. They 

 are grouped together in one family 

 largcl\ because of their similar flowers. 

 'I'he rose family, for example, includes, 

 among man\- other plants, the trees that 

 bear pears, peaches, plums, or apples; 



Fig. 120 Strawberry blossoms. Can you see ivhy 

 strawberries and roses are placed in the sa7ne 

 fainily? (hugh spencer) 



it includes also the shrubs that produce 

 raspberries and blackberries, the bushes 

 which bear roses, and the still smaller 

 strawberry plant. You may not be able 

 to obtain a blossom of this family for 

 study at this time. But you might wish 

 to study some other flower to learn its 

 parts. See Exercise 9. In some species of 

 the rose family the flower is small, in 

 others it is large and showy, but on close 

 examination you would see that all the 

 blossoms are similar and most of them are 

 rich in nectm\ the sweet liquid that can 

 be changed into honey by bees. Farmers 

 sometimes place beehives in apple, plum, 

 or peach orchards in order to get a 

 better fruit crop. You will read later 

 how in obtaining nectar and pollen the 

 bees help to make good fruit. 



The clovers and their relatives. Some 

 of the plants in this famih' are also 

 sweet-scentctl; and some form edible 

 fruits. The clovers have blossoms that 

 are small, l)ut gathered so closely into a 



