PROBLEM 2. The Kiuds of Flants of the Earth 



87 



P'iG. 121 Each blosso?n in a head of clover is Fig. 122 The potato plant has ^vhite or pale 

 vot nnlike a pea blossom. To ivhat family does lavender flowers. But the farmer plants pieces 

 clover belong? (root) oj potato, not seeds, (blakiston) 



head that life is made easy for the bee 

 that dips its sucking tube into the nectar 

 bags. 



In the same family with the clovers 

 are the sweet peas with their showy 

 blossoms, as well as the more humdrum, 

 practical garden peas, and beans. Both 

 peas and beans produce large fruits, 

 which are the pods we know as vege- 

 tables. 



Another member of the family is al- 

 falfa (al-fal'fa), which means in Arabic, 

 the best fodder. Alfalfa is now grown 

 throughout our country. The family also 

 includes the decorative woodv climber. 

 Wisteria, and among the trees, the vQVf 

 useful black locust. 



Other families that furnish food — the 

 potato family. Th e, dicot ylgd on^ tha t is 

 now raised, perhaps more than any other, 

 to supply man with food is the potato. 

 You may have read how it was intro- 

 duced into Europe by the Spaniards and 

 by Sir Walter Raleigh. In the same family 



with the potato are tlie tomato, the pep- 

 per, the tobacco plant, and the poisonous 

 nightshades. 



The mustard family contains many 

 members that have been cultivated to 

 supply us wath "vegetables." The mus- 

 tard family usually has small blossoms 

 with four petals arranged in the form of 

 a cross. Among the plants of the mus- 

 tard family are some of the strong-tast- 

 ing vegetables: turnips, cabbages, cauli- 

 flower, brussels sprouts, and others. Of 

 course, the onion and the leek do not be- 

 long here; if you have ever looked at 

 their leaves, you know that they are 

 plants with parallel-veined leaves, mono- 

 cotyledons. 



The parsley family is another large, 

 well-known family. Most of its members 

 have deeply cut compound leaves, like 

 the table parsley, and tiny flowers 

 grouped together in a flat-topped cluster. 

 You may have seen the lacy wild car- 

 rot dotting the fields with white after 



