2 SUPPLEMENT. 



oven distinguish certain s})ecie.s, as the white oak, the red oak, or the 

 black jack. On the other hand, comparatively few of those unlearned 

 in botany would know that the oak, the chestnut and the beech are 

 menil^ers of the same family. 



The aim of the present work is, therefore, to present an account 

 of the families of flowering plants, giving a brief popular description 

 of the characters of each, an outline of the geographical distribution, 

 and a statement of the economic, ornamental or medicinal uses wher- 

 ever these are important. As far as possible, some familiar generic 

 type will be selected for illustration in each family. 



CHAPTER I. 



Ge/ii lutl ( 'l(ts.\tp'cat/(ni. 



'I'he flowering ])lants form a subkingdom known to botanists by 

 various designations. The terms at |)resent generally accepted in this 

 coimtry is Spermatophyta, which is derived from tw(> (ireek words 

 signifying seed and plants, in allusion to the fact that they bear seed 

 ralher than spores. Recent histological researches have demonstrated, 

 however, that there is a distinct homology l^etween the reproductive 

 ovgans of the lower groups in the vegetable kingdom and those of the 

 tlijwering plants, so that the word seed as contrasted with spore is a 

 term of greater convenience than scientific accuracy. Another name 

 for the flowering plants, which will be found in most of the older 

 manuals, is Phanerogamia, a word also of Greek construction, signify- 

 ing visible reproduction, in allusion to the fact that the latter process 

 is efi'ected by distinct floral organs. The modern German systematists 

 have adopted a compound term Embryophyta Siphonogama, which sig- 

 nifies plants developed from an embryo and accomplishing fertilization 

 by means of a pollen tube which sprouts from the pollen grain. For 

 detailed explanations of the reproductive process in plants the reader 

 is referred to the various standard text books on vegetable morphology 

 and physiology; but in order that certain distinctions in classification 

 may be more clearly brought out, it is necessary at this point to give 

 a few definitions of the essential organs involved. 



Sexual reproduction in plants is effected by the union of male and 

 female elements contained in distinct organs known as sporcphylls. 

 The male sporophyll bears microsporanges containing numerous mi- 



