General Botany 



Fig. 3. Primitive peoples in the tropics are depemknl upon i)lants even more than are 

 civilized races. Most of their foods are from plant sources, and their houses, mats, cloth, 

 boats, ropes, and household utensils are made almost wholly of plant materials. 



and important. Cities, towns, and individuals are expending 

 millions of dollars every year in beautifying parks, boulevards, 

 and residences with artistic groupings of trees, shrubs, and flower- 

 ing plants. 



Similarity of plants and animals. We have a further interest 

 in plants in that they form one of the two great divisions of Uving 

 things. They differ from animals in many particulars and to 

 such an extent superficially that the largest and more complex 

 forms are not only readily distinguished but are commonly 

 thought of as being quite unrelated. It is difficult for those who 

 have not been students of plant Hfe to realize how similar the Kfe 

 processes of plants and animals are. 



Nevertheless, they have many points of similarity. Both 

 plants and animals use food as a source of building material and 

 energy, and the foods are essentially the same. Both plants and 

 animals use oxygen in respiration, and give off carbon dioxide. 



