2 SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



Specific Names are adjectives corresponding to the first parts of com- 

 mon names. They are usually descriptive of some characteristic of the 

 plant, as Gilia liniflora, Flax-flowered Gilia. Frequently a species is 

 named for the discoverer, as Gilia Bolanderi, Bolander's Gilia; often for the 

 country where it v»i<i(S first found, or where it abounds, as Ranunculus Cali- 

 fornicus, California Buttercup. Sometimes there are varieties of a species 

 as Trifolium barbigerum, Var. Andrewsii, Andrews' Bearded-Clover. 



Orders and Classes. Genera are grouped in Orders or Families, 

 and these in Classes. There are two classes of flowering plants, Exogens 

 and Endogens. 



ANALYSIS OF PLANTS. 



This whole matter of naming and classifying can be well under- 

 stood only after you have analyzed many plants; i. e., you must have 

 carefully examined them part by part, and patiently compared their pecul- 

 iarities with the descriptions in the Flora until you have determined 

 their names. In the beginning there will be many failures; but do not 

 allow them to discourage you, for each victory will make the way easier 

 to other conquests. 



Choose for your first studies plants with large flowers. Do not 

 attempt to determine the name of a plant unless you have specimens 

 which show the kind of inflorescence and the arrangement of the leaves 

 on the stem. If possible, secure specimens of the fruit and the roots. 

 If in any plant you cannot readily distinguish the parts of the flower and 

 their relations to each other, lay it aside until the study of easier plants 

 has given you more skill. 



The first thing to be determined in analyzing a plant is the Class; 

 i. e., you must decide whether it is an Exogen or an Endogen. You have 

 learned in the preceding lessons how the seeds and stems of these two 

 Classes of Flowering Plants dififer. Usually, however, the leaves and 

 flowers sufficiently distinguish the class. In our plants, if the leaves are 

 parallel-veined; or, if the parts of the flower are in threes the plant is an 

 endogen. In other words, if there is no network of intersecting fibers 

 between the ribs of the leaves the plant is an endogen; if the flower has 



