8 THE STUDY OF PLANTS 
to group the two families together into the beech order or 
Fagales. Similarly the Pinacee and another family resem- 
bling these cone-bearing plants form together the conifers, 
pine order, or Coniferales.* | 
All plants which agree with the Conzferales in having no — 
cases to contain their ripening seeds are grouped to form the 
naked-seedworts or Class Gymnosperme;? while all the orders 
which develop their seeds in closed cases comprise the case- 
seedworts or Class Angiosperme. Both together include 
all flowering and seed-producing plants, and so constitute 
the flowering plants, seed-plants, seedworts, or Division 
Spermatophyta, which together with the various divisions 
of flowerless plants make up the vegetable kingdom or King- 
dom Vegetabilia. 
From what has been said it is evident that even if we do 
not know the name of a plant much of importance may be 
told about it if we know the family to which it belongs, and 
quite a little if we know only its order or class. Regarding 
any plant the question, What is it? calls for much the same 
sort of answer as when we wish to identify a soldier. As 
with the latter we need to know the army, corps, brigade, 
regiment, battalion, and company to enable us to place him 
with military precision, so with the former to know its divi- 
sion, class, order, family, genus, species, and variety tells 
botanically its place in the vegetable kingdom. In knowing 
the position of a plant, however, there is this additional ad- 
vantage that as resemblances and differences are expressed 
in the botanical groups to a much greater extent than in the 
military subdivisions we are just so much better informed 
regarding the true nature and peculiarities of the plant. 
13. The departments of botany. The peculiarities con- 
sidered in classifying plants are chiefly such as concern the 
form, construction, and arrangement of parts. An under- 
standing of botanical classification means, therefore, a knowl- 
1'The termination ales in later botanical usage indicates the rank of 
eee but until recently has been used indiscriminately for various 
oe net ia tues ae < Gr. gymnos, naked; sperma, seed, 
3 An’’gi-o-sper’mee < Gr. angion, a case. 
4 Sper’ma-toph’’y-ta << Gr. phyton, a plant, 
