EXAMINATION OF FLOWERS. 



THE examination (sometimes improperly called the analy- 

 sis) of the flower, is a matter of much consequence to the 

 student, as well as to the practical botanist, as on this de- 

 pends the classification, as well as the determination, of the 

 name of the species. In all perishable flowers, the exami- 

 nation should be commenced as soon as possible after the 

 flower is taken from the stalk ; otherwise, where the organs 

 of reproduction are minute, the difficulty of distinguishing 

 the parts will be increased by wilting or drying. A pocket 

 magnifying glass ought always to be taken into the field 

 with the student. The student will find, at page 103, and 

 onward, a full account of the methods of examining flowers 

 of the different classes, for the purpose of determining their 

 genera, orders, and classes, and to this, with what follows, 

 we must refer him for all that is necessary on this subject. 



PRACTICAL BOTANY 



THE following pages contain short descriptions of the most 

 common indigenous plants in the Northern and Western 

 States. It is an abstract, inserted here by the kind permis- 

 sion of the author, from Dr. Torrey's Botany of the Northern 

 and Western States. 



For its employment in the field, it is necessary, first, to 

 learn to distinguish the different parts of the flowers, as the 

 calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistils, and the other parts, as the 

 inflorescence, as described and figured at page 54, and onward. 

 Also review carefully the " Explanations of the Linnaean Sys- 

 tem," page 100, and the "Examination of the Flowers," as 

 above noted, at page 103. 



Having mastered these preliminaries, the solitary student, 

 book in hand, will, it is hoped, soon find himself able to dis- 

 tinguish the species described in this treatise, and conse- 

 quently to ascertain their names. 



