CHAPTER XXI 

 KNOWING THE FLOWERS BY NAME 



EVERY little while you hear this remark : "I never 

 can remember the names of flowers." Change 

 "can" to "do" and it would be nearer to the truth. 

 Many do not remember the names of flowers, that 

 is lamentably apparent; but anyone can remember 

 them, if sufficiently interested. It is only a ques- 

 tion of training the mind, consciously or uncon- 

 sciously. 



The memory will be helped a great deal if the 

 striking similarity of the rules of naming flowers 

 and civilized human beings is grasped clearly. In 

 the botanical world the natural orders are divided 

 into genera. Each genus or family has a name, 

 which corresponds exactly to the surname of a man 

 or woman. But the generic name always comes 

 first, a plan which has much in its favor. A genus, 

 in turn, is divided into species. This necessitates 

 a Christian name, so to speak; in botany it is called 

 specific. Usually there is only one specific name; 

 but, as with the human race, there may be another 

 that is still more specific. Thus, to make the cor- 

 respondence clearer: 



