SECTION 19.] SIGNS AND ABBBEVIATIONS. 189 



marked with a prefixed +- ; those under this head with -M- ; and those, 

 under this with =, if there be so many grades. A similar notation is fol- 

 lowed in the synopsis of the genera of an order. 



578. The interrogation point is used in botany to indicate doubt. Thus 

 Clematis crispa, L. ? expresses a doubt whether the plant in question is 

 really the Clematis crispa of Linna3us. Clematis ? polypetala expresses 

 a doubt whether the plant so named is really a Clematis. On the other 

 hand the exclamation point (!) is used to denote certainty whenever there 

 is special need to affirm this. 



579. Tor size or height, the common signs of degrees, minutes, and 

 seconds, have been used, thus, 1, 2', 3", stand respectively for a foot, 

 two inches, and three lines or twelfths of an inch. A better way, when 

 such brevity is needed, is to write l ft . 2 ta . 3 1 . 



580. Signs for duration used by Linnseus were Q for an annual, $ for 

 a biennial, 2 for a perennial herb, 5 f r a shrub or tree. DeCandolle 

 brought in for a plant that died after once flowering, (l) if annual, 

 if biennial. 



581. To indicate sexes, 5 means staminate or male plant or blossom; 

 9 , pistillate or female ; g , perfect or hermaphrodite. 



582. To save room it is not uncommon to use oo in pi ace of "many;" thus, 

 " Stamens oo," for stamens indefinitely numerous : "co flora " for pluriflora 

 or many-flowered. Still more common is the form " Stamens 5-20," or 

 " Calyx 4-5-parted," for stamens from five to twenty, calyx four-parted or 

 five-parted, and the like. Such abbreviations hardly need explanation. 



583. The same may be said of such abbreviations as Cat. for calyx, 

 Cor. for corolla, Pet. for petals, St. for stamens, Pist. for pistil, Had. for 

 habitat, meaning place of growth, Herb, for herbarium, Hort. for garden. 

 Also L c., loco citato, which avoids repetition of volume and page. 



584. "Structural Botany" has six pages of abbreviations of the names 

 of botanists, mostly of botanical authors. As they are not of much 

 consequence to the beginner, while the more advanced botanist will know 

 the names in full, or know where to find them, only a selection is here 

 appended* 



