INTRODUCTION xiii 



Populus, Orchis, Ophrys, Juncus, Potamogeton, Scirpus, Carex, Alopecurus, Poa, 

 Festuca, Lolium, Agropyron. 



One of the greatest cruxes the beginner has to face in studying British plants is 

 how to name his specimens. Identification, in a word, is a great bugbear to many 

 a young student. As a matter of fact, a good deal of preliminary botanical work 

 is required before identification should be attempted. Unfortunately this is hardly 

 realized by nine out of ten whose ambition it is to acquire a knowledge of the 

 British Flora. Consequently the accomplishment of this ideal spreads itself over 

 a far longer period than if a solid basis of botanical knowledge had been gained 

 beforehand. Probably very few British botanists have been able to acquire an 

 intimate knowledge of the flora without a ten years' acquaintance with plants in the 

 field or otherwise. But this fact should not deter anyone. 



It seems to the author that the following plan of study is essential to a proper 

 knowledge of British plants, though there is no royal road to success, and what 

 applies in one case may not in another. 



In the first place, every aspiring systematic botanist should make himself 

 master of a general knowledge of botany. For this purpose he can attend classes 

 or receive help from a special tutor in the subject. Except in a science course, 

 either at school or college, botany is not taught; and the grown-up person who 

 would be a botanist, especially if resident in the country, is somewhat at a dis- 

 advantage. For unaided study the only method is to obtain the best textbooks, 

 and to follow out the work gradually, doing as much practical work as possible, 

 and experimenting as often as the call arises. 



An elementary textbook may be chosen to begin with, such as Evans's Botany 

 for Beginners. Botany is divided into : 



Morphology, the study of form and structure of organs (which includes anatomy, 

 dealing with gross, and histology, dealing with minute structure). 



Physiology, dealing with the function of organs and their relation to form and 

 structure; and especially with the activities of the plant, such as nutrition, move- 

 ment, growth, and reproduction. 



Classification (taxonomy, systematic botany), or the study of the relationship of 

 plants, their arrangement or order. 



Other branches are Ecology, the study of the habitat of the plant and its life- 

 history; geographical economic botany, diseases of plants, &C. 1 



As a matter of fact, a special knowledge of morphology is required. Each set 

 of main organs should be carefully studied as root, stem, leaves, flowers, fruit, and 

 seeds, especially the last three. The terms applied to the different types of each 

 should be learnt by means of actual examples or specimens where possible. The 

 relation of one part to the other should be studied, also the order of development, 

 mode of insertion, cohesion, &c. 



Floral structure is perhaps the most important, and with this study should be 

 combined some knowlege of the physiology of pollination and fertilization, and in 

 the case of fruits and seeds of maturation, in order properly to understand the form 

 of the flower, and the nature of the ovule and its structure, and development, as 

 also that of the seed. For upon the character of flower, fruit, and seed the most 

 important distinctions applied in classification, whether of orders, genera, or species, 

 are based. 



Supplementary to the foregoing, but really part of their subject-matter, is the 

 study of a glossary or the terminology used in botany for the description of parts, 

 whether in general or as applied to special parts. No glossary should be learnt 

 1 For more advanced textbooks, see Bibliography. 



