THE SPRING FLORA 167 



a. Is the wood porous or dense ? ring porous (with pores 



in the spring wood) or diffuse porous (with pores in 

 both spring and summer wood) ? Is the wood hard or 

 soft ? Do you think it would be commercially valua- 

 ble ? Draw. See drawings of the poplar for a model. 



b. Commercial importance. Find out if possible the com- 



mercial importance of the wood in the species being 

 studied. See figures and discussions in the text on 

 the above points. 



5. Distinctive recognition characters. What distinctive char- 



acters would enable you to recognize the tree you are 

 studying in the field ? Are there distinctive characters 

 of the species other than gross external ones ? Summarize 

 the distinctive characters under the record of results. 



6. Analysis. Analyze the species, to determine the family 



to which it belongs and the scientific and common 

 species names. Record the family, genus, and species 

 on the Species Record. 



B. HERBACEOUS DICOTYLEDONS 

 A METHOD OF RECORDING FIELD OBSERVATIONS 



The method submitted below of recording field observations 

 for herbaceous plants is similar to that indicated for trees 

 and shrubs. The plan may be followed for a part of the field 

 work if desired, until the student is familiar with methods of 

 observing and recording results. It should not be carried to 

 the point of becoming mechanical. After the first detailed 

 studies have been recorded on the Species Record form, teachers 

 may prefer to use the Family Record exclusively. Loose-leaf 

 sheets for species and family records are convenient and are 

 used by the author in field work. These can be printed by a 

 local printer from the outlines in these exercises. 



