THE ORGANIZATION OF THE PLANT 91 



clover, white clover, yellow clover, and many other clover 

 species belong to the clover genus, and all have a common 

 resemblance in leaf, flower, and fruit. Going beyond the 

 clovers, however, one finds many other plants whose general 

 appearance suggests a relationship to them. Among these are 

 beans, peas, alfalfa, vetch, locust, cowpeas, and soy beans. 

 These differ enough to be put in different genera, but all are 

 included with the clovers in a larger group called & family, 

 which holds the same relation to genera as the genera them- 

 selves hold to species. The family to which the clovers and 

 their allies belong is the Leguminosse, or legume family. There 

 are more than two hundred of these families, each composed 

 of many genera and species. In a similar way families are 

 grouped in orders. The legumes are placed with the rose- 

 worts and various others in the order Resales. 



The species themselves, though called groups of like indi- 

 viduals, constantly exhibit minor differences that may be 

 brought out by selection or by modifying the surroundings 

 of the plant. The radish is a species, but cultivation has made 

 many forms of it. Such forms the gardener calls varieties, but 

 the botanist calls them elementary species. The cultivated 

 cabbage has produced several striking elementary species or 

 varieties, among which are included kale, collards, cauliflower, 

 Brussels sprouts, and kohl-rabi. 



Scientific names. Scientists have given each species of ani- 

 mal and plant a scientific name to facilitate handling it in 

 literature, correspondence, and conversation. These names 

 have usually been taken from the Latin or Greek and have 

 the merit of being the same the world over an obvious ad- 

 vantage when the common or popular name may change from 

 one locality to another and is rarely the same in the tongues 

 of different nations. In speaking to our neighbors we may 

 use the common name only, but in dealing with strangers it 

 may often be necessary to use the scientific name to avoid 



