PREFACE 



our common weeds have a chapter to themselves. The aim 

 is to awaken interest in common plants, and to invest them 

 with new meaning. Pond-scums, mould and toad-stools 

 are included among these familiar plants, and sea-mosses, 

 lichens and ferns are believed to be as attractive as flower- 

 ing plants. Much concerning the lives and habits of these 

 lower plants can be learned without a microscope, but the 

 results of microscopic study of these and of higher plants 

 are not ignored in the Reader. 



The book attempts to introduce children to a wide cir- 

 cle of plants. Entire, living plants are considered, and 

 leading facts concerning their physiology and their rela- 

 tions to their environment are pointed out. A detailed 

 study of the structure of plant fragments is not suggested. 

 The value of rigorous laboratory training to mature minds 

 is undeniable, but experience seems to prove that the meth- 

 ods of a college laboratory are not suited to children. In 

 plant study children can be led to see and seek and think 

 for themselves, but their natural interest is in salient fea- 

 tures not in minute details, and their curiosity is concerning 

 uses, not structure. 



In California, parents and teachers who would gladly 

 undertake rational plant study with their children, are con- 

 fronted by our peculiar climatic conditions, which render 

 the courses of study and the plant literature of other regions 

 ill adapted to our needs. It is in response to many expres- 

 sions of need for some literature of our own in this line, 

 that this book has been undertaken. It records observa- 

 tions made during ten years of much out of door life in 

 Southern California. They are offered, not for the sake of 

 any definite results obtained, but for the purpose of stimu- 

 lating like observations and for comparison. Much auxil- 

 iary matter, directions, definitions, physiological facts and 

 theories, and the like, must accompany observation work 

 to render it intelligible. In school work this matter must 



