8 THE STUDY OF PLANTS 



to group the two families together into the beech order or 

 Fagoks. Similarly the Pinacew and another family resem- 

 bling these cone-bearing plants form together the conifers, 

 pine order, or Coniferales.^ 



All plants which agree with the Coniferales in having no 

 cases to contain their ripening seeds are grouped to form the 

 naked-seedworts or Class Gijmnospermce;- while all the orders 

 which develop their seeds in closed cases comprise the case- 

 seedworts or Class Angiospermce.^ Both together include 

 all flowering and seed-producing plants, and so constitute 

 the flowering plants, seed-plants, seedworts, or Division 

 Spermatophyta,^ which together with the various divisions 

 of flowerless plants make up the vegetable kingdom or King- 

 dom Vegetahilia. 



From what has been said it is evident that even if we do 

 not know the name of a plant much of importance maj' be 

 told about it if we know the family to w^hich it belongs, and 

 quite a little if we know only its order or class. Regarding 

 any plant the question, What is it? calls for much the same 

 sort of answer as when we wish to identifj^ a soldier. As 

 with the latter we need to know the army, corps, brigade, 

 regiment, battalion, and company to enable us to place him 

 with militar}" precision, so with the former to know its divi- 

 sion, class, order, family, genus, species, and variety tells 

 botanically its place in the vegetable kingdom. In knowing 

 the position of a plant, however, there is this additional ad- 

 vantage that as resemblances and differences are expressed 

 in the botanical groups to a much greater extent than in the 

 military sul)divisions we are just so much better informed 

 regarding the true nature and peculiarities of the plant. 



13. The departments of botany. The peculiarities con- 

 sidered in classifying plants are chieflj^ such as concern the 

 form, construction, and arrangement of parts. An under- 

 standing of botanical classification means, therefore, a knowl- 



^ The termination rz/cx in later botanical usage indicate.s the rank of 

 order, but until recently has been used indiscriminately for various 

 ranks. 



- Gym"no-sper'ina' -< (ir. gymnos, naked; spcrinn, seed. 



' An"gi-o-sper'm;e < Cir. angion, a case. 



* Sper'ma-toph"y-tu < Gr. phyton, a plant. 



