PLANTS, CLASSIFICATION OF. 376 PLANTS, CLASSIFICATION OF. 



character and permanence of the stem, the 

 stem being annual (Latin, annuus, yearly, 

 from annus, a year), biennal (Latin, bien- 

 nis, lasting for two years, from bis, twice, 

 annus, a year), or perennial (Latin, peren- 

 nis, that lasts from year to year, from per, 

 through, annus, a year) that is to say, 

 lasting for a year, for two years, or for 

 more than two years. Thus, in an annual, 

 the plant is raised from seed sown in the 

 spring, or at the earliest, in the winter 

 preceding the spring, in which it appears 

 above ground, the stem attaining its fullest 

 development in the summer, when the 

 blossom appears and the seed is subse- 

 quently produced and ripened. When the 

 seed is ripe the functions of roots and stem 

 are performed, and the plant dies, to be 

 reproduced from the seed that it has 

 yielded. The various cereals, many vege- 

 tables, and all the flowers popularly termed 

 annuals, are examples of this class. 



A biennial lives for two years. The seed 

 from which it is raised is sown in the 

 spring, and during the first year of its 

 existence the plant produces leaves, and 

 in some cases develops a fleshy tuberous 

 quasi root, which, though usually called 

 by this name, is not the actual root or 

 roots by which the plant derives nourish 

 ment from the soil. In the second year 

 as spring is ripening into summer, the 

 plant sends up a strong stout stalk, which 

 blossoms and yields seed. When the seed 

 is ripe, the work of the root and stem is 

 done, and the plant perishes. Parsley 

 the carrot, parsnip, and beetroot are ex 

 amples of this class. 



Perennials differ fro annuals and bien 

 nials in length of duration. They do no 

 exist for ever, but their life as plants i 

 more than two years, to say the least of it 

 and in some cases has endured for hundred 

 ol years, as is proved by tradition, and tb 

 venerable aspect of the plants that hav< 

 witnessed the birth and death of so man> 



enerations of men, and have outlived and 

 utlasted even the youngest and latest, 

 bnong such may be named many ancient 

 iaks and forest trees in various parts of the 

 orld, the vine at Hampton Court, and 

 he still more wonderful rose-tree at Hilder- 

 heim, in Germany, which still yields its fra- 

 jrant flowers in rich abundance, is guarded 

 with vigilant care to prevent its propagation, 

 nd has attained an age, it is said, of up- 

 wards of eight hundred years. All peren- 

 nials are not so long lived; they will last a 

 ew years, some dying down to the ground 

 and sending up fresh stems yearly, and 

 others retaining their stems and branches, 

 and shedding their leaves at autumn time, 

 or from time to time gradually and almost 

 mperceptibly, as evergreens ; but many 

 show deterioration in every way as they 

 advance in age, and ultimately perish or 

 are rooted up to make room for plants of 

 a similar kind in the full strength and 

 vigour of a lusty youth. 



Advantage has been taken of the varying 

 character of perennial plants to classify 

 them in accordance with their habit of 

 growth and appearance. Thus, plants 

 whose stems are soft and succulent, and 

 contain but little woody fibre, and die 

 down to the roots annually to spring up 

 again next year from buds formed at the 

 base of the perished stems, are called 

 herbaceous plants, because their stems par- 

 take more of the nature of grass, the 

 Latin term for grass being herba. The 

 lychnis, the phloxes, some of the delphi- 

 niums or larkspurs, and the Michaelmas 

 daisy, are examples of herbaceous plants. 

 Trees, on the contrary, whose stems are 

 composed of hard woody fibre, are classi- 

 fied as ligneous plants, from the Latin 

 lignum, wood. Shrubs are ligneous 

 plants, by reason of the hardness and 

 toughness of their stems, although they 

 differ widely in height and dimensions from 

 trees properly so called, varying in altitude 



