LESSON 31.] HOW TO STUDY PLANTS. 187 



Genera " which follows is similar to, but more technical than that of 

 the other, more elementary book ; and the names of the tribes or 

 natural groups of genera (507) are inserted. The steps of analysis 

 bring the student to the Tribe III. RANUNCULE^;, and under it to 

 the genus RANUNCULUS. The number prefixed to the name enables 

 the student to turn forward and find the genus, p. 40. The name, 

 scientific and popular, is here followed by a full generic character 

 (520). The primary sections here have names : the plant under 

 examination belongs to " 2. RANUNCULUS proper " ; and thence 

 is to be traced, through the subdivisions *, *- -K- - * , -n- ++, to 

 the ultimate subdivision b., under which, through a comparison of 

 characters, the student reaches the species R. BULBOSUS, L. 



540. The L. at the end of the name is the recognized abbrevia- 

 tion of the name of Linnaeus, the botanist who gave it. Then come 

 the common or English names ; then the specific character ; after this, 

 the station where the plant grows, and the region in which it occurs. 

 This is followed by the time of blossoming (from May to July); 

 and then by some general descriptive remarks. The expression 

 " Nat. from Eu." means that the species is a naturalized emigrant 

 from Europe, and is not original to this country. But all these 

 details are duly explained in the Preface to the Manual, which the 

 student who uses that work will need to study. 



LESSON XXXI. 



HOW TO STUDY PLANTS! FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS. 



541. BEGINNERS should not be discouraged by the slow progress 

 they must needs make in the first trials. By perseverance the vari- 

 ous difficulties will soon be overcome, and each successful analysis 

 will facilitate the next. Not only will a second species of the same 

 genus be known at a glance, but commonly a second genus of the 

 same order will be recognized as a relative at sight, by the family 

 likeness. Or if the family likeness is not detected at the first view, 

 it will be seen as the characters of the plant are studied out. 



542. To help on the student by a second example, we will take 

 the common cultivated Flax. Turning to the lyey, as before, en 



