Plant Life in General 7 



part of man's environment that may promote or interfere 

 with his welfare. Of course plants do not grow, or flower, 

 or fruit for the sake of the animals and man. The processes 

 of plants are carried on and their structures developed solely 

 to meet their own needs. The goal of plant life is the de- 

 velopment of the individual and the production of young 

 for the continuance of the species. A plant is successful in 

 nature, therefore, (i) when it secures nourishment for its 

 complete development, and (2) when it produces offspring 

 and thus insures the reproduction of its kind. 



Plants as living things. It is important for the beginner in 

 the study of botany to realize that plants are living things. 

 Because animals walk, or fly, or swim about, we are accus- 

 tomed to think of movement as the necessary evidence of 

 life. To one who has given no thought to the subject, a tree 



FIG. 4. Rope-making scene in a Philippine village. Out of plant materials the Fili- 

 pinos make houses, mats, cloth, boats, and a great variety of household utensils. 



