PART I 



THE VEGETATIVE ORGANS 



CHAPTER I 

 THE GARDEN STOCK 



We will begin the study of plants by the examination of 

 a familiar example, in order (i) to discover its parts ; 

 (2) to compare the parts growing in the air with those in the 

 soil ; and (3) to notice how they are related one to the other, 

 and their uses to the plant. It is necessary to describe the 

 structures methodically and in suitable terms, and to 

 illustrate by means of sketches all the features we have 

 observed. 



The several forms of Stock which are commonly culti- 

 vated in our gardens are derived from plants growing wild 

 in the south of England, western Europe, the Mediterranean 

 region, and elsewhere. 1 Any of these will answer our 

 purpose, plants with single flowers being the best. One 

 of these is shown in Fig. I. 



Vegetative organs. Obtain a plant, examine it carefully, 

 and draw the parts you see. Two regions are at once 



1 The plants from which the chief garden Stocks have been 

 derived by cultivation and selection are known to botanists as 

 Matthiola incana, M. annua, and M. sinuata. Plants which have 

 come from one parent or one kind are said to belong to one species. 

 Thus the Queen Stock belongs to the species incana ; the Ten- 

 weeks' Stock belongs to the species annua. Both these, however, 

 agree in many important details of structure, and are therefore 

 grouped together under one genus, Matthiola. Each plant-name 

 thus consists of two words, a substantive or generic name, and 

 an adjective or specific name. The generic name, Matthiola, was 

 given to the Stock by Robert Brown, in honour of the Italian 

 botanist. Mattioli (1501-72). 



