278 THE KINDS OF PLANTS 



be known accurately until the plant is known. The name 

 and the plant should be indissolnbly associated in the 

 mind. Study first the plant. If one does not know the 

 plant there is no occasion for knowing its name. 



Learn first to classify plants : names will follow. Look 

 for resemblances, and group the plants around some well- 

 known kind. Look for sunflower -like, lily -like, rose -like, 

 mint-like, mustard-like, pea-like, carrot-like plants. These 

 great groups are families. The families of plants are bet- 

 ter recognized by studying a few representative plants than 

 by memorizing technical descriptions. Go to the botany 

 and use the keys in these families, in order to run the 

 plant down to its genus and species. If the family is not 

 recognized, use the key to find the family. Use the keys 

 at first: gradually discard them. When one looks for 

 relationships, the vegetable kingdom comes to have con- 

 tinuity and meaning. Merely to know names of plants 

 here and there is of little use. 



It is unwise for the beginner to try first to find the name 

 of any plant. Let him first examine familiar plants or those 

 which seem to be related to other plants which he knows. 

 Let him get in mind the bold characteristics of the families 

 which are most dominant in his locality. Names are secon- 

 dary and incidental. After a time, in case of each new 

 plant, he should be able to give a shrewd guess as to its 

 family; then he may go to the book to verify the guess. 



In the following flora, twenty-five well-marked families 

 are chosen for study. Some of them are not the most 

 characteristic of the American vegetation, but they are 

 such as afford easily accessible species, either in the wild 

 or in cultivation, and which are not too difficult for the 

 beginner. The pupil should begin with plants of which he 

 knows the common names or with which he is familiar. 

 Several plants should be studied in each family, in order 

 to enable him to grasp the characteristics of the family 



