314 THE KINDS OF PLANTS 



one cover for them. The covers are laid in cupboards flat- 

 wise, one on the other, and the sheets then retain their 

 shape and are always ready for use. 



Explanation of the Flora. — The following Flora con- 

 tains 625 species of plants in 294 genera and 51 families. 

 These species are selected from common and representative 

 plants, in the hope that 50 to 100 of them may be secured 

 by any pupil. The pupil should collect his own specimens 

 as far as possible, and he should press and preserve them 

 after he has studied the structure. Familiarity with 100 

 plants will give the pupil a good grasp of plant forms, pro- 

 vided he does not stop with merely acquiring the names and 

 pressing the specimens. He should know how the plants 

 look, where they grow, how they associate with other plants, 

 how long they live, and the like. 



Avoid the use of keys as much as possible: learn to 

 see the plant as a whole : go directly to the family, if possible. 

 But it may be necessary to use keys at first. In this book 

 coordinate parts of the key are marked by the same letter: 

 e.g., f, ff, fff, are three coordinate entries. Coordinate 

 entries are also introduced by the same catch-word, as 

 "flowers," "leaves," "fruit." Using a key is a process of 

 elimination. First try the plant in a; if it does not belong 

 there, go to aa. Then repeat the search in d, dd, etc., until 

 the family is found. 



Synonyms are placed in parentheses immediately fol- 

 lowing the accepted name. Thus "Impatiens biflora, Walt. 

 (7. fulva, Nutt.)" means that the accepted name is Walter's 

 I. biflora, but that the plant is also known by Nuttall's 

 name, /. fulva. 



Proper pronunciation is suggested by the accent, which 

 indicates both the emphatic syllable and the length of the 

 vowel. The grave accent C) indicates a long vowel; the 

 acute ('), a short vowel. Terminal vowels are pronounced 

 in Latin words. The word officinale is pronounced offici- 



