2 A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



Floating or submerged aquatic plants no. 926. 



Herbs of dry land, meadows, swamps, bogs, or marshes; if in 

 the water, never submerged or floating aquatics no. i 



No. I 



Herbs of dry land, meadows, swamps, bogs or marshes; 

 never submerged or floating aquatics. 



This group, of course, comprises the bulk of all our herbs. 



Fortunately for purposes of identification there is one great 



structural difference that divides all these plants into two 



great classes. The characters given below are merely surface 



indications of profound differences in the structure and 



evolutionary history of these two great groups of herbs. 



These differences must be understood before it is possible 



to go farther in the identification of any particular species. 



All these herbs, then, are divided thus: 



With the veins of the leaf not parallel, but in some sort of a 



network, the parts of the flower (petals, etc.) in 4's or 5's, 



or multiples of these, not in 3's; the sprouting seeds always 



with 2 seed leaves (exceptions noted at no. 186) no. 186 



With the veins of the leaf parallel ; the parts of the flower in 

 3's, or multiples of 3 ; the sprouting seeds always with i 

 seed leaf (exceptions noted at no. 2) no. 2 



No. 2 

 Herbs with Parallel- Veined Leaves 



(Nos. 2-185.) 

 (Monocotyledonae). 



These herbs have parallel veined leaves, the veins or nerves 

 usually with no side branching. Quite often the plant is with- 

 out a true stem, both the flower and leaf stalks arising from 

 the ground. Others, however, have a true stem. In many, the 

 leaves are without marginal teeth, but sometimes these are 

 present in neighboring species. In one sort. Asparagus (no. 

 99) there are no leaves. The wake-robins, or trilliums (no. 

 64), the jack-in-the-pulpit, and its cousins (no. 26), and one 

 of the Water-plantain family (no. 11), break all the rules by 

 having leaves that are not parallel-veined, but they are in- 

 cluded here, as exceptions, because their other characteristics 



