CHAPTER XXI 



PLANT DESCRIPTION 



The Importance of Plant Description. The impor- 

 tance of practical work in all branches of science is now uni- 

 versally admitted, and in Natural Science it is the only way to 

 obtain sound useful knowledge. In fact, this book is mainly 

 written for those persons who are willing to verify the principal 

 facts of botany by an appeal to Nature herself. Plant description 

 forms one of the most agreeable methods of approaching Nature. 

 The collection of plants (not with the idea of having so many 

 plants in a Herbarium), but to learn direct from Nature her 

 secrets, is always interesting. It is only by constant intercourse 

 with nature that true knowledge of living things can be obtained. 

 The able naturalist Goethe made the following remark : " Man 

 Sieht nur was man weiss," the trained naturalist goes about 

 and sees living things everywhere. 



Apparatus Necessary for Plant Description. The 

 apparatus necessary to examine the external parts of plants are 

 of the simplest description. These are shown below : 



(i) A sharp knife is necessary for making sections of stems, 

 flowers, buds, and ovaries. (2) Needles ; the three-sided glover's 

 needles are the best. These can be mounted in handles by forcing 

 the blunt end into fresh twigs ; when the twigs dry the needles 

 are held tight. These are used for separating the constituent 

 parts of small flowers, etc. (3) Pins are very useful for fixing 

 the parts of flowers on paper, cork, or wood in the form of a 

 diagram. (4) A hand-lens (p. 63). (5) A pah of forceps is 

 very useful for lifting small objects. (6) A book of forms 1 for 



1 Evans's forms for plant description are very useful. 



