HOW TO USE THE POPULAR FLORA. 104* 



328. With plants in hand, turn to p. 105, and compare with the distinguishing 

 marks of Class I. A slice across the stem shows no ring of wood around a pith. 

 The leaves are not netted-veined. The parts of the flower are not in fiv'^es or fours, 

 but in sixes, that is, twice threes. So the plant does not agree with Class I. in 

 anj respect. Turn therefore to Class II., on p. 203. Examining slices of the stem 

 with a magnifying-glass, you may find threads of Avood interspersed in the cellular 

 part or pith. The leaves are parallel-veined (Fig. 502, 503). The flowers have 

 their parts in threes or twice threes ; i. e. the cup of the blossom has six lobes, 

 and there are six stamens ; and, although there is only one pistil, the stigma is 

 three-lobed and the ovary has three cells, showing that it is composed of three 

 pistils grown into one. So, without looking for the embryo in a ripe seed, which 

 is not often to be had, you are sure the plant belongs to Class II. Endogens or 

 Monocotyledons. 



329. To find out the family or order the plant belongs to, try the Key. There 

 are three divisions of the class. First, the Spadiceous, which has the flowers ses- 

 sile on a spadix or fleshy axis. Not so with the plant in hand, which has drooping 

 blossoms in a slender raceme. Pass on, therefore, to the second or Pctaloideous 

 division. In this the flowers are not on a spadix, nor enclosed in chaffy bracts or 

 glumes, and they have a calyx and corolla, or a perianth colored like a corolla. 

 Our plant belongs to this division. The first line under it reads: "Perianth free from 

 the ovary " ; this is the case in our plant. Proceed to the next rank : " Of 3 green 

 or greenish sepals and 3 distinct and colored petals." Not so in our plant ; so we 

 pass to the corresponding line : " Of 6 petal-like leaves in two ranks, or G-lobed and 

 all colored alike." Here our plant belongs. Proceed to the two lines under this, 

 beginning with the word "Stamens." Our flowers have six stamens ; so we take the 

 second line of the pair. Pass to the two lines of the next rank, beginning with 

 "Anthers." These in our plant are turned inwards: so we take the second line of 

 the pair, and are led to the Lily Family, p. 209. Tui-n to that page : read over the 

 marks of the family, and go on to ascertain the genus. Having ievf seeds or ovules 

 in the ovary, small flowers, and running rootstocks, we find our plant to agree with 

 the first line of the key to the genera of the Lily Family. The simple and naked 

 scape or flower-stalk from the ground, &c. accords with the third line of the next 

 rank ; and the flowers in a raceme answer to the first of the two lines under that. 

 And this brings us to the name of the genus, viz. in Latin form, Convallaria ; in 

 English, Lily of the Valley, — the only species of the genus. 



