240 LUTHER BURBANK 



It has behind it, who shall say, how many tens 

 of thousands of generations of ancestry which, 

 coming before man, went by unobserved — yet 

 which, under new environment, are continually 

 bursting forth to confuse us. 



How can man, with only one ten-thousandth 

 of his subject revealed to him, be expected to 

 make charts or maps which shall withstand on- 

 slaught, or be superior to criticism? 



For the sake of ready understanding we may, 

 however, summarize plant life into the broad 

 classifications outlined above. 



First, the vegetable kingdom, which includes 

 all plants. 



Second, the subkingdom or phyla, six or seven 

 in number. 



Third, the class, which ranks above an order 

 and below a phylum. 



Fourth, the order, which ranks between the 

 class and the family. 



Fifth, the family, which ranks below an order 

 but above the genus. 



Sixth, the genus, which ranks below a family 

 but above the species. 



Seventh, the species, which ranks below a 

 genus and above the variety. 



Eighth, the variety, which ranks below a 

 species and above the individual. 



