INTRODUCTION. 15 



a little further, where the three common species of Catchfly 

 are described. The last two have stamens and styles in diffe- 

 rent plants ; in our plant they are together it is not, therefore, 

 either of them. The other has its petals four-cleft, and its 

 flowers in a loose head, so has our plant. The name then that 

 we are in search of, and which but five minutes since was quite 

 a stranger to us, is now known to be RAGGED ROBIN, or 

 Lychnis Flos-cuculi. This we shall be the more sure of by 

 reading all the description, and comparing each part with it, 

 and to remove all doubt, the plate referred to will be found to 

 represent the plant in question. 



We will now take another example. You have a flower with 

 five stamens and one style, and knowing this therefore to 

 be of the class and order Pentandria Monogynia, you will 

 turn to that part of the book, and seeing three divisions of the 

 order you will refer to them. Now suppose the flower you have 

 belongs to the last of these, you will have four families to 

 choose from, Bell Flower, Honeysuckle, Violet, and Ivy. You 

 will find, perhaps, that your plant is a Violet. The next 

 question then is, what kind of Violet ? To discover this, you 

 must examine the written characters of the Violets described 

 further on. If you find the flower stalks come from the root, 

 you will know at once that it is the Sweet- smelling Violet, or 

 Viola odorata ; if not, and the leaves be heart-shaped, it will 

 be Viola canina, or the Dog Violet ; if the leaves are oblong, 

 and there are large stipules, you will conclude that the plant is 

 Viola tricolor, or Heart's-ease. Should the plant not agree 

 with either of these, it is evident that you have gathered some 

 other kind of Violet, not described in this book, but which a 

 larger book would as readily inform you of, as this does the 

 kinds before mentioned. By proceeding in this way we shall 

 soon learn to know by sight most of our common native plants, 

 and be surprised at the ease of the examination, and the 

 pleasure which it will yield us. 



