184 HOW TO STUDY PLANTS. [LESSON 30. 



and (p. xv.) those with " leaves mostly parallel- veined ; flowers 

 usually 3-merous, never in fives." The netted veined leaves, and 

 the number 5 iu both calyx and corolla, certify at once that the 

 plant belongs to the first subclass, DICOTYLEDONS. 



530. We have here no less than 75 orders under this subclass. 

 To aid the unpractised student in finding his way among them, they 

 are ranked under three artificial divisions ; the Polypetalous, the 

 GamopetalouS) and the Apetalous. The plant in hand being fur- 

 nished, in the words of the key, " with both calyx and corolla, the 

 latter of wholly separate petals," is to be sought under I. POLY- 



PETALOUS DIVISION. 



Fully half the families of the class rank under this division. 

 The first step in the key is to the sections A and B ; to the first of 

 which, having "stamens more than 10, and more than twice the 

 number of the petals," our plant must pertain. 



Under A there are two groups indicated by the numerals 1 and 

 2, to the first of which, " Stamens on the receptacle, free from the 

 ovary and calyx," our plant evidently belongs. 



Under this we proceed by successive steps, their gradations 

 marked by their position on the page, leading down to the name of 

 the order or family, to which is appended the number of the order 

 as it appears in the lineal arrangement of the Manual. The propo- 

 sitions of the same grade, two or more, from which determination 

 is to be made, not only stand one directly under the other, but 

 begin with the same word or phrase, or with some counterpart. 



The propositions under 1, to which we are now directed, are 

 two, beginning with the word "Pistils" and "Pistil." The one 

 which applies to the flower in hand is, clearly, the first : " Pistils 

 few to many distinct carpels," and this line leads out at once to the 

 order Ranunculacece, the first order in the book. 



531. Turning to that order, page 2, a perusal of the brief account 

 of the marks of the RANUNCULACE^E or CROWFOOT FAMILY as- 

 sures us that the key has led us safely and readily to a correct 

 result. Knowing the order, we have next to ascertain the genus. 

 Here are eleven genera to choose from ; but their characters are 

 analyzed under tribes and subsections (* , H-, -H-, etc.) so as to 

 facilitate the way to the desired result. Of the three tribes we 

 reject the first and third en account of their characters of petals 

 and fruit. With Tribe II., " Sepals imbricate, often petal-like : 

 the fruit a head or spike of akenes," our plant agrees as far as the 



