PLANT NAMES i5 



naeus called it Rosa canina — that is, the Dog Rose. 

 This principle he applied not only to plants, but 

 to every mammal, bird, fish, reptile, and insect, 

 distinguishing each by a definite name of two Latin 

 or Greek words. Two words, giving the genus and 

 species, certainly do not give a complete definition 

 of a plant, but in practice they are sufficient to 

 identify it with reasonable accuracy, though they 

 do not take account of the varieties into which 

 species are subdivided nor of the larger classes 

 which contain them. Take, for instance, the 

 common Primrose. First, it is of the group of 

 Phanerogams or Spermatophyta — that is, of those 

 plants that have flowers and seeds, not of the 

 Fungi, Mosses, or Ferns. Secondly, it is of the 

 Angiosperm section of Phanerogams — that is, its 

 seeds are contained in a vessel, and not exposed. 

 Thirdly, of the Angiosperms it is of the Dicotyledon 

 division — that is, that when the seed germinates it 

 produces two primary leaves, not one. Fourthly, 

 it belongs to the Gamopetalae section of Dicotyle- 

 dons — that is, the petals that form the perianth are 

 united, not distinct. Fifthly, it belongs to the 

 Primulales cohort of Gamopetalae, and to the 

 division of Primulaceae. Sixthly, of the Primulaceae, 

 it is of the genus Primula and of the species Vulgaris, 

 and of this it may be double or fiore pleno, or one of 

 a dozen other varieties. But if you wish to indicate 

 " the Primrose by the river's brim," it is quite 

 sufficient to call it Primula vulgaris. 

 It may not, perhaps, be out of place to give at 



