IV 



NOMENCLATURE 



AT first, plant nomenclature, that is, the name 

 classification of plants, may appear a staggering 

 proposition, but do not become discouraged with the 

 names you feel you have to familiarize yourself with 

 as you come to look over the seed catalogues and 

 delve into garden literature. It is not half so bad as 

 it really looks, nor as it sounds when one is begin- 

 ning to pronounce the long and often unfamiliar plant 

 names. 



Indeed, your enjoyment of every growing thing will 

 be very much keener if you make its acquaintance under 

 its own true name instead of under some dubious nick- 

 name which may or may not fit. The true botanical 

 name has been bestowed upon it for some definite reason 

 by those who knew what they were about. It fits 

 and it means something. Learn it; pronounce it in 

 sections, just the way it is spelled ; nine times out of 

 ten you will have it right and the tenth is not going 

 to matter at first. 



Of course no one in his right mind will speak of 

 familiar flowers under their Latin names in ordinary 

 conversation. That is not why one is urged to learn 



ii 



