ALPHABET OF BOTANY. 



THE WORD PLANT. 



IT will be useful, on commencing the study of which 

 this little book treats, to mention some of the points 

 that distinguish plants from the other productions of 

 nature. 



The word Plant l means " fixed/' or " rooted," and 

 hence any production without this leading character- 

 istic is not a plant, though several distinctions besides 

 this are necessary; for otherwise a dead post, the 

 column of a portico, or a granite rock, might be called 

 a plant, from being fixed or rooted. 



In a general sense we say that every tree, shrub, herb, 

 grass, fern, moss, sea- weed, or mushroom, is a plant ; 

 and popularly it may be said that a plant consists of a 

 root, a stem, and leaves, though many plants, such as 

 mosses and lichens, want one or all of these parts. 



Plants differ from animals in having no common 

 mouth, no common gullet, no stomach for the reception 



(l) In Greek jSoraj/Tj, from which we take our English word 

 Botany. 



