PREFACE V 



plant study, because here the great plant activities may be 

 more easily experimented with and comprehended than in 

 the far less conspicuous and much more unfamiliar spore 

 plants, varied in form and habitat. All the essentials of 

 ecology may be further elucidated — essentials supposedly 

 first hinted at, at the least, under their appropriate seed 

 plant headings. 



It is not expected that this manual will please every one, 

 for seldom do two botanists agree on any two things con- 

 secutively; but the hope is expressed that there is gathered 

 here work suitable and of sufficient merit to warrant its 

 use by all who, willing to overlook many minor details of 

 disagreement, find the main ideas and scope of the work 

 commendable and worthy of attempt, and that botanical 

 truth may be so presented that the student will be taught 

 to love plants for their own value. 



It is to be definitely understood that many forms equally 

 valuable might have been selected as " representative " and 

 some may have been unwisely omitted, but the endeavor 

 has been to select such materials as were most accessible 

 and at the same time reasonably characteristic of the vari- 

 ous groups. 



The author desires, here, to express his appreciation of 

 the assistance given in the selection and treatment of the 

 subject matter by his colleagues among the teachers of 

 biology in the Chicago high schools, and to Mr. Mason 

 AVarner of Chicago for many helpful suggestions in con- 

 nection with manuscript and proof. 



II. S. PEPOON 



