STRUCTURAL BOTANY 



INTRODUCTION 



IN beginning the study of plants we cannot perhaps 

 do better than fix our attention on any common kind 

 of plant with which we may happen to be familiar, 

 and consider what are the most striking points in its 

 construction. In this way we may hope, starting 

 from the general knowledge which we all possess as 

 the result of everyday observation, to pass on to that 

 more accurate and systematic knowledge which is 

 called Science. 



It matters little with what plant we begin. The 

 Wallflower is well known to everybody, so we will 

 take that as our example. 



The chief parts of which such a plant consists 

 are easily distinguished (see Fig. 1). There is a 

 branched colourless root, which is fixed firmly in the 

 ground; from this rises the upright stern bearing the 

 flat leaves. The stem is branched, each branch arising 

 from the angle between a leaf and the main stem ; 

 the branches also bear leaves, and resemble in all 

 i 



