CHAPTER LVIL 



PRACTICAL STUDY OF PLANT FORMATIONS. 



I. Suggestions for Practical Study of Plant 

 Formations.* 



1119. The space is too limited in this work to present an elaborate ot 

 even complete plan for study of plant formations. The purpose is to 

 offer merely some plain suggestions to those who wish to make a general 

 survey of plant formations in a given region where time is limited or where 

 it is desired to do this as a supplement to the elementary botanical work 

 of the school. It is needless to say that the student should have had a 

 good course in elementary plant physiology and general morphology, since 

 these subjects are fundamental to the study of the relation of vegetation 

 to its environment. 



For independent study of plant formations more than an elementary 

 knowledge of these subjects is necessary, as well as a good working knowl- 

 edge of plant classification. This the elementary student cannot possess, 

 and yet it is possible to learn many useful and practical things concerning 

 plant life which will not only aid one in interpreting the relations of vege- 

 tation to natural surroundings, but will give a broader view of nature. 



The work should be done under the guidance of the teacher. Even if 

 the students know but few plants, it will be possible for them to discover 

 striking formations where the individuals of one or several species are 

 massed together over a considerable area so that they form the dominant 

 vegetation of the area. They can be told the name of the plant unless 

 it is possible for them to discover it for themselves, and it should be borne 

 in mind that it is more important to discover a life relation of the plant 

 in this way than it is to merely determine the name of the plant. Then 

 the prominent plant formations can be worked out for several different 



* See Suggestions for Teacher, foot-note page 349, Chapter XXXVIII. 



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