FLOWERING PLANTS INTRODUCTORY 87 



careful study in the light of the particular uses these parts serve, 

 and the way in which these uses are carried out. The study of 

 even a small number of plants from this point of view will enable 

 the student to examine with interest and profit other plants than 

 those described here. It will also suggest further work in various 

 directions, some of which are treated of in other sections of this 

 book. 



It cannot be too strongly impressed upon any one commencing 

 the study of plants that reading about plants is by itself of little 

 use, and may even be worse than useless if it leads to the neglect 

 of observation. What should be aimed at by teachers as well as 

 scholars is first-hand information based upon the student's own 

 observation. He should know a thing, not because he has been 

 told it, but because he has seen it for himself and understood it. 

 This is a truism, but one of the most difficult things to cultivate 

 is the frame of mind which is not content until the knowledge 

 acquired is based on personal observation and not on hearsay. It 

 is most important that right methods of work should be followed 

 from the outset, and it should be expressly stated that the de- 

 scriptions below are intended to be used along with specimens of 

 the plants to assist in their detailed study. The order in which 

 the plants are examined is of little or no importance. Plants 

 which are known to be in flower at the particular season should 

 be selected. Evidently the spring and summer months will be 

 the most suitable season for this branch of Nature Study, though 

 observations on the plants should be continued throughout the 

 year. Advice as to collecting and examining plants and as to the 

 apparatus needed will be given below. 



All the plants to be described here are what is known as 

 Flowering Plants, and all except the Pine belong to the great group 

 of the Angiosperms. This is the highest group of the vegetable 

 kingdom, and includes the plants which appeared last on the 

 surface of the earth, where they now form the dominant and 

 most conspicuous part of the vegetation. The Pine, which will 

 also be described, belongs to a more ancient group, the Gymno- 

 sperms, and will be found to differ more profoundly from the 

 others than they do among themselves. All the plants we are 

 concerned with are composed of similar parts, and have much in 



