53 



This label gives a common name for the plant, its botanical 

 name, the country where it is native, and the family to which it 

 belongs. This feature gives to the collections a great educational 

 value, and offers a ready means not only for a comparative study 

 of plant relationships but also of their geographic distribution. 



The general arrangement of the collections is outlined below — 

 the details will be considered when we come to treat of each house 

 separately. The first consideration, of course, must be a cultural 

 one, and for this reason certain houses or groups of houses are 

 kept at different degrees of temperature and humidity, and in the 

 proper house are brought together the plants requiring such con- 

 ditions. In each house, however, the plants are grouped by 

 families, and also by genera, wherever practicable. For cultural 

 purposes the houses are divided as follows : 



House 



' 4, 7, 



IS. a 



plants ; of these, nos. I to 3 (no. 2 also contains Nepenthes, the 

 pitcher plants, belonging to the dicotyledonous division), the 

 greater part of no. 4, and no. 15 contain the endogenous or mon- 

 ocotyledonous plants, or those with one seed-leaf; a part of no. 

 4, and nos. 7 and 8 the exogenous or dicotyledonous plants, or 

 those with two seed-leaves; and nos. 10 and 11 the ferns and 

 their allies, no. 1 1 containing the large tree ferns and other speci- 

 mens of a size too great to be accommodated on the benches in 



Houses 12 to 14 contain the temperate collections. In nos. 

 12 and 14 the plants are arranged according to the sequence 

 adopted by Engler and Prantl in their Naturlichen Pflanzenfa- 

 milien, which is of great aid to students in the comparative study 

 of plant families. It is aimed to represent here as many families 

 and genera as the conditions and space at command will permit. 

 The sequence begins in house no. 12 and terminates in no. 14; 

 the details will be considered when we treat of those houses. In 

 no. 1 3 are placed plants too large to be accommodated on the 

 benches in houses nos. 12 and 14. 



Houses 5 and 6 contain the collections of plants from xero- 

 phytic or desert regions,, including the cacti and century plants 

 or agaves ; while no. 9 is devoted to the aquatics, which require 

 conditions exactly opposite. 



