HOW TO USE THE KEY AND FLORA 



In order to determine an unknown species, the student is 

 first to make a careful examination of the plant in hand. 

 After noting in a general way the appearance of the root, 

 stem, and leaf, including a cross section. of the stem, he 

 should study the number of the parts of the flower, then 

 make and draw a cross section and a lengthwise section of it. 

 The kind of symmetry of the calyx and corolla, peculiarities 

 in the shape, structure, or operation of the essential organs, 

 such, for instance, as anthers discharging through chinks in 

 the end, should be noted. 



Next, the inquirer should look carefully through the key 

 to the families. He is first to decide whether the plant in 

 question is a Gymnosperm or an Angiosperm ; if not a conif- 

 erous tree or shrub, it will of course belong to the latter 

 division. He is then to settle the question whether it is a 

 Monocotyledon or a Dicotyledon ; then under what division 

 of the group the plant comes ; and, finally, to decide upon its 

 family. 



Turning now to the page at which the family is described, 

 a rapid inspection of the characteristics of the genera will 

 make it evident to which one the species under examination 

 belongs. It may not infrequently prove that none of the 

 genera described agree with the plant studied, and in that 

 case the student must either consult a larger flora or rest 

 satisfied with having determined the family to which his 

 specimen belongs. The identification of the species, after 



1 



