ORDER, CLASS, GROUP\ 491 



is it in orders, nor in mam- of tlie lower grades), l)Ut one must 

 use the sum of several important characters. 



938. Dicotyledones. — In the dicotyledons there are two 

 cotyledons on the emljryo; the venation of the leaves is reticu- 

 late; the endosperm is usually absent in the seed; the parts of the 

 flower are frequently in fives; the vascular bundles of the stem 

 are generally open and arranged in rings around the stem, as shown 

 in the cross-section of the oak (fig. 497). There are exceptions 

 to all the above characters, and the sum of the characters must 

 be considered, just as in the case of the monocotyledons. 



939. Taxonomy. — This grouping of plants into species, 

 genera, famihes, etc., according to characters and relationships 

 is classification, or taxonomy. 



To take Trillium grandifiorum for e.xample, its position in 

 the svstem, if all the principal subdivisions should be included 

 in the outUne, would be indicated as follows; 



Group, Angiosperms. 

 Class, Monocotyledones. 

 Order, Lihales. 

 Family, Liliacese. 

 Genus, Trillium. 



Species, grandifiorum. 



In the same way the position of the toothwort would be indi- 

 cated as follows; 



Group, Angiosperms. 

 Class, Dicotyledones. 

 Order, Papaverales. 

 Family, Cruciferae. 

 Genus, Dentaria. 

 Species, diphylla. 

 But in giving the technical name of the plant only two of 

 these names are used, the genus and species, so that for the 

 toothwort we say Dentaria diphylla, and for the white wake- 

 robin we say Trillium grandiflonim. 



940. Kingdom and Subkingdom. — Organic beings form alto- 

 gether two kingdoms, the Animal Kingdom and the Plant King- 



