PART II.— CLASSIFICATION 



CHAPTER I 



CLASSIFICATION AND NOMENCLATURE 



The plants existing in the world are so large in 

 number and so varied in form that it is impossible to 

 study them without first arranging them into some 

 sort of groups or classes, that is, without classifying 

 them. They have been classified in two ways, namely, 

 (i) by placing together in a group those plants that 

 resemble one another in some one prominent char- 

 acter, or (2) by placing together in a group those 

 plants that resemble one another in a number of 

 prominent characters indicating a close relationship 

 amongst them. The first system of classification is 

 like arranging words in a dictionary in an alphabetical 

 order without any reference to their etymological or 

 other relationships. It therefore often separates closely 

 allied plants and places them in different groups, 

 simply because of the want of one character, or brings 

 together quite different plants and places them in the 

 same group, because of the presence of that character. 

 Such a system of classification has therefore been 

 termed artificial. The other system brings together 

 into a group only those plants which resemble one 

 another in a number of important characters, indicat- 

 ing close relationship amongst them, and separates 



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