DIVISIONS. 121 



together, or into the same group ; and plants closely related 

 were sometimes widely separated — in other words, the 

 classification was far I'rom being natural; it was a/rtifidal. 

 By taking into account all the characters of the adult 

 form, and its development, or embryonic changes it passes 

 through to reach that form, an approximation to a natural 

 system of classification can be made, even in the present 

 state of botanical science. Many of the lower plants are 

 as yet very imperfectly understood, and, therefore, not 

 really classifiable. They have been temporarily placed in 

 a separate division, called Protophyta (Gr. protos, first, 

 simple ; phyton, plant). 



DIVISIONS. 



154. The Vegetable Kingdom may be grouped into the 

 following Divisions : 



1. Protophyta, such as Slime-Moulds, Bacteria, Yeast- 

 plant, etc. 



2. Zygosporeae (Gr. zugon, yoke)', "Water-net, Dia- 

 toms, Spirogyra, Moulds, etc. 



3. Oosporeae (Gr. oon, egg), Peronospora, Fucus, 

 Sargassum, etc. 



4. Carposporese (Gr. harpos, fruit), Erysiphe, Lichens, 

 Wheat Enst, Toad-stools, etc. 



5. Bryophyta (Gr. hryon, moss), Mosses and Liver- 

 worts. 



6. Pteridophyta (Gr. pteron, wing), the Ferns. 



7. Phanerogamia (Gr. pAamos, visible; gamos, nmon), 

 ordinary flowering plants, herbs, shrubs, etc. 



The first four groups are called Thallophyta (Gr. UmIIos, 

 frond), or plants without distinction of stem and leaves ; 

 and the last three groups are called Cormophyta (Gr. 



