432 LSSSONS WITH PLANTS 



gins with LinnsB'us. The first edition of his "Species Plantarum," 

 1753, is now eommonly taken as the starting point. Linnseus lived 

 and taught in Upsala, Sweden. 



LXXXVI. THE CLASSIFICATION OF SPECIES 



556. More than 100,000 species of flowering 

 plants are known, and it is probable that nearly 

 as many more await discovery. It is evident that 

 if this vast number of facts is to be studied, 

 the facts must be arranged or classified. 



557. A classification may serve merely as a con- 

 venience in arranging and systematizing knowledge 

 of objects ; or it may also attempt to express some 

 hypothesis of the kinships of the objects themselves. 

 In other words, it may be an artificial system, or a 

 natural system. 



558. The first great system of classification 

 of plants was that of Linnaeus, who has been 

 called "the father of botany." It was wholly arti- 

 ficial, in the sense that it made no attempt to 

 classify plants according to their relationships. The 

 vegetable world was first divided into classes 

 founded upon the numbers and positions of sta- 

 mens. These classes were divided into orders 

 founded upon the numbers of styles or stigmas. 

 The Linnsean system comprised twenty -four classes; 

 and each of the first thirteen classes was divided 



