8 THE STUDY OF PLANTS 



to group the two families together into the beech order or 

 Fagales. Similarly the Pinacea and another family resem- 

 bling these cone-bearing plants form together the conifers, 

 pine order, or Coniferales.^ 



All plants which agree with the Coniferales in having no 

 cases to contain their ripening seeds are grouped to form the 

 nakcd-seedworts or Class Gymnospermw;- while all the orders 

 which develop their seeds in closed cases comprise the case- 

 seedworts or Class Angiospermie? Both together include 

 all fiowering and seed-producing plants, and so constitute 

 the fiowering plants, seed-plants, seedworts, or Division 

 Spermatophyta,* which together with the various divisions 

 of fiowerless plants make up the vegetable kingdom or King- 

 dom Vegetabilia. 



From what has been said it is evident that even if we do 

 not know the name of a plant much of importance may be 

 told about it if we know the family to which it ))eIongs, and 

 quite a little if we know only its order or class. Regarding 

 any plant tlie r}uestion, What is it? calls for much the same 

 sort of answer as when we wish to identify a soldier. As 

 with the latter we need to know the army, corps, brigade, 

 regiment, battalion, and company to enable us to place him 

 with military precision, so with the former to know its divi- 

 sion, class, order, famil.y, genus, species, and variety tells 

 botanicallj' its place in the vegetable kingdom. In knowing 

 the position of a plant, however, there is this additional ad- 

 vantage that as resemblances and differences are expressed 

 in the botanical groups to a much greater extent than in the 

 military subdivisions we are just so much better informed 

 regarding the true nature and peculiarities of the plant. 



13. The departments of botany. The peculiarities con- 

 sidered in classifying plants are chiefly such as concern the 

 form, construction, antl arrangement of parts. An under- 

 standing of Ixjtanical classification means, thiTefore, a knowl- 



' The termination utrx in luter botanical usage indicates the rank of 

 order, but until recently has been used indiscriminately for various 

 ranks. 



' Gym"no-s|jer'nuc< Clr. gymiios, naked; !<i><rma, seed. 



' An"gi-o-sper'ma' < f!r. iinginn, a case. 



^ Sper'ma-toph"y-ta < (Ir. phyton, a plant, 



