CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS 121 



For these reasons chiefly, and also because the majority of amateurs 

 often find a difficulty in remembering the botanical names of plants, 

 it has been considered best to have the plants described in this work 

 arranged in their natural groups or Orders, so that in the event of a 

 cultivated plant being nameless, it may with very little trouble soon be 

 found by means of the ' Key ' given below. Where the name of a plant 

 is already known, a reference to the Index at the end of the work will 

 at once give the page at \vhich description, culture, propagation and other 

 information may be found concerning it. The amateur and the profes- 

 sional gardener will both find it an excellent and interesting proceeding, 

 however, to try to place or determine any particular plant into its 

 proper group by means of examining the characters of the flowers, 

 leaves, stems, roots &c. 



The ' Key ' to the natural Orders of Plants described in this work 

 will be found useful in trying to place a plant whose name is unknown 

 in its proper group, and, it is hoped, will ultimately lead to its identifica- 

 tion. Although an attempt has been made to dispense as far as possible 

 with botanical or technical terms, the use of some was unavoidable. 

 Such terms will be found explained in the Illustrated Glossary at p. 1. 



KEY to the NATURAL ORDERS of PLANTS 

 described in this work 



The Vegetable Kingdom may be divided into two Great Groups or 

 Sub-Kingdoms, namely : — 



I. FLOWEEING PLANTS, or PHANEEOGAMS. 



These are trees, shrubs or herbs with more or less conspicuous 

 flowers provided with stamens and pistils in the same or separate 

 flowers, and seeds containing a distinct embryo, as in annuals and 

 biennials, herbaceous plants, trees, shrubs &c. 



II. NON-FLOWBEING PLANTS, or CEYPTOGAMS. 



These include the Ferns (Filices), Horsetails (Equisetum), 

 Clubmosses (Lycopodium), Mushrooms (Agaricus), and all the 

 lower vegetable organisms. 



Flowering Plants (or Phanerogams) are divided into Two Glasses : — 

 (i.) ANGIOSPERMS.— This group includes all the flowering 

 plants popularly known as annuals, biennials, herbaceous peren- 

 nials and trees and shrubs, described in this work from p. 131 to 

 p. 972. They are characterised by having roots, stems, leaves, 

 and flowers, and have their seeds enclosed or hidden in an ovary, 



