i>i HOW PLANTS ARE CLASSIFIED, 



294. Genus ; plural Genera. Species which are very much alike belong to the 

 same genus. The genus is a group of species which have the flower ajid fruit 

 constructed on exactly the same plan. The Cabbage and the Turnip belong to the 

 same genus. The different species of Raspberry and Blackberry belong to one 

 genus, — the Bramble genus. The different species of Roses compose the Rose 

 genus ; of Oaks, the Oak genus ; and so on. 



"295. An Order or Family (the two words meaning the same thing in Botany) is a 

 kind of genus on a wider scale, consisting of genera, just as a genus consists of 

 species. For example, while all the Oaks belong to the Oak genus, there are other 

 trees which are a good deal like Oaks in the whole plan of their flowers, fruit, and 

 seeds, so much so that we say they belong to the Oak family. Among them are the 

 Chestnut, the Beech, and the Hazel ; each a genus by itself, containing several 

 species. So the Pear genus, the Quince genus, the Hawthorn genus, the Rose 

 genus, and the Bramble genus, with many more, belong to one great order. The 

 Pea genus, the Bean genus, the Locust genus, the Clover genus, and the like, 

 make up another order. 



296. A Class is a great group of orders or families, all on the same general plan. 

 The Rose family, the Oak family, and a hundred others, all belong to one great 

 class. Lilies, Amaryllises, Irises, Palms, Rushes, and Grasses belong to another 

 great class. 



297. There are other divisions ; but these are the principal ones in all classifi- 

 cations, both of the vegetable and of the animal kingdom. And these four stages 

 always rank in this way : the species under the genus, the genera under the order 

 or family, and orders under the class, viz. : — 



Class, 



Order or Family, 



Genus, 



Species. 



Section II. — Names. 



298. The name of any plant is the name of its genus and of its species. The 

 name of the genus answers to the surname or family name of people, as Smith or 

 Brown. The name of the species answers to the baptismal name, as John or James. 

 We distinguish persons by these two names, as John Smith and James Smith ; John 



