INTRODUCTION. 



The following descriptions were written for the use of the students of 

 the Kansas State Agricultural College, there being no work available for 

 the determination of woody plants in their winter condition. 



The nomenclature is that adopted recently by the Botanical Club of 

 the A. A. A. 8., and the sequence of species is that of Gray's Manual, 

 sixth edition. 



The characters given under a genus are not necessarily generic but 

 are those which are common to the species under consideration. The 

 specific descriptions apply to the species as observed in this locality and 

 may not always hold good over a wider range. A few definitions will be 

 necessary for a correct understanding of the descriptions. The pith 

 though usually circular, may be rhomboidal as in wahoo, or five angled 

 as in the oaks. It is understood to be cylindrical unless otherwise stated. 

 Homogeneous pith is the same density throughout the twig and is the 

 usual condition, but occasionally it consists of a series of thin transverse 

 diaphragms a short distance apart as in the walnut, or is continuous 

 except at the nodes where there is a woody cross-partition as in the grapes. 

 By twig is meant the growth of the previous season, all older being 

 called branchlets or branches. The color of the twigs of most species is 

 subject to considerable variation and some allowance must be made in 

 applying the description. The lenticels or small corky eruptions which 

 roughen the epidermis are only occasionally of sufficient diagnostic value 

 to be included in the descriptions. The shape of the leaf-scar may vary 

 considerably in the same twig especially toward the base or apex. 

 In procuring a twig for identification it is best to select one 

 which has made the ordinary healthy growth, avoiding those which are 

 stunted and also the abnormally vigorous sprouts The description of the 

 leaf-scar applies to those of normal shape which occur over the middle 

 portion of the twig. Most of the terms applied to the shape are self-ex- 

 planatory. Arcuate is the same width throughout, but slightly curved. 

 The exposed ends of the fibrovascular bundles are aggregated in more 

 or less definite groups known as bundle-scars. At the angles of the 

 leaf-scars will be found the stipule-scars, in plants provided with stip- 

 ules. When the leaf-scars are oblique, the stipule-scars, if present, are 

 unequal, the longer being on the side toward which the bud is placed. 



The arrangement (phyllotaxy) of alternate leaves on the twig is 

 usually two-ranked, tve-ranked, or eight-ranked. In the first or one-half 



r 



