6o AUSTRALIAN BOTANY. 



LESSON IX. 

 SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



An explanation of the different parts of plants having been 

 given in the preceding lessons, the student, on reaching 

 this point, should have acquired sufficient information to 

 warrant him in proceeding to the study of more advanced 

 botanical works. At this stage, therefore, it is advisable to 

 give in plain language an outline of the two great systems 

 of botany. When the principles of these divisions are 

 mastered, the road to a thorough knowledge of the science 

 will be fairly open, the rate of progress depending on the 

 industry of the student. 



One of the questions frequently asked on botanical 

 subjects is, ' How many plants are there in the world ? ' 

 Systematic Botany, by classifying all known plants, has 

 brought us to an approximate result : but though round 

 numbers give certain figures, it must be remembered that 

 new plants are continually being discovered ; and when 

 Australia, 1 New Guinea, Borneo, Sumatra, Celebes, and 

 other parts of the Malayan Archipelago are exhaustively 

 explored, doubtless a very great addition will be made to 

 the list. A few remarks on the discovery and classification 

 of plants may fittingly precede an outline of Systematic 

 Botany. 



Previous to the seventeenth centurv the general know- 



1 Baron von Mueller, who is undoubtedly one of our greatest authorities 

 on Australian Botany, estimates that the total number of vascular plants 

 indigenous to Australia is 8800. of which number he says 1250 are 

 found also in other countries, leaving 7550, or rather more than six- 

 sevenths, as purely Australian. 



