xviii INTRODUCTION 



Names of Plants 



The name of a plant consists as a rule of two parts or words, as for 

 example, Aqnilegia coerulea, Calochortus Gunnisonii, Lilium philadelphicum, 

 etc. The first word indicates the germs, and is always capitalized. The 

 second word indicates the species, or kind, and is capitalized only when it 

 is the genitive of a personal name. The meaning of the terms genus 

 (plural, genera) and species (plural, species) may be clearly illustrated 

 by the columbines and violets. The blue columbine and the red columbine 

 are different kinds or species of the genus of columbines, Aquilegia, each 

 one designated by a species name, coerulea and canadensis, respectively. 

 The blue violet, yellow violet and white violet are different species of the 

 violet genus, Viola; they are designated by the respective species names, 

 pedatiUda, biiiora, and blanda. Genera which are related to each other are 

 placed in the same family, for example, the columbines, larkspurs, monks- 

 hoods, anemones and buttercups in the buttercup family, Ranuncidaceae ; 

 the asters, sunflowers, goldenrods, cone flowers, daisies, black-eyed Susans, 

 etc., in the aster family, Asteraceae. The ending -aceae, which is always 

 used to denote a family, is the feminine plural of the Latin suffix, -aceus, 

 meaning like or related to. The family name, Asteraceae, is really an ad- 

 jective agreeing with plantae, plants, and meaning "plants related to the 

 aster." Related families are themselves grouped into orders which also 

 bear a distinctive ending, e. g., Aster ales, Ranales. This ending is likewise 

 in the feminine plural, and the meaning of the name is "plant families re- 

 lated to the aster family," etc. Orders are further arranged into larger 

 groups, such as Monocotyledons, flowering plants with a single seed-leaf, 

 scattered bundles in the stem, parallel-veined leaves, and a flower-plan of 

 3, and Dicotyledons, with 2 seed-leaves, ringed bundles, netted-veined 

 leaves and a flower-plan of 5 or 4. These two groups form the Angiosperms, 

 with closed pistils and usually with sepals and petals, which are contrasted 

 with the Gymnosperms, with open pistils and no sepals or petals. 



How to Use the Key 



The method of finding the name of a plant by means of the key to 

 families (page XX) may be illustrated by an example. In the case of the 

 Mariposa Lily, which has 3 petals and 3 sepals, the first choice is made 

 between "I. Petals present" and "II. Petals absent." Since the petals are 

 present, the second choice is ignored, and the next decision rests between 

 "1. Flowers in heads" and "2. Flowers single or in clusters." As the 

 flowers are single, the latter is chosen, and the next choice lies between 



