WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
DISTRIBUTION INTO FAMILIES AND GENERA. 
By means of the following analytical arrangement, the name 
and the place in the volume of any plant described, may be 
readily found. Each line is a question to be asked in regard 
to the plant whose description is sought. In case of an affirm- 
ative answer, the reader is referred by the Arabic number at 
the end of the line to the next question, which will be indicated 
by the same number at the beginning of a line. By pursuing 
this course, he will be finally referred to the place of the family 
and genus where the description is given. The Roman num- 
bers refer to the family; the Arabic numbers which follow the 
Roman, refer to the genus under that family. 
A few words of explanation are necessary to enable the reader 
to understand the arrangement of the table and the language 
used in reference to the flower and fruit. 
A complete flower, the apple blossom, for example, is composed 
of, 1, an empalement or calyx of one or several leaves, called 
sepals of the calyx; 2, within these, of the flower leaves or petals 
of the corolla, usually colored of some other color than green; 3, 
of one or more stamens, thread-like, crowned by anthers which 
contain the fertilizing dust or pollen; and 4, in the centre of the 
flower, of one or more pistils, which are made up of the ovary 
or vessel containing the ovules or future seeds, surmounted by a 
stigma, which is often supported by a slender column called a 
style. A perfect flower is one which contains both stamens and 
pistils. 
The matured ovary, with the seed or seeds which it contains, 
is called the fruit. A stone fruit with a fleshy covering, like the 
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