DESCRIPTIONS OF BOTANICAL TERMS 
The Vegetable Kingdom is divided into two great groups — plants with flowers (Phanero- 
gams) and those without flowers (Cryptogams). It is with the first group only that this 
book deals. 
The flowering plants (Phanerogams) are divided into natural groups, according to their 
structure, called Families or Orders. Every Family is further divided into groups (genera), each 
one of which is called a genus, and each genus is composed of individual plants called species. 
A further sub-division of the species into varieties is made in some instances, but descriptions of 
varieties have not been given in this work. In describing the members of each family, in every 
instance, first the English or popular name of the flower is given and then the scientific name, 
followed by the abbreviation of the name of the botanist who first named the genus or species, as 
given in the last (the 9th) edition of the London Catalogue of British Plants. 
The construction of the plants with which we have to deal is quite simple. They all consist 
of a root, stem, leaves with or without stipules or sheaths, flowers with or without bracts, 
and fruits. 
The root is the descending part of the plant, which penetrates the earth, and absorbs food for 
the nourishment of the plant. 
The stem is the ascending portion of the plant and may be branched or unbranched ; it bears 
the leaves, flowers, and fruit, and conducts the food to them from the root. When a stem runs along 
the ground and produces roots and leaves which form another plant it is said to be a runner. 
A node or joint is the point on the stem at which a leaf or leaves are given off. 
The axil is the upper angle made by the leaf-stalk with the stem. 
The leaf is a flat, usually thin structure, consisting of a spreading blade {lamina), attached 
with or without a stalk {petiole) to the stem, on which it is arranged in different ways. 
A leaf is : — 
simple when the blade consists 01 a single piece, as in the Lesser Celandine and 
Wallflower ; 
compound when the blade is divided into distinct leaflets ; when divided to the midrib 
into distinct leaflets the leaf is said to be pinnate, as in the Rose; and when 
divided to the base into distinct leaflets the leaf is said to be palmate, as in the 
Buttercup ; 
entire when the margin of the blade is not cut nor lobed, as in the Wallflower ; 
serrate when the margin is slightly cut into sharp teeth, as in each leaflet of the Rose ; 
lobed when the margin is more or less deeply cut into segments or lobes, but not 
divided into distinct leaflets, as in the Shepherd’s Purse. 
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