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HOW PLANTS ARE CLASSIFIED, 
294. GeilUS : plural Genera. Species which are very much alike belong to the 
same genus. The genus is a group of species which have the tiower and fruit 
constructed on exactly the same plan. The Cabbage and the Turnip belong to the 
same genus. The different species of Raspberry and Blackberry belong to one 
genus, — the Bramble genus . The different species of Roses compose the Rose 
genus ; of Oaks, the Oak genus ; and so on. 
295. An Order or Family (the two words meaning the same thing in Botany) is a 
kind of genus on a wider scale, consisting of genera, just as a genus consists of 
species. For example, while all the Oaks belong to the Oak genus, there are other 
trees which are a good deal like Oaks in the whole plan of their flowers, fruit, and 
seeds, so much so that we say they belong to the Oak family. Among them are the 
Chestnut, the Beech, and the Hazel ; each a genus by itself, containing several 
species. So the Pear genus, the Quince genus, the Hawthorn genus, the Rose 
genus, and the Bramble genus, with many more, belong to one great order. The 
Pea genus, the Bean genus, the Locust genus, the Clover genus, and the like, 
make up another order. 
296. A Class is a great group of orders or families, all on the same general plan. 
The Rose family, the Oak family, and a hundred others, all belong to one great 
class. Lilies, Amaryllises, Irises, Palms, Rushes, and Grasses belong to another 
great class. 
297. There are other divisions ; but these are the principal ones in all classifi- 
cations, both of the vegetable and of the animal kingdom. And these four stages 
always rank in this way : the species under the genus, the genera under the order 
or family, and orders under the class, viz. : — 
Class, 
Order or Family, 
Genus, 
Species. 
Section II. — Names. 
298. The name of any plant is the name of its genus and of its species. The 
name of the genus answers to the surname or family name of people, as Smith or 
Brown. The name of the species answers to the baptismal name, as John or James. 
We distinguish persons by these two names, as John Smith and James Smith ; John 
