BOTANIC GARDENS 
7 
there is little attempt at any classification of the plants, whether 
morphological or according to country of origin ; they are 
put in the house best suited to their growth. Certain 
general principles only can be given to guide a student, 
and after a little practice, he will know fairly well where 
to look for a particular plant he desires to see. He will 
not, for instance, look for East Indian species on the Her- 
baceous Ground, or for Crassulaceae in the Bog-garden. 
He will know that few Australian plants, even from the 
south, are hardy in Britain and will seek them in the 
Temperate House, and so on. 
The Range. Plant houses may be roughly classified into general 
and special , and these again into tropical and temperate. The general 
houses, such as the Stove or the Temperate House, contain plants of 
every kind to which the climate of the particular house is suited. The 
special houses contain representatives of special groups of plants with 
certain features in common ; such as the Succulent House, Tropical 
Orchid House, Water-lily House. 
The list of houses at Kew, which has one of the most extensive and 
specialised ranges, is as follows: (Tropical) Palm House, Tropical 
Economics, Aroids, Begonias, Stove, Nepenthes, Water-lilies, Victoria 
regia, Tropical Ferns, Tropical Orchids, Succulents; (Temperate) 
Temperate House, Temperate Economics, South African, Conservatory, 
Temperate Ferns, Filmy Ferns, Temperate Orchids, Alpines, Insecti- 
vorous Plants. 
In the Palm House, Aroid House , and Stove will be found tropical 
plants, chiefly from climates where there is plenty of moisture, at least 
during a large part of the year. Here are most of the Cycads, Palms, 
Araceae, Bromeliaceae, Musaceae, Zingiberaceae, Marantaceae, Pipera- 
ceae, Moraceae, tropical Lauraceae, Leguminosae and Euphorbiaceae, 
Melastomaceae, Araliaceae, Sapotaceae, tropical Asclepiadaceae, Ges- 
neraceae, Acanthaceae, tropical Rubiaceae and many smaller tropical 
orders. The contents of Aroid, Begonia, Tropical Fern and Orchid 
Houses are sufficiently indicated by their names. The Water-lily House 
contains various Nymphaeaceae, Hydrocharitaceae, and other tropical 
and sub-tropical water plants. In most gardens it is festooned with 
climbing plants, such as Vitis, Cucurbitaceae, Passifloraceae, &c. The 
Cactus and Succulent Houses contain xerophytes, chiefly succulent forms 
from very dry climates, including Cactaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Asclepia- 
daceae, &c. with fleshy stems, and various Liliaceae, Amaryllidaceae, 
Aizoaceae, Crassulaceae, Compositae, &c. with fleshy leaves (see 
Chapter III.). In these houses the air is kept much drier than in 
the preceding ones. 
Among the cooler houses, the Temperate House corresponds to the 
Palm House ; here will be found most Australian and other S. Tem- 
perate plants, the plants of the Mediterranean and warmer temperate 
zones, and the plants of the middle zones of the Himalaya and other 
tropical mountains. Most of the Proteaceae, Rutaceae, Thymelaeaceae, 
