CHApTerR VIII. 
PLANT DESCRIPTION. | 
In connection with plant description it will be well 
once more to assert the importance of field work, for it 
is by this alone that the student can arrive at an 
understanding of the plant as a living whole, and_ 
appreciate its relation to its environment. The 
examination of the root, stem, leaves, and general 
appearance of the inflorescence as well as of the indi- 
vidual flowers of which it consists should always where 
possible take place before the plant is removed from the 
soil. In the case of wild plants, it is, of course, an 
advantage to study them in their proper habitats, 
growing under natural conditions. The next best 
thing is to have them growing in the school garden and 
carry out the investigation there. In the rare instances 
where even this is impossible the students should 
procure enough fresh specimens of the whole plant to 
supply each member of the class with material for 
examination in the laboratory or class-room. 
To make any systematic classification of plants 
demands an investigation of the whole structure and 
development of each plant organ with microscope as 
well as naked eye. Even now, botanists are undecided 
as to the class in which certain plants should be placed, 
while, with respect to others, the fact that they seem 
to have no near relatives now in existence makes it 
difficult to assign them a place at all. There are, 
however, among most well-known plants certain points 
of likeness and difference that render it possible to 
arrange them in groups. In making such an arrange- 
ment it will be noted that the reproductive are much 
more constant than the vegetative organs. Throughout 
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