PREFACE. 
Tue plan adopted in this work is one which I have found 
very effective in teaching, and is intended to cover a two 
years’ school course. The subject dealt with in the First 
Part is the Morphology (prominent structural features) of 
Flowering Plants; and the principle sought to be incul- 
cated is that, if possible, all the knowledge acquired by 
the pupils should be gained by actual observation, ‘The 
work is drawn up on ane lines of Professor Oliver’s “ Lessons 
in Elementary Botany,” a book which first furnished the 
author with a method of teaching. The value of botany 
in the school curriculum is that it trains the observational 
faculty in a way that no other subject docs, and it is also 
an excellent means of teaching the art of clear, accurate, 
and graphic description, The Second Part of the work 
deals with the principles of classification, with especial 
reference to the indigenous and introduced plants of New 
Zealand. Strictly speaking, of course, classification should 
be based on a very thorough knowledge of the morphology, 
anatomy, and (particularly the) development of plants ; but 
in practice it will be found convenient to acquire its main 
features at a comparatively early stage. Systematic work 
is itself valuable as a good training in method, and, besides, 
it greatly increases the interest taken by the pupils in 
their work. <A certain amount of technical terminology 
is necessary in acquiring a knowledge of any science; but 
I have not introduced any terms except such as are in 
common use among botanists, and have avoided as far as 
possible any multiplication of such terms, 
