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THE

FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

A PRACTICAL GUIDE IN SELF-TEACHING.

DESIGNED TO CULTIVATE THE OBSERVING AND
REASONING POWERS OF CHILDREN,,

BY

ELIZA A. YOUMANSo

NEW EDITION THOROUGHLY REVISER,

NEW YORK •; • CINCINNATI . - CHICAGO

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

Copyright, 1870, 1883, by D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
Copyright, 1898, by ELIZA A. YOTJMANS

w. p. 3

PREFACE.

This little book has a twofold claim upon those
concerned in the work of education.

In the first place, it introduces the beginner to
the study of Botany in the only way it can be prop¬
erly done — by the direct observation of vegetable
forms. The pupil is told very little, and from the
beginning, throughout, he is sent to the plant to get
his knowledge of the plant. The book is designed
to help him in this work, never to supersede it. In¬
stead of memorizing the statements of others, he
studies the things themselves. The true basis of a
knowledge of Botany is that familiarity with the
actual characters of plants, which can only be ob¬
tained by direct and habitual inspection of them.
The beginner should therefore commence with the
actual specimens, and learn to distinguish those ex¬
ternal characters which lie open to observation ; the
knowledge of which leads naturally to that arrange¬
ment by related attributes which constitutes classify
cation.

4

PREFACE.

But the present book has a still stronger claim to
attention; it develops a new method of study which
is designed to correct that which is confessedly the
deepest defect of our current education. This defect
is the almost total lack of any systematic cultivation
of the observing powers. Although all real knowl¬
edge begins in attention to things , and consists in the
discrimination and comparison of the likenesses and
differences among objects; yet, strange to say, in our
vaunted system of instruction there is no provision
for the regular training of the perceptive faculties.
That which should be first and fundamental is hardly
attended to at all. We train in mathematics, and
cram the contents of books, but do little to exercise
the mind upon the realities of Nature, or to make it
alert, sensitive, and intelligent, in respect to the order
of the surrounding world.

Something, indeed, has been done in the way of
object-teaching, although but little that is satisfactory.
These exercises are notoriously loose, desultory, inco¬
herent, and superficial, and hardly deserve the name
of mental training. What is wanted is, that object-
studies shall become more close and methodic, and
that the observations shall be wrought into connected
and organized knowledge. It is the merit of Botany
that, beyond all other studies, it is suited to the at¬
tainment of this end. Plants furnish abundant and
ever-varying materials for observation. The element-

PREFACE.

5

ary facts of Botany are so simple that their study
can be commenced in early childhood, and so numer¬
ous as to sustain a prolonged course of observation.
From the most rudimentary facts the pupil may pro¬
ceed gradually to the more complex; from the con¬
crete to the abstract; from observation to the truths
resting upon observation, in a natural order of ascent,
as required by the laws of mental growth. The
means are thus furnished for organizing object-teach¬
ing into a systematic method, so that it may be pur¬
sued continuously through a course of successively
higher and more comprehensive exercises. Carried
out in this way, Botany is capable of doing for the
observing powers of the mind what mathematics does
for its reasoning powers.

Moreover, accuracy of observation requires accu-
racy of description; precision of thought implies pre¬
cision in the use of language. Here, again, Botany
has superior advantages. Its vocabulary is more copi¬
ous, precise, and well settled than that of any other
of the natural sciences; it is thus unrivaled in the
scope it offers for the cultivation of the descriptive
powers.

On purely mental grounds, therefore, and as a
means of attaining the most needed of educational
reforms, Botany has a claim to be admitted as a
fourth fundamental branch of common-school studies ;
and the hope of contributing something to this end

6

PREFACE.

has been the author’s main incitement in the prepara¬
tion of this rudimentary work.

It is needful here to state that the method of in¬
struction developed in these pages is no mere educa¬
tional novelty; it was tested and its fitness for the
end proposed shown in practice by Prof. J. S. Hen-
slow, of Cambridge, England. My attention was first
drawn to it as I was looking about in the educational
department of the South Kensington Museum, in
London. In a show-case of botanical specimens, I
noticed some slates covered with childish handwrit¬
ing, which proved to be illustrations of a method of
teaching Botany to the young. They were furnished
by Prof. Henslow for the International Exhibition of
1851. He died without publishing his method, but
not without having subjected it to thorough practi¬
cal trial. He had gathered together a class of poor
country children, in the parish where he officiated as
clergyman, and taught them Botany by a plan simi¬
lar to the present, though less simplified. The re¬
sults of this experiment have been given to the public
by Df. J. D. Hooker, Superintendent of the Botan¬
ical Gardens at Kew, who was summoned to give
evidence upon the subject before a Parliamentary
Commission on Education.

The following interesting passages from his testi¬
mony will give an idea of Prof. Henslow’s method
of proceeding and its results;

PREFACE.

1

Question . Have you ever turned your attention at all to the
possibility of teaching Botany to boys in classes at school ?

Answer. I have thought that it might be done very easily;
that this deficiency might be easily remedied.

Q. What are your ideas on the subject?

A. My own ideas are chiefly drawn from the experience of
my father-in-law, the late Prof. Henslow, Professor of Botany
at Cambridge. He introduced Botany into one of the lowest
possible class of schools—that of village laborers’ children in a
remote part of Suffolk.

Q. Perhaps you will have the goodness to tell us the system
he pursued?

A. It was an entirely voluntary system. He offered to en¬
roll the school-children in a class to be taught Botany once a
week. The number of children in the class was limited, I think,
to forty-two. As his parish contained only one thousand in¬
habitants, there never were, I suppose, the full forty-two chil¬
dren in the class; their ages varied from about eight years old
to about fourteen or fifteen. The class mostly consisted of
girls. ... He required that, before they were enrolled in the
class, they should be able to spell a few elementary botanical
terms, including some of the most difficult to spell, and those
that were the most essential to begin with. Those who brought
proof that they could do this were put into the third class; then
they were taught once a week, by himself generally, for an hour
or an hour and a half, sometimes for two hours (for they were
exceedingly fond of it).

Q. Did he use to take them out in the country, or was it
simply lessons in the school?

A. He left them to collect for themselves; but he visited
his parish daily, when the children used to come up to him,
and bring the plants they had collected; so that the lessons
went on all the week round. There was only one day in the
week on which definite instruction was given to the class; but
on Sunday afternoon he used to allow the senior class, and
those who got marks at the examinations, to attend at his
house. . . .

Q. Did he find any difficulty in teaching this subject in class ?

8

PREFACE.

A. None whatever; less than he would have had in dealing
with almost any other subject.

Q. Do you know in what way he taught it ? did he illus¬
trate it ?

A. Invariably; he made it practical. He made it an ob¬
jective study. The children were taught to know the plants,
and to pull them to pieces; to give their proper names to the
parts; to indicate the relations of the parts to one another;
and to find out the relation of one plant to another by the
knowledge thus obtained.

Q. They were children, you say, generally from eight to
twelve?

A. Yes, and up to fourteen.

Q. And they learned it readily?

A. Readily and voluntarily, entirely.

Q. And were interested it ?

A . Extremely interested in it. They were exceedingly fond
of it.

Q. Do you happen to know whether Prof. Henslow thought
that the study of Botany developed the faculties of the mind
—that it taught these children to think? and do you know
whether he perceived any improvement in their mental facul¬
ties from that ?

A. Yes; he used to think it was the most important agent
that could be employed for cultivating their faculties of obser¬
vation, and for strengthening their reasoning powers.

Q. He really thought that he had arrived at a practical re¬
sult ?

A . Undoubtedly; and so did every one who visited the
school or the parish.

Q. They were children of quite the lower class?

A. The laboring agricultural class.

Q. And in other branches receiving the most elementary
instruction ?

A. Yes.

Q. And Prof. Henslow thought that their minds were more
developed; that they were become more reasoning beings, from
having this study superadded to the others ?

PREFACE.

9

A. Most decidedly. It was also the opinion of some of the
inspectors of schools, who came to visit him, that such children
were in general more intelligent than those of other parishes;
and they attribute the difference to their observant and reason¬
ing faculties being thus developed. . . .

Q. So that the intellectual success of this objective study
was beyond question ?

A. Beyond question. ... In conducting the examinations
of medical men for the army, which I have now conducted for
several years, and those for the East India Company’s service,
which I have conducted for, I think, seven years, the questions
which I am in the habit of putting, and which are not answered
by the majority of the candidates, are what would have been
answered by the children in Prof. Henslovv’s village-school. I
believe the chief reason to be, that these students’ observing
faculties, as children, had never been trained—such faculties
having lain dormant with those who naturally possessed them
in a high degree; and having never been developed, by train¬
ing, in those who possessed them in a low degree. In most

medical schools, the whole sum and substance of botanical

«

science is crammed into a few weeks of lectures, and the men
leave the class without having acquired an accurate knowledge
of the merest elements of the science. . . .

The printed form or schedule contrived by Prof.
Henslow, and used in these classes, applied only to
the flower, the most complex part of the plant, and
the attention of children was directed by it chiefly to
those features upon which orders depend in classifica¬
tion. But, instead of confining its use to the study
of the flower, it seemed to me to be equally useful in
the whole course of Descriptive Botany. I accord¬
ingly prepared a simplified series of exercises on this
plan, and used them to guide some little children in

10

PREFACE.

studying the plants of the neighborhood ; and the ex¬
periment was regarded by those who witnessed it as
so successful, that a book embodying the course of
study was thought desirable.

After a year’s trial with this method of study, in
many schools of all grades and by private students, it
has been approved with remarkable unanimity and
earnestness. We have, therefore, now added several
chapters concerning the seed, germination, buds, the
aspect of woody plants, etc. The descriptions re¬
quired by these objects will be more full and general,
but the plan of describing only the results of actual
observations is still adhered to. Questions are asked,
but no answers are given; these are to be found by
direct inspection of the objects. Some simple experi¬
ments for children are introduced, and their attention
is directed to the changes which take place in the dif¬
ferent parts of the plants.

Only those observations have been selected which
can be made with the naked eye. But in “ The
Second Book of Botany ” the plan of schedule-study
is carried out, and provision made for more close and
extended observations requiring the help of magnify¬
ing-glasses.

Attempts have been made to teach classes by the
schedule method of this work, giving the children
only blackboard-lessons for guidance instead of the

PREFACE.

11

book; but all such attempts will be futile. For the
very essence of this method is that the pupil must
himself find out what he wants to know, and the
repetition of observations, their comparison, and veri¬
fication in determining characters, make it indispen¬
sable that book and plant should go together. Only
as a manual of practice in the hands of the learner
can the present book subserve the purpose for which
it was prepared.

In the preparation of the present cheaper edition
of u The First Book of Botany, 99 while its essential
plan has been in no wise altered, several changes have
been made. Some of the larger and less important
illustrations have been omitted, and a few others sub¬
stituted ; the observations upon flowers have been
extended, and slight additions made to the text;
while, by resetting, the whole matter has been brought
within smaller compass.

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS.

The method to be pursued by the aid of this book is the fol¬
lowing: The child, first of all, collects some plants—almost any
will answer in the start. The roots, stems, and leaves of plants,
it is assumed, are already known. But they are made up of
parts that vary in form and structure in different species. The
object of the learner is to find out these parts, to learn their
names and the names of their variations, so as to be able to de¬
scribe them.

In the First Exercise, for example, he finds the parts of
leaves shown by pictures, along with the names by which they
are known. He now looks at his specimens, and finds the real
things which the pictures and the words represent. When a
few of the parts are learned he commences the practice of
writing down wbat he observes. For this purpose a form, or
schedule , is used, containing questions which indicate what he
is to search for. Models of these schedules are given, in which
a pictured example is described. Children can make their own
schedules as soon as they have learned to print. At each new
exercise he carefully observes his specimens and writes down
what he finds. Having done this, he pins the specimen to the
paper describing it, and brings all his work to the teacher as
the report of his observation and judgment in the several cases.

This operation is constantly repeated upon varying forms,
and slowly extended by the addition of new characters. He
thus goes on discovering new parts, and learning their names—
noting the variations of these parts, and finding the names of
these variations. The schedules guide him forward in the right

14

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS.

direction, and hold him steadily to the essential work of exer¬
cising his faculties upon the living objects before him. In every
fresh collection of plants, new parts and new relations will so¬
licit the attention, and will have to be observed, compared, and
recorded. The names of plants, the parts of which are pictured
and described in this book, are not given. Many of them are
mere diagrams or outlines. Their purpose is to enable the pupil
to form clear ideas of what he is to look for in living plants;
and they are of no other possible account. The ability to clas¬
sify and name the plants of a region is one of the final results of
this study, and curiosity about their names before their botan¬
ical characters are known need not be encouraged. The object
is, by constant practice and repetition of observations upon a
great variety of plants, to train the pupil to find out the char¬
acters of any that come in his way, and make full and accurate
descriptions of them.

An acquaintance with botany on the part of the teacher,
although desirable, is not indispensable in using these exercises.
Any teacher or parent who is willing to ta\e the necessary pains
can conduct the children through them without difficulty ; and
if they will become fellow-students with them, all the better.
The child is not to be taught , but is to instruct himself. The
very essence of the plan is, that he is to mahe his own way , and
rely on nobody else; it is intended for self-development. Mis¬
takes will, of course, be made; but the whole method is self-
correcting , and the pupil, as he goes forward, will be constantly
rectifying his past errors. The object is less to get perfect re¬
sults at first than to get the pupil's opinion upon the basis of
his own observations.

Children can begin to study plants successfully by this
method at six or seven years of age, or as soon as they can
write. But close observations should not be required from
young beginners, nor the exercises be prolonged to weariness.
The transition from the unconscious and spontaneous observa¬
tions of children to conscious observation with a definite pur¬
pose should be gradual, beginning and continuing for some
time with the easiest exercises upon the most simple and obvi¬
ous characters.

HENSLOW’S BOTANICAL CHARTS.

In the study of plants, when the parts looked for are com¬
plex or minute, it is a great help to the pupil to form before¬
hand a clear idea of what he is to look for. The illustrations
of the book help him in this way, and teachers often prepare
large colored diagrams for the same purpose. More fully to
meet this need of schools and students, one of the last labors
of Prof. Henslow’s life was to prepare a set of botanical charts.
There was, perhaps, no other living man so competent to the
task, as his thorough knowledge of the science, his experience
as a lecturer to the Cambridge students when he was professor
in that university, and his subsequent teaching of the parish
children at Hitch am, qualified him to meet the wants of all
grades of learners. He prepared a series of nine large sheets,
and, as their publication was expensive, it was undertaken by
the Science and Art Department of the English Educational
Council. “Henslow’s Botanical Diagrams” have a high repu¬
tation for their scientific accuracy, their completeness of illus¬
tration, their judicious selection of typical specimens, and their
skillful arrangement for the purpose of education.

As nothing of the kind had been done in this country, and
as Henslow’s series when imported is costly; and, especially as
they are a most valuable help to the schedule method of teach¬
ing botany, I was desirous that the pupils of our schools in
their efforts at self-teaching should as far as possible have the
advantage of their use. The publishers of this book accordingly
incurred the very considerable expense of preparing a revised
edition of the English charts. This revision and reissue were
the more necessary, as the foreign edition is compressed into

16

HENSLOW’S BOTANICAL CHARTS.

so small a space that the figures oftea overlap, producing an
indistinct and confused effect. The American edition consists
of six large charts, and the pictures are spread over twice the
original area, giving much greater distinctness and a very at¬
tractive aspect to the series. Several American plants have
been substituted for the English species that are not found in
this country, and illustrations of the classes of flowerless plants
have been added, for which Prof. Iienslow did not seem to find
room.

In the plan of the charts, the plant is first represented of
its natural size and colors; then a magnified section of one of
its flowers is given, showing the relations of the parts to each
other. Separate magnified views of the different floral organs,
exhibiting all the botanical characters that belong to the group
of which it is a type, are also represented. The charts contain
nearly five hundred figures colored to the life, which represent
twenty-four orders and more than forty species of plants, show¬
ing a great variety of forms and structures of leaf, stem, root,
inflorescence, flower, fruit, and seed, with numerous incidental
characters peculiar to limited groups. All these are so pre¬
sented as to be readily compared and contrasted with each
other.

The charts are not designed to supersede the study of plants,
but only to facilitate it. Their office is the same as the illustra¬
tions of the book; but they are more perfect, and bring the
pupil a step nearer to the objects themselves.

Besides this special assistance in object-study, the charts
will be of great value, later on in the study, by bringing into a
narrow compass a complete view of the structures and relations
of the leading types of the vegetable kingdom. In fact, they
are designed to present, fully and clearly, those groupings of
characters upon which orders depend in classification; while in
several cases of large and diversified orders the characters of
leading genera are also given by typical specimens. The charts
will thus be found equally valuable to the beginner, the inter¬
mediate pupil, and the advanced student. A Key accompanies
them, and they can be used with any botanical text-books,
and during the season of plants they should be upon the walls
of every school-room where botany is studied.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Preface.... 3

Suggestions to Teachers....... - 13

Henslow’s Botanical Charts........ 15

Chapter I.—TIIE LEAF.. .. 21

Ex. 1. The Parts of a Leaf. 21

2. Venation. 24

3. The Margin of Leaves. 27

4. The Base and Apex of the Leaf-Blade. 32

5. The Forms of Lobes... 35

6. The Shapes of Leaves. 38

7. The Petiole, Colors, Surfaces..... . 44

8. How to tell Compound Leaves. 46

9. Parts of Compound Leaves. 48

10. Varieties of Pinnate and Digitate Leaves. 50

11. Stipules and Leaf-Schedules. 55

12. How to describe Leaves without Schedules. 56

Chap. II.—THE STEM. 57

Ex. 13. The Parts of Stems. 57

14. Venation. 60

15. Winter Buds. 65

16. Arrangement of Leaves on the Stem. 67

17. Radical Leaves.. 70

18. Attitude of Stems. 72

19. Shapes of Stems . 75

20. Color, Surface, Size, Structure... 76

21. Underground Stems... 77

2

18

CONTENTS.

Chap. III. — THE HOOT....................

Ex. 22. Tap-Roots and Fibrous Roots.

PAGE

81

81

Chap. IV.— 1 THE INFLORESCENCE.. 85

Ex. 23. Solitary and Clustered Inflorescence.. 85

24. Parts of the Inflorescence. .... 86

25. Attitude of Inflorescence..... 88

26. Varieties of Inflorescence. 89

Chap. V.—THE FLOWER. 95

Ex. 27. Parts of the Flower.... 95

28. Parts of the Calyx and Corolla.. 97

29. Kinds of Calyx... 99

30. Kinds of Corolla and Perianth. 101

31. Stamens and Pistil. 103

32. How to describe Stamens and Pistils. 105

33. Kinds of Polypetalous Corollas, Regular and Irregular 107

34. Kinds of Gamopetalous Corollas, Regular and Irregular 111

35. Crowns, Spurs, and Nectaries. 115

36. Symmetry of Flowers. 116

37. Complete and Incomplete Flowers. 118

38. Essential Organs and Protecting Organs... 120

39. Dichlamydeous, Monochlamydeous, and Achlamvdeous

Flowers. 120

40. Perfect, Imperfect, and Neutral Flowers. 122

41. Monoecious, Dioecious, and Polygamous Plants. 123

Chap. VI.—THE SEED.... 126

Ex. 42. Parts of the Seed. 126

43. Parts of the Body or Kernel. 129

44. Parts of the Embryo. 131

45. Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons.... 134

Chap. VII.—WOODY PLANTS..... 136

Ex. 46. Their Different Kinds. 136

47. Parts of a Tree. 139

48. Parts of a Trunk. 141

49. Kinds of Trunk. .. 142

50. Questions about Trees...... ... 143

CONTENTS.

19

Chap. VIII.—FRUIT...
Ex. 61. What is Fruit

oo«oo*o»ooooooe*oo«*ooo

o o • •c*«o*r>oo«oooo«««o«*

62. Sutures and Dehiscence

63. Parts of Carpels.

o • • •

PAGE

149

149

150
153

Chap. IX.—THE ACTIONS OF PLANTS..................

Ex. 54. Root-action and Leaf-action

0000 *« 00000900000 «

155

155

THE

FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

CHAPTER I.

THE LEAF.

EXERCISE I.

The Parts of a Leaf.

The first question to be asked about a leaf is,
What are its parts? You are to study living leaves.
Begin by finding and naming their parts. But, first
of all, you must get leaves to study.

If you look along the fences, in the yards, gar¬
dens, and orchards, in the fields and woods, you will
find leaves of many sorts on trees, bushes, and herbs.
Break them off carefully, so as to miss none of their
parts. It is better (when you are permitted) to get
small branches from trees and bushes, and you may
often find it best to get the whole of low plants. In
this way you will be sure to have the leaves with all
the parts belonging to them.

Fig. 1 shows you the parts of a complete leaf, and
the name of each part is printed near it.

Blade.— The flattened green part of the leaf.

Petiole.— The leaf-stalk.

Stip'ules. —Small bodies at the base of the petiole,
that look more or less like leaves.

22

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Look over the leaves you have gathered, and find
the blade in each of your specimens ; find the petiole,
and look for the stipules. Leaves having all the parts

Fig. 1

Fig. 2.

seen in Fig. 1 are said to be complete . When you
find a leaf without a leaf-stalk, but with the blade
sitting upon the branch, it is called a sessile leaf.
(Sessile means sitting.)

Do not expect to find the parts of leaves shaped
just like the figures in the book. Stipules are often
very small—mere thread-like bodies, that you may
easily overlook. And they are so often absent that
perhaps you have not a single complete leaf among
your specimens. You can easily tell which is blade
and which is leaf-stalk in your leaves, and you will
know the stipules when you see them.

Point out and give the name of each of the parts

THE LEAF.

23

of each kind of leaf you have found. Place the com¬
plete leaves by themselves. Put the sessile leaves
together.

The parts of grass-leaves are shown in Fig. 3.
You see the blade, the flattened upper part of the
leaf; and the sheath, a leaf-stalk surrounding the

stem; then on each leaf there is a lig'ule— it is the
scale-like stipule on the inside of the leaf between
the sheath and the blade.

There are many kinds of plants with leaves made
up of parts similar to these of the grass-leaf. Com=
pare grass-leaves with Fig. 3.

24

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

EXERCISE II.

Venation .

You already know by name, and can point out, the
parts of a leaf. By use yon will soon easily remem¬
ber these names. You have learned the names of
hundreds and hundreds of things, by hearing others
use them, and by using them yourself. Knowing the
name of a thing is not knowing much about it, to be
sure; but we must know its name if we are going to
talk and write about it. There are a great many
different parts in plants, and a great many new words
will be needed in their study; but when you are
looking at them, and talking and writing about them,
you will learn their names without effort.

There is a great deal to be seen in leaf-blades.
Hold up a leaf between your eye and the light; you
see it covered over with line lines, and it has also a
few coarser lines running through it. Break one of
the coarser ones and examine it. Is it woody ? Is it
hollow ? These lines are called veins, and all of them
taken together are spoken of as the venation of the
leaf. You see that the spaces between these lines are
all filled in with green matter. In some strong-veined
leaves this matter can all be dissolved, leaving the
veins just as they are now, but naked.

Find where the largest veins begin and end.
Where do the finer lines begin and end? Are there
more than two sizes of veins ?

You will need names for these different-sized
veins. The largest are called ribs, the branches from
the ribs are called veins, and the smallest are called
yeinlets. (See Figs. 6 and 7.) Put by themselves

THE LEAF.

25

all the leaves you have in which the veinlets form an
irregular net-work, as in Fig. 4. These are known as
net-veined leaves.

Fig. 4.

A Net-veined Leaf.

Fig 5.

A Parallel-veined Leaf.

Leaves in which no veinlets are seen, and leaves
in which the net-work of veinlets is regular, are called
parallel-veined, and sometimes fork-veined. Fig. 5
represents a parallel-veined leaf.

Look at each of your net-veined leaves, and count
its ribs. If it have only one rib, reaching from the
leaf-stalk across the blade to its very edge, and giving
off veins right and left, as the plume spreads away
from the shaft of a feather, it is called a feather-
veined leaf, and its one rib is named the midrib. If
it have several ribs spreading away from the leaf¬
stalk, as shown in Fig. 7, it is called a palmate-veined
leaf. Does Fig. 2 remind you at all of a feather or

26

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

quill ? Do Figs. 7 and 8 look to you like your own open
hand, with the fingers spreading out from the palm ?

Fig. 6.

Fig. 7.

Veinlets.

Vein.

Midrib.

Feather-veined.

Palmate-veined.

Separate your feather-veined from your palmate-
veined leaves.

Fig. 8.

You may not always find it easy to tell whether a
leaf is feather veined ox palmate veined. Large veins
that start near the leaf-stalk sometimes look very much
like ribs. You may make mistakes here at first; but
remember that finding out mistakes is a good way
to learn.

THE LEAF.

27

Did yon ever see the frame of a house before it
was covered with boards ? Did you ever see the bony
frame of an animal with all its flesh gone ? All the
veins of a leaf, taken together, are often spoken of as
its frame.

Can you now point out the parts of any leaf you
find? Can you tell whether it is net- or parallel-
veined ? Do you know feather-veined from palmate-
veined leaves ?

In place of reciting to your teacher a lesson learned
from a book, you may find the answers to two ques¬
tions on each of the leaves you have gathered, and
give them in writing as you see done in the following
schedule. The first question is, What parts has it?
The second is. What is its venation ?

Fig. 9.

Schedule First, describing Fig. 9.

Parts ?

^H$/ac/e,

Venation ?

QAel=vetn ec/.

This has been done for Fig. 9 to show you how to
proceed. Have by you a good many pieces of paper

28

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

witH these two questions either printed or written
upon them, as seen in schedule first. Answer these
questions about my leaf, as you see they have been
answered about Fig. 9. Pin each bit of paper to the
leaf it describes, and give all to your teacher. This
will be at once an exercise in botany, in writing,* and
in spelling ; and it will show your teacher what use
you have made of the time taken to study plants.

EXERCISE III.

The Margin of Leaves*

Look at the edges of your leaves. Are they all
alike ? Are all that grow on the same plant alike ?

The edge of a leaf-blade is called its margin .

Some of the most common forms of margins are
here given. Compare your leaves with these figures
to find wdiich they are most like. The name of the
form is given below the figure, and you are also told
how you may name those margins that are not like
the diagrams.

Fig. 10.

Fig. 11.

Fig. 12.

Ed tire.

Serrate.

Crenate,

THE LEAR

29

An Entire margin is even and smooth, like Fig. 10.

A Seriate margin has sharp teeth pointing for¬
ward like a saw (see Fig. 11).

A Cre'nate margin has broad, rounded notches,
like Fig. 12.

A Den / tate margin has sharp teeth pointing out¬
ward. Figs. 13 and 14 are different forms of Dentate
margin.

Fig. 13. Fig. 14. Fig. 15.

In Rep and' (Wavy) margins the edge curves out¬
ward and inward, as in Fig. 15.

Fig. 16. Fig. IT.

Each of these different kinds of margin varies in
many ways.

Figs. 16 and 17 show the serrate and crenate man

30

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

gins, with their notches very small. The) 7 are hence
described as finely serrate and finely crenate. On the
other hand, if the toothing is very large, as in Fig.
18, the margin is coarsely serrate.

When coarsely-notched leaves have finer notches
upon their margin, as in Fig. 19, the leaves are said

Fio. 18.

Coarsely Serrate.

Fig. 19.

to be doubly serrate, dentate, etc. When the notches
are of all sizes, and without any order, as in Fig. 20,
they are said to be unevenly serrate, or crenate, or
dentate. Yon will often find two or more kinds of
toothing upon the same leaf. In such cases, to de¬
scribe the margin, you have only to put together
these names of the different kinds of notches. For
instance, if part of the notches are serrate and part
dentate, this forms a serrate-dentate margin. If some
of the notches are crenate and some serrate, it will be
crenate-serrate, and so on.

Such deep notches as are seen in Fig. 21 form
lobes, and the margins of these lobes vary like other
leaf-margins.

The questions in schedule second are asked con-

THE LEAF.

31

cerning Fig. 3, the grass-leaf. Compare the answers
with the picture. Add this question to the others of

Fig. 20. Fig. 21.

your schedules, and look closely for all these different
forms of margin. In answering it you will soon get
familiar with the words needed to describe them.

Schedule Second, describing Fig. 3.

Parts ?

&3/ac/e y G$(eal/i,

Yenation ?

(&aia$e/=zsetnec/.

Margin ?

•

«— ——. . , .. ...

(on foie.

32

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY,

EXERCISE IY.

The JBase and Apex of the Leaf- Blade*

It is a good thing for scholars that leaves quickly
wither, and must be gathered afresh for each day’s
study. It will be strange and very stupid if, in get¬
ting the same ones you studied the day before, you
do not each day find others that are new to you.
You should always try to do this.

When you were studying the venation of your
leaf-blades and their margins, perhaps you did not
notice that they also differed very much in shape.
We are now to begin the study of the forms of
leaves, and the first step will be to notice the two
ends of the leaf-blade. The lower end, next the
stalk, is called the base of the blade, and the other
end is called the apex. Fig. 22 represents two leaves
placed one upon the other, that are alike in shape of
apices but unlike at the base. The names given to
the shapes of the bases of leaf-blades are:

Fig. 22. Fig. 28.

Hastate (Halberd-shaped). — When there are
spreading lobes at the base, as in the diagram, Fig. 22.

THE LEAF.

33

Sagittate (Arrow-shaped).— When these lobes
are sharp, and point downward. Fig. 22. When these
basal lobes are small and rounded, they are said to be
auric/ulate (ear-shaped). Fig. 23.

Ren'iform (Kidney-shaped). — When they are
broader than long, as seen in the diagram, Fig. 24,
where the shapes of five different leaf-blades are shown.

Cordate (Heart-shaped), Fig. 24.—When the
whole blade is shaped like a heart, it is said to be
cordate . But the word may be used in describing
the base alone.

Fig. 24.

Lanceolate.

Subulate.
Cordate.
Reniform_

Ovate.

Oblique'.— When one side of the base is longei
and lower than the other, Fig. 25.

Fig. 25.

Fig. 26. Fig. 27. Fig. 28.

Tapering. —When the blade tapers off at the base.
Fig. 26 shows a base that is very tapering.

34

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Clasping. —Where the base folds around the stem
of the plant, Fig. 27.

Connate 7 .— Where the bases of two leaves grow
together around the plant-stem, as in Fig. 28.

Decur'rent. —Where the lower part of the mid¬
rib grows to the plant-stem, as in Fig. 29.

Fig. 29. Fig. 30.

The apex of a leaf is said to be acute' when it
ends in a point; but if the point is very sharp and
tapering, it is acu'minate. The cordate leaf-form
shown in Fig. 24 has an apex that may be called
acute . The lanceolate leaf-form has an acuminate
apex.

When very blunt, the apex is called obtuse. When
there is no proper apex, and the end of the blade
looks as if it had been cut off, it is said to be trun'-
cate.

It is emar'ginate when it has a small, sharp, in¬
ward notch at the apex, and retuse' when it is rounded
inward. But when the apex is rounded inward so as
to look like a cordate base , it is an obcor'date apex.
(See Fig. 30.)

When the blade ends suddenly with a short, slen-

THE LEAF.

35

der point, it is cus'pidate • but if the point is sharp
and stiff, it is mu'cremate .

The words acute, acuminate, and obtuse, may be
used to describe bases as well as apices , and, when
we wish to say that a shape is less acute or less
acuminate than those shown in Fig. 24, we may say
it is sub-acute or sub-acuminate.

Schedule third again describes Fig. 1. Observe
how the three new questions about leaves are here
answered.

Schedule Third, describing Fig. 1.

Parts ?

!S$/ac/e, 'J^etco/e, G$ffia/eh

Y enation ?

vecnec/, QAealAei,=vecnec/.

Margin ?

oAeliate.

Base?

(Astute.

Apex ?

* — -—

gAu^-- acute.

EXERCISE V.

The Forms of Lobes .

Before studying the forms of whole blades, it will
be w T ell to look with more care at lobed leaves. Gather
as many as you can find; for, the more specimens
you study at each exercise, the more you will learn.

36

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

The lobe at the apex of a leaf, which is called the
terminal lobe, and those at the base, called the basal
lobes, have to be first noticed. Are they alike in the
same leaf? Are they like the other lobes of the
leaf?

Fig. 31. Fig. 32.

Observe whether the lobes are round like Fig. 31,
or sharp like Fig. 32.

Add the question Lobes ? to your schedule, and
when you answer it in regard to a leaf, say how many
lobes it has, and whether they are round or sharp.
If the terminal or the basal lobes are larger, smaller,
or different in shape from the others, you can put
down the fact in answer to the questions Base ? and
Apex ? When feather-veined leaves are lobed, they
are said to be pinnately lobed (from pinna^ a feather),
and palmate-veined leaves, Fig. 32, are said to be pal-
mately lobed.

Look your specimens over once more, to see
whether the spaces between the lobes are alike in all
of them. The space between two lobes is called a
sFnus. Look at the names given to the different
sinuses in the following figures.

THE LEAF.

Fig 33.

Fig. 34.

Fig. 36,

When feather-veined leaves have deep lobes, they
are said to be pinnatifid.

Fig. 36.

Broad, round, shallow Sinus.

Fig, 37.

Fig. 33, with its open sinus, is further described
as regularly pinnatifid. If the pupil choose. Fig. 34
might be said to have its lobes overlapping, and Fig.

38

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

35 its lobes spreading, in place of referring to the
sinus.

Fig. 38.

Sharp and deep Sinus.

EXERCISE VI.

The Shapes of Leaves .

You have seen that leaves take on many different
shapes. All the leading forms which they assume are
shown in this exercise. Each figure has a name of its
own; but you need not fear the task of learning so
many new words. Give yourself no trouble about
it. When you find a leaf that is like any figure
here given, use the name given to the figure in de¬
scribing the leaf, and, by doing this over and over,
you will find that the word will seem to become part
of the shape. When you see the shape, the word
will come at once into your mind. Never try to
learn botanical names in any other way. Be sure
that, if you really study plants as they abound every¬
where, the language needed to describe them will be
learned without any sense of effort. If you collect

THE LEAF.

39

and describe as many leaves as you should, you will
have abundant use for every one of the terms here
given.

For the present, put aside your lobed leaves.

The first eighteen diagrams are divided into three
groups :

(a.) Figures of leaves that are broadest in the
middle.

(5.) Figures of leaves that are broadest at the base.

(c.) Figures of leaves broadest at the apex.

You will know at once which of these groups to
compare a leaf with.

Do not expect to find your specimens exactly like
the figures. Give them the names of the forms they
most resemble.

When a leaf seems to be about equally like any
two figures, join together the names of these two
forms in describing it, as seen in Fig. 42.

(a.) LEAVES THAT ARE BROADEST IN THE

MIDDLE.

Fig. 39. Fig. 40. Fig. 41.

Orbic'ular.

Rotun'date.

Broadly elliptical.

40

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Fig. 42.

Fig. 43.

V

Oblong.

Fig. 44.

Linear.

Fig. 45,

Acic'ular.

LEAVES THAT ARE BROADEST
Fig. 46. Fig. 47.

AT THE BASE.

Fig. 48. Fig. 49

Fig. 50.

Fig. 51.

'•3

Lanceolate. Awl-shaped

Fig. 52.

THE LEAF.

41

(C.) LEAVES THAT
Fig. 53.

ARE BROADEST AT THE A.PEX 0
Fig. 54. Fig. 55. Fig. 56.

Fig. 57 represents a peltate leaf. It is an unusual
and striking leaf-form.

Peltate leaves are round, and have the petiole
attached near the middle of the under surface of the
blade, Fig. 57.

Fig. 57. Fig. 58.

The forms shown in Fig. 58 are a repetition of
those shown in group #, and will help the scholar in

42

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

forming a correct idea of the shape that goes with
any of these names.

In studying lobed leaves you will find a good
many very singular forms, concerning which it would
be hard to answer the questions in the schedule.
Some of these forms are here pictured. When you
find in your collection lobed leaves that are very
peculiar, compare them with these pictures and defini¬
tions.

A Run'cinate leaf is a lobed feather-veined leaf,
in which the lobes point backward toward the base.
Fig. 59.

Fig. 59. Fig. 60. Fig. 61.

Bipinnat'ifid leaves are formed when a deeply-
lobed feather-veined leaf has its lobes again lobed, as
in Fig. 60.

A Pei/ate leaf is a lobed palmate-veined leaf, in
which the lobes at the base are lobed again, and give
the leaf a look like the foot of a bird, Fig. 63.

Laciniate.— Leaves are so named when they look

THE LEAF.

43

as if they had been gashed with scissors. Fig. 62 is
an example of such a leaf.

A Lyrate leaf is a lobed feather-veined leaf, with

Fig. 62 .

Fig. 63.

Lyrate.

the terminal lobe much larger than the others, Fig.
63.

Fig. 62 is described in schedule fourth, where, in
saying the shape is Laciniate, the questions Base?
Apex? and Lobes? are all answered.

Schedule Fourth, describing Fig. 62.

Parts ?

^elco/e, !J^fac/e.

Y enation ?

?/admate=vecne(/.

Margin ?

Shape ?

J2bctntate.

44

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

EXERCISE VII.

The Petiole, Colors, Surface •

If you have gathered and studied all the leaves
you could find, as directed in former exercises, when
now you look at leaves you notice what parts make
them up, their style of venation, their margins, their
shapes at their bases and apices; if they are lobed
leaves, you inspect and count the lobes, and you try
to say in one word, if possible, what is their general
shape.

Put three more questions to this list, and when all
are answered you have given a botanical description
of a simple leaf. The first of these new questions is,
Petiole? Tell whether the petiole is roundish, angu¬
lar, furrowed, long or short, straight or crooked, stiff
or flexible.

The next question is, Color ? Have you not seen
that leaves vary in color from dark to light green;
that they are sometimes spotted, or striped with
brown, red, and other colors ; that the under side often
has one color, and the upper another ? This question
will be easily answered.

Then you must observe the qualities of the sur¬
face of a leaf. If it is not hairy, botanists call it
glabrous . They have a word also for densely woolly
surfaces— tomentose. Sometimes the surface is very
shiny. In answering this question, put down what¬
ever appears to be the character of the surface you
are describing.

The surfaces of plants are said to be Silky when
the hairs are long, very fine, and pressed down closely,
so as to present a silky appearance.

THE LEAF.

45

The schedule is now made up of the following ten
questions:

While in a book we must
give a fixed order of exercises,
it is well if teachers use their
own judgment in folio wing this
order. Often much will be
gained by changing it. There
are minds that demand vari¬
ety, or their interest flags;
and the minds of children,
especially, are liable to grow
weary of continued attention
to one class of objects. Before
proceeding with the exercises
upon compound leaves, it may,
therefore, be advisable to turn
to the chapter upon the In¬
florescence, or that upon the
Flower, and occupy a little
time with the opening exercise
in which the names of parts
are brought before the mind.

The identification and naming
of the parts of flowers will be
easier to most children than
finding the differences be¬
tween simple and compound
leaves; while dealing with an- .
other and more showy portion
of the plant will stimulate the attention.

The use of schedule fifth should, however, still be kept up,
and, after a little while, the pupil will come back to the study
of compound leaves with a fresh relish for the subject.

Schedule Fifth.

Parts ?

Yenation ?

Margin ?

Base ?

Apex '(

Lobes ?

Shape ?

Petiole ?

Color ?

Surface ?

46

THE FIRST HOOK OF BOTANY.

EXERCISE VIII.

Ho w to tell Compound Leaves •

The next time you search for leaves, remember
that some leaves have more than one blade, as shown
in Fig. 65. When you see a leaf with several blades

growing from the petiole and its continuation, call it
a compound leaf, and call each of these blades a leaflet .
It is sometimes difficult to‘tell a simple from a com¬
pound leaf, and this is the reason that I did not call
attention to them before. You have to learn: first,
the differences between simple leaves without lobes
and compound leaves; and second, the differences
between lobed leaves and compound leaves.

A simple leaf has only one blade, as in Fig. 64.
Any leaf with more than one blade is compound . If

COMPOUND LEAVES.

47

you have been describing leaflets as if they were sim¬
ple leaves, you must now be careful not to make this
mistake.

Your chief difficulty will be to know leaflets from
the lobes of deeply-lobed leaves. It is said that leaf¬
lets are jointed to the stalk, and you may know a
joint by the smooth end of the broken-off petiole;
but this is not always true. Leaflets may be found
in all stages of union with the stem, and there is no
way of being sure which is which but by patiently
studying the leaves themselves. It requires a good
deal of judgment, but there is no harm in making
the attempt, even if it is likely to be often a failure.

Another way of settling the question is to see if
the green matter reaches all around the framework,
and is continued down the common stalk (Fig. 66).

PIG. 66. Fig. 67.

This never happens in the case of leaflets. The way
leaflets differ from deep lobes is shown in Fig. 67.

If you make mistakes in this matter, never mind.
Each mistake will help you on, if you keep trying to
learn.

48

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

EXERCISE IX.

Farts of Compound Leaves .

Leaves, in growing, are sometimes changed from
simple to slightly lobed, from slightly to deeply lobed,
and from lobed to compound. When feather-veined
leaves, wdth their stout middle rib, are thus changed,
they become pinnately lobed, or pinnately compound
as in Fig. 68.

Leaves with several ribs, palmate-veined leaves,

Fig. 68.

become palmately lobed or palmately compound, as
shown in Fig. 69. They are usually called digitate
leaves, from the resemblance of the leaflets to fingers.

Leaflet.— One of the blades of a compound leaf.

Pet'iolule.— The stem of a leaflet.

StFpels.— The stipules of leaflets.

Ra'chis. — The continuation of the petiole to
which leaflets are attached.

Gather a great many compound leaves and look
for their different parts.

The parts of different kinds of compound leaves

COMPOUND LEAVES.

49

are shown in Figs. 68, 69, and 70, along with the
meaning of all the names you do not already know.

Fig. 69.

By comparing your specimens witli these figures you
will be able to fill out a compound-leaf schedule, hav¬
ing the two questions shown in schedule sixth. Do
not pass on to the next exercise till you have found
the parts of dozens of different kinds of compound
leaves.

Schedule Sixth, describing Fig. 68.

Parts.

!27tac/i t&, '^eho/e, • c

No. of
Leaflets.

y . Gp'eal/ie^veinec/, (2 ^ektate, &vate.

4

50

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Observe the venation, margin, shape, etc., of leaf¬
lets as you have done in studying simple leaves. You

Fig. 70.

see, in schedule sixth, that the leaflets are described
as feather-veined, serrate, ovate.

EXERCISE X.

Varieties of JVin'nate and Dig'itate Leaves .

Compound leaves, then, having parts similar to
those shown in Figs. 65, 68, 71, are called pinnate
leaves; and when the parts are joined as in Figs.
78 and 79, they are called digitate leaves. But there
are a great many kinds of both pinnate and digitate

COMPOUND LEAVES.

51

leaves. Gather some compound leaves and separate
the pinnate from the digitate ones. Observe the dif-

Fig. 71.

ferent forms of pinnate leaves. Leaves are said to be
unequally pinnate when they end with an odd or
single leaflet, Fig. 71.

A leaf is said to be abruptly pinnate when it
ends with a pair of leaflets, Fig. 72.

Interruptedly Pinnate.— When the leaflets are
alternately large and small, Fig. 73.

52 the first book of botany.

Fig. 72. Fig. 73.

Cirrous. Twice Pinnate.

COMPOUND LEAVES.

53

Fig. 76.

Thrice Pinnate.

Fig. 77 .

Fig. 78 .

54

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Cirrous. — When the rachis ends in a tendril,
Fig. 74.

Twice Pinnate.— When the petiolule is continued
as a rachis which bears the leaflets, Fig. 75.

Fig. T9.

Fig. 80.

Seven-fingered.

Tri-Pinnate. —When the leaflets are borne upon
a third rachis, branching off from the second, Fig. 76,
Of digitate leaves the varieties are the trifoliate
or three-fingered (Fig. 77); the five-fingered (Fig. 78);
the seven-fingered (Fig. 79); and the twice three-fin¬
gered (Fig. 80).

Five-fingered. —A digitate leaf with five fingers
or leaflets.

COMPOUND LEAVES.

55

Schedule Seventh, describing Fig. 75.

Parts ?

^/e/cbfe,

No. Leaflets ?

/ O. dPva/, Snfoie.

Kind ?

^ytnnate.

Variety ?

EXERCISE XI.

I

Stipules and Leaf-Schedules*

Stipules are said to be

Free. —When not united to any other part, and

Adnate. — When they grow to
as in Fig. 1.

Ochreate. — When they form a
sheath round the stem, Fig. 81.

Membranous. — When like the
dried skin of animals, and

Prickly.— When like those shown
in Fig. 71.

All leaves, whether simple or com¬
pound, are said to be stipulate if they
have stipules, and ex-stipulate if with¬
out stipules.

Any leaf with a petiole may be described as a
petiolate leaf, and any leaf without a petiole as a
sessile leaf.

the petioles,

Fig. 81.

56

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY,

EXERCISE XII.

How to describe Leaves without Schedules .

Pupils who have been diligent in the use of the
preceding schedules ought now to be able to describe
leaves without their aid. This exercise gives two
such descriptions. They follow the same order as that
given in the schedules. The first is a description of
Fig. 1.

The blade is simple, petiolate, stipulate, net-veined,
feather-veined, serrate, abruptly acuminate, oval;
petiole short; stipules adnate.

The second describes Fig. 65, which represents a

Compound, petiolate, stipulate, unequally pinnate
leaf. Leaflets 5, petiolate, feather-veined, serrate,
ovate; stipules adnate.

With the next chapter you begin the study of
stems. But you must not stop observing leaves if you
are to remember what you have learned. In most
cases it takes a good deal of time and many repeated
observations to fix impressions in the mind so that
they will not be forgotten. It often happens that we
get familiar with the appearance of objects in a short
time when we observe them intensely, but this famil¬
iarity is not lasting unless the attention is prolonged,
or the impressions are revived at intervals. It will
be best, therefore, to continue to describe leaves in
the above form upon the stem-schedules that follow.

In punctuating these descriptions—1. Separate
adjectives relating to the same noun by commas; 2.
Parts of the same organ by semicolons; 3. Distinct
organs by a period.

CHAPTER II.

THE STEM.

EXERCISE Xlir.
The Parts of Stems.

Fig. 82.

Axil of Leaf*

Internode.

Node.

58

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

If yon compare tlie stems of plants with Fig. 82,
you will find them made up of the parts here pointed
out. At certain places, called nodes, along the stem,

Fig. 83.

a leaf or leaves will be seen, with bare spaces be¬
tween. In Fig. 82 the stem is made np of these
spaces, each with a leaf at its top. Find the nodes

THE STEM.

59

upon the specimens yon have collected for study.
Find the leaf-axil in your living plants.

The Node, or joint of a stem, is the point from
which leaves are given off.

The Internode is the portion of stem between
two nodes.

The Leaf-Axil is the point at the upper side of
the leaf where it joins the stem.

Observe whether the nodes of plants are swollen
and watery (tumid); whether they are hairy or of a
different color from the internodes. Look carefully
to see if stems are jointed at the nodes.

Observe the parts pointed out in Fig. 83, and look
for like parts in the plants before you.

Terminal Bud.— The bud at the end of the
stem.

Axillary Bud. —The bud in the axil of a leaf.

Branch. —A stem which grows from an axillary
bud. It is sometimes called a secondary stem, and the
stem from which it starts is said to be the primary
stem.

Is the branch made up of the same parts as the
main stem? Do you find branches growing from ax¬
illary buds in your specimens?

Do not pass on to the next exercise till you have
examined a great many stems, found all the parts
shown in Figs. 82 and 83, and become so familiar with
their names that when asked to point out a leaf-axil
or a node or internode, you can do it promptly and
with confidence.

60

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

EXERCISE XIY.

Vernation*

Vernation is the way m which leaves are folded,
rolled, or arranged in the bud.

Fresh buds are constantly appearing throughout
the growing season at the tips of steins and in the
axils of leaves. Observe the way in which the parts
of these buds are packed together. Observe them
when they are just opening. If you are watchful,
you will be sure to find them at a moment when the
growing leaves have not yet lost the shapes they had
while packed in the bud.

The chief ways in which leaves are rolled and
folded in buds are shown in the following illustrations.

THE STEM.

Fig. S6.

61

Oonduplicate.

Fig. 87.

Fig. 38,

62

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Rec/linate, or Inflexed 7 .— Folded from apex to
base, Fig. 84.

Cir cinate.— Rolled from apex to base, Fig. 85.

Fig. 89 .

Oondu'plicate. —Folded along the midrib so that
the two halves are applied to each other, Fig. 86.

Placate.— Folded like a fan. Figs. 84 and 88.

Con'volute.— With the leaf rolled spirally so that
one edge is in the center of the coil and one outside,
Fig. 89.

InVolute.— With both edges rolled inward toward
the midrib, Fig. 90.

THE STEM.

63

Rev'olute.— With both edges rolled outward to¬
ward the midrib, Fig. 91.

Fig. 90.

Involute.
Fig. 91.

Revolute.

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

When leaves are neither folded nor rolled in the
bud, they are said to be flat .

ARRANGEMENT OF LEAVES IN THE BTJD.

By the arrangement of the leaves in a bud is
meant the ways in which they are placed in relation
to each other. For instance, Fig. 92 shows what is
called the equitant arrangement.

Fig. 92.

4

Equitant.

Eq'uitant. —When opposite conduplicate leaves
overlap each other at the base.

Leaves are always arranged in one or other of the
two ways called valvate and imbricate.

The Vai 'vate arrangement is seen when the edges
of corresponding leaves barely touch each other.

The Imbricate arrangement is seen when the
edges of the leaves overlap each other. Fig. 92
shows an imbricate arrangement.

THE STEM.

65

The directions for observing the folding and roll¬
ing of leaves-apply also to the study of their arrange-
ment. But there are several different ways in which
imbricate leaves are placed, and it is sometimes quite
difficult to make them out. The best way to study
the arrangement of leaves in the bnd is to cut off the
top of the bud with a sharp knife, and look down on
the cut edges, which will show not only whether the
leaves are imbricate or valvate, but also, if they are
imbricate, the particular mode of overlapping. In
most cases, how r ever, a magnifying-glass is needed to
show these details.

EXERCISE XV.

Winter Buds.

The time to study winter buds is in early spring.
At this season gather buds from all the trees and
shrubs within your reach.

Compare them with Figs. 93 and 94.

Choose a swollen bud, and cut through it, as shown
in Fig. 95. Can you find in it the parts there shown?

Bud-Scales. —The covering of winter buds, Figs.
93, 94.

Growing-Point. —The soft extremity of the stem
at the center of the bud, and inclosed in the young
unexpanded leaves and the bud-scales #, Fig. 95.

Unexpanded Leaves are found in buds, as seen
in Fig. 95.

Are any of your buds without a protective cover¬
ing to the growing-point?

Observe in each case whether the scales are mem-

66

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

branous, waxy, gummy, lined with down, wool, oi
dense hairs, or varnished upon the exterior.

Fig. 93.

Fig. 94.

Fig. 95o

Scale-covered

bud.

Scale-

covered

bud.

Leaves.

a. Grow-
mg point.

Scales.

What is the use of the gummy matter, varnish,
and wax, around the bud ?

Of what use are the woolly, downy, and hairy
linings of the bud-scales ?

What separates the gummed bud-scales when
growth begins ?

When you are familiar with the winter aspect of
the buds upon the trees around, you will be interested
in their unfolding. Observe what becomes of the bud-
scales on each of the trees you have examined. Scales
may be changed into other parts, or they may fall off
altogether. Observe these changes. Notice the scars
left by their fall.

Petxolar scales are formed from the petiole.

Stip'ular scales are formed from the stipules.

Folia'ceous scales are formed from the blade of
the leaf.

THE STEM.

67

By frequent observations made during their
growth, you will be able to answer the following
questions in regard to each sort of bud you have
found.

QUESTIONS ON THE BUDS OF A PLANT.

When do the buds begin to swell ?

How long are they in unfolding ?

Are they naked, scaly, woolly, or gummy?

Can you find the growing-point within them ?

Is there any appearance of leaves within them ?

What are the size, color, and structure of the bud
before swelling commences ?

Plow long is it from the first bursting of the bud
till the leaves are full grown ?

What changes of color do the leaves undergo dur¬
ing growth ?

Are the first-formed leaves as large as those formed
later in the season ?

What becomes of the bud-scales as the buds ua
fold?

In studying the leaves of a plant, you will now
observe the vernation, and it may be given in your
leaf-description.

EXERCISE XVI.

Arrangement of Leaves on the Stem .

Alternate Leaves. —Leaves are alternate on the
stem when there is but one at each node, as in Fig. 96.

Opposite Leaves.— When two leaves grow oppo¬
site each other, we call it the opposite arrangement.
Fig. 97.

68

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Whorled Leaves. —When there are more than
two leaves at a node, we say the leaves are whorled.
Fig. 98.

Fig. 96. Fig. 97.

Besides pointing out the parts of a stem, can yon
now determine the vernation of the buds upon it?
Can you describe the leaf-arrangement ? You can

THE STEM

69

Fig. 98.

easily find plenty of examples of all the kinds of
vernation shown in the foregoing exercises, and of
the three modes cf leaf-arrangement shown m this.

c5 0

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

EXERCISE XVIL
Radical Leaves e

In Fig. 101 the leaves seem to grow from the
root, and so are called radical leaves. But they really

Fig. 99.

Stem Leaves.

Fig. 100.

grow from very short stems, like the one shown in
Fig. 100. Here yon see that the nodes are crowded

THE STEM.

71

closely above each other, and no internodes are formed.
Examine plants with radical leaves, and find their
nodes all packed together close upon the root.

Fig.101.

Radical Leaves.

When you describe leaves, you should hereafter
say that they are radical, when they seem to grow
from the root, and when they grow along the stem
you should state whether they are alternate, opposite,
or whorled. For instance, the leaf-description of
Fig. 97 would read thus: Leaves opposite, petiolate,
exstipulate, palmate-veined, serrate, base cordate, five-
lobed, terminal lobe acuminate, leaf broader than long.

72

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

EXERCISE XVIII.
Attitude of Stems .

Erect stems stand upright, Fig. 102.

Drooping stems are weak, and bend over, Fig.

103.

Fig. 102.

Fig. 103.

Creeping stems lie along or below the surface of
the ground, and send down roots from their nodes,

Fig. 104.

THE STEM.

73

Fig. 104.

Fig. 105.

FiGo 106.

Ascending.

74

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Trailing stems are weak, and lie loosely along tlie
ground, Fig. 105.

Ascending steins stand slanting, Fig. 106,

Fig. 108.

Climbing 1 .

Twining.

Climbing stems are weak, and cling by tendrils to
tlie objects about them, Fig. 107=

Twining stems are too weak to stand alone, and
support themselves by winding around other stems.

Fig. 108.

THE ISTEM.

75

EXERCISE XIX.

Shapes of Stems.

The following are by no means all the shapes, nor
are they the precise shapes, that stems assume, but

Fig. 109.

Rounded.
Fig. 112.

Fig. 115.

Fig. 110.

Compressed.
Fig. 113.

Acute-angled.
Fig. 116.

Fig. 111.

Half-rounded.
Fig. 114.

their forms will most commonly be found to approach
very nearly to some of these outlines.

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

EXERCISE XX.

Color , Surface, Size , Structure .

Color. —Stems may be spotted, striped, green,
brown, red, or purple. Surface.— The surface of a
stem, like that of leaves, may be smooth, rough, shiny,
dull, hairy, or glabrous. Size.— Stems may be high
or low, slender or thickened.

Structure. —To find out the structure of a stem,
you must break it, and observe first whether it is
hollow or solid . Next see if it is thready: these
threads are woody fibers, and, when present, they
help to make the stem hard and tough. It is then
called a Woody stem; but, if it is soft and brittle,
it is an Herbaceous stem.

The hairs of plants are Arachnoid, when veiy
long, and loosely entangled, so as to resemble cobweb.
Bearded, when the hairs are long, and placed in tufts.
Downy, or Pubescent, when the hairs form a short,
soft layer, which only partly covers the skin. Hairy,
when the hairs are rather longer, and more rigid.
Villous, when very long, very soft, erect, and straight.
Velvety, short, soft, very dense, but rather rigid,
forming a surface like velvet.

There are six questions that you have found it
very easy to answer about stems. Here they are, put
together in the form of a stem-schedule. If you can
remember all these questions, and answer them one
after another, as the questions of the leaf-schedule are
answered in leaf-descriptions like that of Fig. 97, on
page 70, there will be no need of using the schedule.
But it is very well to use it for a few days, till the
points to be observed are all fixed in the mind.

THE STEM,

77

Schedule Eighth, of the Stem

Shape ?

Attitude?

Color ?

Surface ?

*

Size ?

Structure ?

: t

EXERCISE XXL

I

Underground Stems •

In your study of stems you must have seen many
like Fig. 100, made up wholly of nodes, so crowded
upon each other that the leaves they bear seem to
grow out of the ground. You have now to learn that
there are various kinds of underground stems, and
before you can find them you must know the differ¬
ence between a stem and a root.

Pull up a buttercup, or any common plant, and
rinse away the dirt from the roots. Compare the tip
of a rootlet with the tip of a branch. Are they
alike? Do you find the roots made up of nodes and
internodes ? Are there buds on the roots ? Pull up

78

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

another plant and compare the root and stem in the
same way. Do yon find the same differences ? Com¬
pare the root and stem of a great many plants, and
see if the differences you first noted are not always
found.

You may perhaps find parts of plants under ground
that bear buds or are a sort of bud; but they are not
common, and they are not roots. By-and-by, when
you have studied the mode of growth of plants, you
will find further differences between root and stem,
but for the present you may know stems from roots
by the presence of buds upon them.

Look at a potato that has begun to sprout. Can
it be a root ? It is a thickened portion of an under¬
ground stem, and botanists call it a Tuber. In Fig.

Fig. 118.

Tuber.

118 you can see the nodes of this underground stem.
Observe that roots are given off at these nodes the
same as in the creeping stem shown at Fig. 104.
Look for examples of roots given off from the nodes
of stems that grow only above ground.

THE STEM.

79

Other forms of underground stems are—

The Cokm (Fig. 119).—Here the base of the stem

Fig. 119.

is abruptly thickened just below the surface of the
ground, so as to resemble a tuber.

The Bulb (Fig. 120).—A mass of thickened, scale¬
like leaves growing from a flat or conical base. From
the under side of this base, roots are given off.

Fig. 121 shows a vertical section of the bulb.

The Riiizoma.— A stem more or less covered by
the soil, from the nodes of which buds are given off
above and roots below (Fig. 122).

Bull up a growing onion and find its root and
stenL

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Fig. 121,

Bulb.

Section of Bulb.

Find tiie root and stem of a growing hyacinth;
of a lily; of sweet-flag, peppermint, solomon’s-seal,
artichoke.

Fig. 122,

Rhizoma.

If you can not get at these plants at once, be sore
to study their roots and stems when you do find them.

CHAPTER III.

THE ROOT.

EXERCISE XXII.

Tap-Roots and Fibrous Hoots .

From underground steins we pass to the study of
roots. The different forms they assume are easily
remembered, and when you have studied them in
connection with the following two exercises of this

Fi«. 123.

Tap-root.

Fig. 124.

Fibrous Root.

short chapter, you will be able to give a full and

precise description of the root, stem, and leaves of a

plant. They are the vegetative organs of plants, and
6

82

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

were so named to distinguish them from flowers, the
reproductive organs of plants.

The first question about the roots of a plant is,
Are they fibrous (like Fig. 124), or has the plant a
tap-root ?

A tap-root is a continuation of the stem down¬
ward, which may branch, as seen in Fig. 123, or bear
fibers, or be nearly smooth, as in Figs. 125, 126, 127.

Fig. 125.

Conical Root.

Fig. 126.

Fusiform Root.

Fig. 127.

Napiform Root.

When there is no such downward growth from
the stem, but in its place you find a mass of fibers
like Fig. 124, you describe the plant as having fibrous
roots.

Some of the different shapes of roots have spe¬
cial names, which are commonly used in describing
plants. The chief forms of tap-root are—

Con'ical (Fig. 125).—Where the root is seen to be
cone-shaped.

THE ROOT.

83

Spindle-shaped, or Fu'siform (Fig. 12G).—En¬
larged in the middle, and tapering toward the ends;
and

Turnip-sharped, or Na'piform (Fig. 127).—Plants
with such tap-roots as these have very short stems,
made up of nodes alone. (See Fig. 100.)

Some of the most common forms of fibrous roots
are here shown.

In Monh/iform Roots (Fig. 128) some of the

Fig. 128.

Fig. 129.

Moniliform Root.

fibers have numerous small swellings, that succeed
each other so as to look like a string of beads.

In Fasciculated Roots (Fig. 129) the fibers be¬
come swollen along their length, and look like a
bundle of fusiform roots.

When some of the rootlets of fibrous roots become

84

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

fleshy and enlarged, taking the form shown in Fig,
130, they are called Tubercular Roots.

It is easy to see that the moniliform root is only a
fibrous root, in which regular portions of the fibers
have become swollen. When all these swellings unite
in one continuous enlargement, they form a fascicu¬
lated root (Fig. 129). When the swellings are short¬
ened and globular (Fig. 130), they form tubercular
roots.

With the help of these figures and their explana-

Fig. 130.

tions, you should use your best judgment to decide
what is the variety of tap or fibrous roots to which
the plant you are studying belongs.

It is also well to note whether the root is small or
large compared with the stem and branches; whether
it is loosely or firmly planted in the soil; and whether
it spreads near the surface or grows downward.

CHAPTER IV.

y

THE INFLORESCENCE.

Inflorescence.— The way flowers are placed upon
plants is called their inflorescence .

EXERCISE XXIII.

Solitary and Clustered Inflorescence •

When only one flower grows upon a flower-stem
the inflorescence is said to be solitary, Fig. 131.

Fig. 131. Fig. 132.

Solitary Inflorescence.

Clustered Inflorescence

86

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

When several flowers grow from the same flower-
stem the inflorescence is clustered, Fig. 132.

Point out upon the chart all the flowers that are
clustered.

Gather all the plants yon can find that are in
blossom. Separate the clustered from the solitary
flowers, and they will be ready for study. You
should first learn the names of the parts of a flower-
cluster. These are given in the next exercise.

EXERCISE XXIV.

Parts of the Inflorescence.

You will find the parts pointed out for you in
the pictures.

Pedun'cle.— The stem of a solitary flower, or of
a flower-cluster.

Rajhis.—T he continuation of a peduncle, from
which flowers branch off.

Bracts. —The small leaves of a flower-cluster on
the peduncle, or rachis.

Involucre.— A whorl of bracts.

Ped'icel.— One of the flower-stems in a cluster.

Bracelets. —Yery small leaves growing upon
pedicels.

Receptacle. —The top of a peduncle, from which
several flowers start together.

Can you find upon the chart any flower-clusters
with an involucre ? Can you find bracts or bractlets
in any of the clusters of the chart ?

Point out and name all the parts of the flower-
clusters you have gathered.

THE INFLORESCENCE.

87

Fig. 133.

88

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

EXERCISE XXV.

Attitude of Inflorescence .

When a flower or a flower-cluster is upright, like
Figs. 132 and 133, it is described as erect .

When the peduncle bends over, as shown in Fig.
131, it is said to be nodding .

When flowers hang down, as in Fig. 136, they
are said to be pendulous.

Fig. 136.

Prepare an inflorescence schedule with the two
questions shown in schedule ninthc Answer these

THE INFLORESCENCE.

89

questions for each of your specimens. Describe the
leaves, as is done for Fig. 130, and then give a stem-
description by answering the six questions of the
stem-schedule, as you see has been done here.

Schedule Ninth, describing Fig. 136.

Farts ?

/ J&ec/anc/e, Q^/owei

Attitude ?

'J^enc/a^oub.

Leaves. —Opposite, simple, petiolate, exstipulate,
feather-veined, irregularly dentate, ovate-acuminate,
green, smooth.

Stem. —Round, slightly bending, reddish brown,
smooth, slender, solid, woody.

EXERCISE XXVI.

Varieties of Inflorescence .

Head.— A more or less globular cluster of flow¬
ers, sessile upon the receptacle, Fig. 137.

Spike.— A cluster of flowers, sessile upon a ra-
chis, Fig. 138.

Spa'dix.— A spike with a thick rachis, and cov¬
ered around by a single large leaf, or bract, called a
spathe , Fig. 139.

Ament, or Catkin.— A spike , with sessile bracts
among its flowers. It grows on trees and shrubs,
and falls off after a while, Fig. 140.

The Raceme is a flower-cluster, where the flowers

90

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Fig. 137.

Fig. 13S. Fig. 139.

Fig. 140.

Catkin.

Fig. 142.

Fig. 141.

Raceme.

Glomerule.

THE INELORESCEN <JE.

91

grow upon pedicels of about equal length along the
rachis, Fig. 141.

A Glomerule is formed by nearly sessile clusters
of flowers in the axils of opposite leaves, Fig. 142.

The Corymb is a flower-cluster, with a short ra-
chis, the lower pedicels of which are lengthened, so
that the cluster is flat at top, Fig. 143.

Fig. 143. Fig. 144.

An Umbel has no rachis, and the pedicels are of
nearly equal length, Fig. 144.

A Compound Raceme, or Panicle, has a long
rachis, and the flowers grow upon branches of the
pedicels. When such a cluster is thick and cone-
shaped, it is called a Thyrse , Fig. 145.

A Compound Corymb is a corymb with the flow¬
ers growing upon branches of the pedicels, Fig. 146.

A Compound Umbel has a second umbel, or urn-
bellet, upon each pedicel, Fig. 147.

Most of the clusters pictured in this exercise are
represented as without bracts, that differences in their
modes of branching may be more easily compared. The
pictures represent certain styles of flowering, and each

92

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY,

of these styles varies very much in nature. You will
find umbels, panicles, corymbs, etc., very unlike each
other. Great differences among the clusters of a va-

Fig. 145. Fig. 146.

riety may be occasioned by the presence or absence
of bracts, by their forms and colors, by the length,
stiffness, and ever-varying positions of peduncles and

Fig. 147.

pedicels, as well as by differences in the form of re¬
ceptacles. The various sorts sometimes run together
in many different ways. You may find a flower-
cluster resembling two different varieties so much

THE INFLORESCENCE.

93

that you will have to combine the names of the two
in order to name it properly; as, for instance, a
corymbose-panicle, a panicle of heads, or a spicose-

Fig. 148.

umbel. When you can not name the variety, say so,
and keep the instance in mind until you understand
it. Can you name the varieties of inflorescence pic¬
tured upon the charts ?

94

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Schedule Tenth, descbibing Fig. 148 .

r ;

Parts ?

^Sec/unc/e, SSdtacfa, ^ec/=

cce/d, ofyoiveifr.

Attitude ?

Steel.

Variety ?

Sffiaceme.

-*

Leaves. —Alternate, simple, sessile, exstipulate,
feather-veined, serrate, oval-acnte.

Stem. —Erect, round, herbaceous.

Root. —F ibrous.

There are some things about the inflorescence,
easily understood and described, that have not been
named in the schedule, and, that they may be noted
in future descriptions, we call attention to them here.

When many flowers are crowded upon a rachis, or
receptacle, the cluster is said to be dense; but when
they are few and scattering, it is said to be loose.

The bracts ox a cluster may be very numerous, or
they may present peculiarities that a child can easily
describe—such, for instance, as relate to shape or color
—or they may form an involucre at the base of the
cluster, and these points might well be included in a
description.

CHAPTER V.

THE FLOWER.

EXERCISE XXYIL
Parts of the Flower .

The study of forms in the flower will give you
more to observe than all the other parts of the plant
put together. There are a good many different parts
that go to the making of a complete flower. And the
names of all these parts must be learned before you
can understand what is said about them, or write
down what you find out yourself. This, then, will be
your first business. If you begin at the outside of a
flower (see the one shown, pulled apart, in Fig. 149),
you come first upon the calyx. Next within the ca¬
lyx is the corolla. Inside of that are the stamens, and
in the center of the flower you find the pistil.

The Recep'tacle is the top of the peduncle, more
or less swollen, from which the flower grows.

The Ca'lyx is the outer circle of green flower-
leaves.

The Coroi/la is the inner circle of delicately-col¬
ored flower-leaves.

The word Per'iantii is a name given to both cir¬
cles of flower-leaves when they are so nearly alike as
not to be separable into calyx and corolla. See Fig
155.

96

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Sta'mens.— Slender, thread-like parts next inside
the corolla.

When there is but one whorl of flower-leaves,
whatever its color, it is called a calyx.

What is the receptacle of a flower? What is the
calyx ? What is the corolla ? What is the part in the
center of the flower called ? What surrounds it ?

Look at the picture of half of a large flower in the
upper left-hand corner of Chart One. It is a butter¬
cup, but the picture is much larger than a real flower,
and all its parts can be plainly seen. Point out the
receptacle. Point out and give the names of the other
parts of this flower.

THE FLOWER.

9 ?

Gather as many flowers as you can find, and point
out and name the parts that compose them. Look
out for flowers that have a perianth instead of calyx
and corolla.

EXERCISE XXVIII.

Parts of the Calyx and Corolla •

Each of the parts of the flov r er shown in Fig. 149
is called a floral whorl. A whorl of little leaves makes
up the calyx. Another whorl of delicate leaves forms
the corolla. The stamens are in the form of a whorl,
and so are the parts of the pistil. The parts of these
whorls have their names, and the very best way to
learn all these names, so as to know exactly what they
stand for, is to write them as you have to do in using
the flower-schedule. Prof. Henslow, the author of
this schedule, made it in the shape of four columns,
and the use of each column was written above it. The
first one is for the names of the chief parts of flow¬
ers, and is headed Names. As there are four of these

Fig. 150 . Fig. 151 .

chief parts, this column is divided into four parts.
The upper part is for the calyx, and has the word u ca-
7

98

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

lyx ” written in it, as seen in schedule eighth. The
next division of this column is for the corolla, as you
see. The divisions for stamens and pistil will be
given when we have learned more about the naming
of the calyx and corolla.

The leaves of the calyx, Fig. 150, are pulled apart
and named in Fig. 151, and you are told what a sepal

Fig. 152. Fig. 153.

is. The same is done for the corolla in Figs. 152 and
153. Schedules eight and nine give the names of
these parts in the two flowers they describe.

Fig. 154.

Fig. 155.

Se'pal.— One of the leaves of the calyx.
PeFal. —A leaf of the corolla Q

THE FLOWER.

99

The second column of the flower schedule, you
see, is headed Number, and contains the number of
parts that form the calyx and corolla.

Begin in this way at once to write descriptions of
the calyx and corolla of each of your flowers.

Schedule Eighth, Schedule Ninth,

DESCRIBING FlG. 154. DESCRIBING FlG. 155.

Names of Parts.

No.

Names of Parts.

No.

Calyx ?

•

Perianth ?

S/e/ici'/t.

5.

<^eavet a

6 .

Corolla ?

5.

EXERCISE XXIX.

Kinds of Calyx.

Haying used schedules till the names of the parts
that compose the calyx, corolla, and perianth are well
learned, you are ready to begin the use of the third
column of the schedule.

This column of Prof. Henslow’s schedule is for
writing down whether or not the parts of a floral
whorl are grown together. This is very important;
and when you have found out, there is a very long
word used by botanists to express the fact. For in-

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

stance, a calyx like that shown in Fig. 156 has its
sepals separate. They are not grown together; but.
instead of using these words to express the fact, bot¬
anists say they are polysepalous, which means the
same thing. Again, if the sepals are grown together,
however slightly, as in Fig. 157, they are said to be
gamosejoalous, which means the same thing. See
schedule tenth.

Fig. 156.

Polysepalous Calyx.

Fig. 157.

Gamosepalous Calyx.

A FolysepAlous Calyx has its sepals distinct from
each other, so that each one can be pulled off separately.

A GamosepAlous Calyx has its sepals more or
less grown together by their edges, so that, if you
pull one, the whole calyx comes off 0

EXERCISE XXX.

The study of corollas brings forward a good many
new words to describe the new forms. You must
learn these words in the same way that you have
learned what has £one before. Take time to study all
the flowers you can find. Compare their corollas with
the pictures and definitions that follow, and when you

THE FLOWER.

101

have found one which is, definition and all, like the
corolla yon are studying, use its name in the schedule
description.

Kinds of Corolla and Perianth 0

A PolypetAlous Corolla has its petals distinct
and separate from each other, so that each one can be
pulled off without disturbing the others, Fig. 158.

Fig. 158.

Polypetalous Corolla.

Fig. 159.

Gamopetalous Corolla.

A Gamopet'alous Corolla has its petals more or
less grown together by their edges, so that if you
pull one the whole corolla comes off, Fig. 159.

A Regular Calyx, Corolla, or Perianth, has
all its parts of the same size and shape, Fig. 160.

An Irregular Calyx, Corolla, or Perianth, has
some of its parts unlike the others in size or form,

Fig. 161.

Observe first whether the sepals of a calyx, the
petals of a corolla, or the leaves of a perianth, are
grown together or not. Sometimes they are so slight¬
ly united that you must look closely to find it out.
Be cautious about calling a corolla polypetalous until

102

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Fig. 160. Fig. 161.

Regular Gamopetalous Corolla. Irregular Gamopetalous Corolla.

you have looked at a good many different specimens
of it. Do not guess.

You can count the petals of gamopetalous corollas
by their marks of union.

Schedule Tenth, describing Fig. 159.

Names of Parts.

No.

Description.

Calyx ?

beyu/cik.

Corolla ?

4-

^L^aniojfiefa/oM'i, ier/u/ai.

THE FLOWER.

103

A Polyphyl'lotjs Perianth has its leaves entirely
distinct and separate from each other.

A Gtamophyl'lous Perianth has its leaves more
or less grown together by their edges.

In the schedule will be seen a space where the
forms of sepals and petals should be recorded in the
same terms used to describe leaves.

EXERCISE XXXI.

Stamens and Pistil .

You must now observe the parts of the stamens
and pistil, and learn their names.

Parts of Stamens .

Fh/ament. —The stem-like part of a stamen, Fig.

162 .

An'ther. —The thickened oblong head of a fila¬
ment.

Fig. 162.

Pol'len. —The dust, or powder, seen upon the
anther.

To study the stamens and pistil of flowers, select

104

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

large, well-developed specimens. Meadow-lilies and
many other common flowers have large stamens, and
all the parts of their pistil can be plainly seen.

Parts of the Pistil «

0'vary. —The lowest part of the pistil, containing
the seeds, Figs. 163, 164, 165.

Style. —The slender, stem-like part of the pistil
next above the ovary.

Fig. 163.

Fig. 164.

Fig. 165.

Four Carpels.

Stig'ma.— The top of the pistil.

Cartel. —One of the divisions, or cells, of the
ovary.

It is in old, withered flowers that you should look
for the carpels. The ovary continues to grow after
the flower has disappeared, and reaches perfection in
the ripened fruit.

Point out and name the parts of the magnified
stamens shown upon the chart. Can you find the
ripened carpels of the pistils of flowers on the chart ?
Point out and name the parts of the stamens and pis¬
til of the flowers you have collected.

THE FLOWER.

105

EXERCISE XXXII.

How to describe Stamens and Pistils .

The way to get familiar with the names used in
the last exercise is to use them over and over again
in describing flowers.

Schedule eleventh has added to it the new ques¬
tion, Stamens? Write underneath it the name of the
parts that compose a stamen of your flower. Count
the number of stamens, and write it down, unless they
are too numerous, when you will use the character oo,
signifying many. Write u free,” when they are not
grown together; and “ coherent,” when they are grown
together.

When the filament is absent, write “sessile” after
anther. To describe the filaments, observe whether
they are long or short, slender or thick, flat or
round, distinct or grown together.

Fig. 166.

Observe whether the anthers are one-lobed or
two-lobed, that is, whether they are in two parts or

106

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

pieces; and note also whether they are oblong, round,
curved, straight, large or small, longer or shorter than
the filaments, distinct or grown together.

The question Pistil ? is also added to the schedule,
and is to be answered in the same way as the ques¬
tions Perianth ? and Stamens ? First write the name
of its parts underneath, and then find out, if you can,
the number of carpels that compose the ovary. It is
sometimes quite difficult to do this, but it is well al¬
ways to make the effort. When the number of car-

Fig. 167. Fig. 168.

pels can not be made out directly, count the styles,
and, if these are grown smoothly together, then count
the lobes of the stigma. It is very seldom that this
part of the pistil is so coherent that the lines of union
are invisible. You can often, in this way, find out
the number of carpels in a pistil, when every other
means fails.

THE FLOWER.

107

Schedule Eleventh, describing Figs. 166 -168.

Names of Parts.

No.

Description.

Perianth ?

jSeavet .

6.

^o/y^iAy/Zoat, ieya/ai.

Stamens ?

Q^t/amenf.

6.

Q^lee.

AAAenr/ei.

AAA/ony.

Pistil ?

Sfyy/e.

Sflftyma.

3.

Acny/e column.
oAAi ee=/oAe<A.

EXERCISE XXXIII.

Kinds of JPolijpetalous Corollas, Regular and, Ir¬
regular.

Before you begin with this exercise, be sure to
have all the different kinds of flowers that you can

— Claw.

•Claw.

108

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

get. First of all, observe the parts of petals. They
are pointed out and named in Figs. 169 and 170.

Limb.— The npper, and usually the broadest and
thinnest, part of a petal.

Claw. —The lower part of a petal, by which it is
joined to the receptacle.

The kinds of regular polypetalous corollas are
shown and named in the following pictures:

Fig. 171.

Cruciferous.

Fig. 172.

Caryophyllaceous.

A Crucif'erous Corolla has four petals growing
in the shape of a cross, Fig. 171.

A Caryophylla'ceous Corolla has five petals,

Fig. 173. Fig. 174.

Rosaceous.

Liliaceous.

THE FLOWER.

109

having each a long, slender claw and a spreading limb,
Fig. 172.

A Rosaceous Corolla has five petals, with spread¬
ing limb and short claw, Fig. 173.

A Liliaceous Perianth has six leaves, bending
away, as seen in Fig. 174.

Fig. 175. Fig. 176.

Papilionaceous Corolla.

Some kinds of irregular polypetalous corollas
have a special name. Fig. 175 is an example.

The PapilionaCeous Corolla lias five petals, ar¬
ranged like Fig. 177. The one nearest the stem (the

no

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

upper, Fig. 175) is called the banner; the two side
ones are called wings , and the lower ones the keel.

Fig. 178. Fig. 179.

Learn to distinguish the banner, wings, and keel
of papilionaceous corollas, and note the differences of
their forms in different kinds of flowers. You can
write such observations as these upon the back of the
schedule. Do not hurry along to new lessons while
the forms of corollas shown in this and the follow¬
ing exercises are strange to you. Gather all sorts of
flowers and describe them carefully.

There are many other varieties of polypetalous

THE FLOWER.

Ill

irregular corollas, which are described generally as
anomalous . There is an interesting tribe of plants

Fig. 180

known as orchids, which present many anomalous
forms of corolla; Fig. 179 is an example, Fig. 180
being a separate flower from the same plant. Anoma¬
lous flowers should be further described as polypeta-
lous or gamopetalous, for they occur among both these
forms.

EXERCISE XXXIV.

Kinds of Gamopetalous Corollas, Keg alar and Ir¬
regular.

Before you go any further with your study of the
forms of corollas, you must look more closely at the
parts of such ones as are shown in Figs. 181 and 182.

Tube.— That part of the corolla, whether long or
short, in which the petals are united together, as
shown in the figures.

Limb, or Border.— The upper part of the corolla,
where the petals are not united.

Throat.— The opening into the tube.

112

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Corolla-Tubes may be long or short, slender or
swollen, tapering or cylindrical, or with a pouch, or
sack, on one side.

The Lime may be narrow or broad, erect or spread¬
ing ; and

The Throat may be open or constricted, hairy or
smooth.

Note these features in describing gamopetalous
corollas.

The following are the principal kinds of regular
gamopetalous corollas:

Tu'bular.— A tubular corolla is one in which the
tube spreads little or none at the border. Fig. 183.

Fig. 183. Fig. 184.

Tubular. Urceolate.

Fig. 185.

Ur'ceolate.— A corolla is urceolate when the tube
is swollen in the middle, with a narrow opening like
an urn, as in Fig. 184.

TIIE FLOWER.

113

Ro'tate, or Wheel-shaped Corollas have a short
tube, and flat, spreading border. Fig. 185.

Fun'nel-form.— When the corolla-tube is small
below, and enlarges gradually to the border, as in

Fig. 186.

Sal'ver-form. —When the long, slender tube of a

Fig. 186.

Fig. 187.

Salver-form.

Fig. 18S.

Campanulate.

corolla ends abruptly in a flat, spreading border, as
seen in Fi^. 187.

Campanulate.— Bell-shaped corollas are said to
be campanulate. Fig. 188.

Irregular gamopetalous corollas are named as fol¬
lows :

La'biate.— In labiate corollas the limb has the
appearance of lips. Labiate corollas are of two hinds,
personate and ringent, as shown in Figs. 189 and 190.

Personate.— With the throat closed.

Pin gent.— With the throat open.

A Lig'ulate, or strap-shaped, corolla, is one which
appears as if it were formed by the splitting of the

tube on one side. Fig. 191.

8

114

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Anom'alous. —All other irregular gamopetalous
corollas, as Figs. 192 and 193, are called anomalous.

Fig. 191.

Ligulate.

Fro. 192.

Anomalous.

Fig. 19B.

Anomalous.

THE FLOWER.

115

In describing corollas, the terms cruciferous, lili¬
aceous, tubular, etc., may now be used in place of
polypetalous, gamopetalous, regular and irregular, as
the new terms include these characters, along with
others, more limited and special. To say, for example,
that a corolla is cruciferous , is to say that it is poly¬
petalous and regular, and also to state the number
and position of its petals. To say that a corolla is
strajo-shajped , implies that it is gamopetalous and ir¬
regular, while giving its special form.

EXERCISE XXXV.

Crowns, Spurs, and Nectaries.

The Corona, or Crown, is a scale-like structure,
Figs. 194, 198, on the inner surface of corollas, at the
summit of the claw, or tube.

Fig. 194.

Fig. 195.

A Spur is a tubular prolongation of a petal or
sepal. Figs. 195 and 199.

116

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Fig. 196.

Fig. 197.

Nectary.

A Nectary is a little gland on the claw of a petal
that secretes a sugary liquid. In Fig. 196 these

Fig. 199.

Corolla with Crown.

Spurred Calyx and Corolla.

glands are naked, while in Fig. 197 the little gland is
covered by a scale.

EXERCISE XXXYI.

Symmetry of Flowers .

Gather a variety of flowers, and before you begin
their study look carefully at the pictures and defini¬
tions of this exercise.

Count the sepals shown in Fig. 200. Count the

THE FLOWER.

117

petals. Count tlie stamens. Observe the two-lobed
stigma of the pistil. Has each of the floral whorls the
same number of parts ? Then it is a symmetrical

Fig. 200. Fig. 201.

Binary Symmetry.

flower. And it would still be symmetrical if the
number of sepals, or petals, or stamens, or carpels,
were twice as many, three times as many, and so on.
Count the parts in the floral whorls of Fig. 201.

Fig. 202. Fig. 203.

It has three sepals, you say, and three petals ; but there
are six stamens and six carpels. Is this flower sym¬
metrical ?

A symmetrical flower is one having the same num¬
ber of parts in each of its whorls, or, if not the same,
then twice as many, three times as many, or any mul¬
tiple of the prevailing number.

118

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Does Fig. 202 represent a symmetrical flower?
Are the parts symmetrical in Fig. 203 ?

When the parts of a flower are arranged in twos,
or multiples of two, the symmetry is said to be dimer¬
ous or binary. Fig. 200.

When the parts of the floral whorls are in threes,
or multiples of three, the symmetry is trimerous or
ternary . Fig. 201.

When the parts are in fours, the symmetry is te -
tramerous or quaternary . Fig. 202.

When the parts are in fives, the symmetry is jpen-
tamerous or quinary .

If you have the botanical charts, look at the mag¬
nified flowers represented on them, and point out the
symmetrical ones, naming the kind of symmetry they
exhibit. Then examine your living specimens. These
will, of course, vary with the season. We will sup¬
pose, for example, that you have the pea, morning-
glory, violet, portulaca, buttercup, Saint-John’s-wort,
hollyhock, potato-blossom, evening primrose, lily, etc.
Decide which are symmetrical and which are unsym-
metrical, placing the two kinds apart. Re-examine
the symmetrical ones, and tell which have binary sym¬
metry, which ternary, which quaternary, and which
quinary.

EXERCISE XXXVII.

Complete and Incomplete Flowers •

The collection of flowers that in the previous ex¬
ercise were separated into symmetrical and unsym-
metrical ones, may now be rearranged, separating the

THE FLOWER.

119

complete from the incomplete, according to the fol¬
lowing definitions:

Complete Flowers consist of calyx, corolla, sta<
mens, and pistil (Fig. 204).

Fig. 204.

Complete Flower.

Incomplete Flowers have one or more of the
floral whorls absent (Figs. 205 and 206).

Find upon the charts examples of complete and
incomplete flowers.

Fig. 205. Fig. 206.

Incomplete Flower. Incomplete Flower.

If any of the flowers present strange appearances,
let them pass ; by-and-by, after further study, you can
put them where they belong.

120

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

EXERCISE XXXVIII.

Essential Organs and Protecting Organs .

The chief purpose of the flower is the production
of seed; hut, to this end, some of its parts are more
necessary than others: for example, the action of
both stamens and pistil is needed in the formation of
seeds, while they are often produced without the pres¬
ence of either calyx or corolla. The stamens and pis¬
til are therefore called the essential organs of flowers;
and, as the calyx and corolla cover and nourish these,
they have been called the protecting organs .

Point out upon the charts the protecting organs
of flowers. Point out the essential organs. Do you
find both sets in all the flowers represented ?

Examine your collection of flowers, and point out
in each specimen the essential organs and the protect¬
ing organs.

EXERCISE XXXIX.

JDichlamyd'eous 9 Monochlamyd'eous, and Achla-

myd'eous Flowers .

When the protecting organs, calyx and corolla,
are present in a flower, it is said to be diehlamydeous
(Fig. 207).

When there is but one whorl of protecting organs,
whatever its color or texture, it is called a calyx , and
the flower is monochlamydeous (Figs. 208 and 209).

A flower destitute of protecting organs is achla<
mydeous (Fig. 210).

Achlamydeous flowers are said to be naTced .

THE FLOWER.

121

Fig. 207.

Dichlamydeous Flower.

After observing the pictures, and reading the defi¬
nitions of this exercise, you may find upon the charts
all the pictures of dichlamydeous flowers; of mono-

Fig. 20S. Fig. 209. Fig. 210.

chlamydeous flowers; of achlamydeons, or naked
flowers. Then look over your living specimens again,
putting the dichlamydeous ones by themselves; the
monochlamydeous; the aclilamydeous. Pay no at¬
tention to the doubtful instances; there will be fewer
and fewer of these as your observations proceed.

122

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

EXERCISE XL.

Perfect, Imperfect, and Neutral Flowers .

Pictures, illustrating this and the following exer¬
cise, may be found upon the charts. Living speci¬
mens of the kinds described will, perhaps, not often
occur in the collections made for study. But if you
keep a constant lookout for them you will be likely
to get them before a long time.

A Perfect Flower has both the essential organs
(Fig. 211).

An Imperfect, or Diclinous, flower has but one
of the essential organs. If it have stamens only, it is
said to be staminate (Fig. 212); if pistil only, it is said
to be pistillate (Fig. 213).

Neutral Flowers are destitute of both stamens
and pistil (Fig. 214).

When imperfect flowers are staminate (Fig. 212),
they are said to be sterile , because they never produce

Fig. 211.

A Perfect Flower.

Fig. 212. Fig. 213.

Imperfect Flowers.

seed. Sometimes they are spoken of as male flowers.
When imperfect flowers are pistillate (Fig. 213), they

THE FLOWER.

123

are said to b § fertile, because they bear seed. They
are also called female flowers.

Perfect flowers, like Fig. 211, are said to be her¬
maphrodite , because both sexes are united in the same

individual.

Fig. 214.

A Neutral Flower.

Observe well and remember the following charac¬
ters ; they occur very often in writing about plants:
A perfect flower is indicated thus, £ .

A staminate, sterile, or male flower, thus, $ .

A pistillate, fertile, or female flower, thus, 9 .
Look over the charts for examples of perfect, im¬
perfect, and neutral flowers.

EXERCISE XLI.

Monoecious, / Uoecious, and Polygamous Plants .

When both staminate and pistillate flowers grow
upon the same plant (Fig. 215), it is said to be monoe¬
cious.

124

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Fig. 215.

A Monoecious Plant.

THE FLOWER.

125

When staminate and pistillate flowers grow upon
separate plants, such plants are said to be dioecious.
Fig. 216 represents a pistillate flower from the female
catkin (Fig. 217). Fig. 219 represents a staminate

Fig. 219.

Staminate Flower, from
Catkin (Fig. 218).

flower from the male catkin (Fig. 218). These cat¬
kins grow upon different trees; so the willow from
which they were taken is dioecious .

When staminate, pistillate, and perfect flowers are
all found upon the same plant, it is polygamous .

Point out upon the charts examples of monoecious,
dioecious, and polygamous plants.

Let the pupil answer the following questions con¬
cerning each flower of his collection: Is your flower
symmetrical or unsymmetrical ? Is it complete or
incomplete ? Is it dichlamydeous, monoehlamydeous,
or achlamydeous ? Is it perfect or imperfect? Did
it grow upon a monoecious, dioecious, or polygamous
plant ?

CHAPTER VI.

o

EXERCISE XLII.

I*arts of the Seed •

We now pass to another class of observations, in
which, besides noting new parts of plants, yon will
also have to watch the changes which take place in
those parts.

Prepare for the study of seeds by planting all
the kinds yon can get that are large enough for easy
examination.

The seeds of the pumpkin, squash, four-o’clock,
bean, pea, apple, Indian corn, oats, and barley, are
good examples for the purpose. Plant two or three
dozens of each sort, one inch deep, in a box of soil or
sawdust, which must be kept warm and moist. Put
the different kinds in rows by themselves, and mark
each row, so that, when you want any particular one,
you can get it without mistake.*

You should also be provided with a blank-book in
which to write the results of study. Such a note-book
is easily made by twice folding enough sheet-paper to
allow a page to each kind of seed you have planted.

* If pupils can not get time to prepare for these exercises
out of school-hours, they should be encouraged to do it during
school-time.

THE SEED.

127

Write the name of a kind, as pea, oat, etc., on each
successive page, till all are inserted.

When your seeds have soaked for a day or two in
the wet earth, take a bean from the box and compare
it with one that has not been planted.

How has it changed in appearance ?

Cut it in two and see whether, like a piece of chalk,
it looks alike outside and inside, or whether the parts
are unlike.

Has it a skin or shell that you can loosen ?

Take a second bean from the box, cut carefully
around it, and try to peel off the outer part.

Seed-coat, or Xnteg'ument.— The skin or shell
around the outside of a seed.

Body, Kernel, or HVcleus. — The substance
within the seed-coat.

Compare your specimen with Fig. 220.

Can you separate the seed-coat from the body of
the bean as it is seen to be separated in the picture ?

Fig. 220.

How take a pea from your box and see if it is
made up of parts.

bias it a seed-coat? Is there a kernel or body
within the seed-coat?

Try a pumpkin-seed. Compare the coat of a
pumpkin-seed with that of the pea or bean.

128

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Are they alike in thickness ? in hardness ? in color?
in transparency? Name all the differences you see
between them.

In the same way, take up and examine, one after
another, some seeds from each of the rows. Find
their parts, and compare the parts of one kind of seed
with those of another kind.

If you are not able at first readily to separate a
seed into distinct portions, do not hastily conclude that
it is without them. Let it lie in its warm, wet bed a
while longer, and then try again;*

Now write in your note-book just what you have
discovered about the parts of seeds. For instance:
if at the top of the first page you have written bean ,-
on the line beneath you now write- the question,
Parts ? and the answer which you have found to this
question—thus:

Parts f Seed-coat. Body. Coat, thin, shinny ;
or, on the page devoted to the apple seed, you write:

Parts f Seed coat . Body. Coat , woody , brown ,

thin ;

or, on the page for pumpkin-seed, you say :

Parts f Seed-coat. Body . Coat, shelly , thick,
limber.

* Much that is important in their experiments children will
fail to see, and they will fancy they see much that does not ex¬
ist. Their omissions, misinterpretations, and difficulties can he
dealt with in many ways, but a desire on the part of the teacher
for nicety of experiment and accuracy of statement should
never lead to discouraging criticism. To keep the child happily
busy with his growing plants is the main thing, and all degrees
of awkwardness and imperfection in childish performance should
be tolerated.

THE SEED.

129

Write on all the pages of your note-book in this
way, and keep it at hand for reference.

EXERCISE XLIII.

Parts of the Body, or Kernel.

When you have carefully examined all the seeds
you planted to find the parts that make them up, you
will be ready to study one of these by itself. After
taking off the skin or coat of a seed, look closely at
the body of it. Begin with a well-soaked seed of In¬
dian corn.

Compare it with Fig. 221.

Is your seed narrower at one end than the other ?

Fig. 221.

a.—

Are the two sides of it alike ? Is there a little pointed
or rounded figure to be seen on one side ?

Remove the skin and look carefully at the figured
side of your specimen. Can you see a thick, lumpy
body like the one marked a in the picture ?

Try, with a dull knife or the finger-nail, to pry
this lump out of its bed. If the seed is soaked to its
center, you can easily do this. Look carefully at the
hole it leaves. Is not its surface smooth ? Do you
see any spot where the lump seems to have been

130

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

grown to the other part, and to have broken away
when yon took it out ?

Compare the parts you have got with Fig. 222.

Fig. 222.

Albumen. Embryo.

Em'bryo.— The young plant contained in a seed.

Albt/men, Endosperm.— The material in wdiich
the embryo is imbedded.

What names are given to the two parts of the
body of a seed of Indian corn ?

Which is the embryo in your specimen % Which
is the albumen ?

Now examine the kernel of a pea or bean. Can
you separate this into two parts without breaking it
somewhere ?

Compare it with Fig. 223.

Fig. 223.

Embryo.

What name is given to the entire kernel ? What
part, found in the Indian corn, is missing here ?

Look at the body of a seed of four-o’clock and see
how many and what parts it has. Look also at the
body of a pumpkin-seed.

THE SEED.

131

Examine the kernel of each of the kinds of seed
yon have planted, and observe which consist of embryo
alone, and which are part embryo and part albumen.

At the same time, write in your note-book, as
before, the results of observation. For example, to
the question, Parts of the body ? write for Indian
corn, Parts of body ? A Ibumen . Embryo . For
Pea. Parts of body ? Embryo .

EXERCISE XLIV.

Parts of the Embryo .

Take out of the soil a bean which has begun to
sprout. Remove the seed-coat, and let the parts of
the embryo separate, as seen in Figs. 224 and 225.

Fig. 224.

Plumule. Kadicle.

Fig. 225.

Cotyledon.— The bulky first leaf or leaves of the
embryo—more or less formed in the ripening of the
seed.

Radicle.— The lower end of the embryo, from
which the root proceeds.

Plu'mule.— The first—the terminal bud—the up¬
per end of the embryo.

Gekmina'tion.— The beginning of growth in a seed.

132

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Read the names of the parts of the embryo given
in Figs. 224 and 225. Look at the definitions of these
words. Compare your specimen with the figures, and
point out its cotyledons ; its radicle ; its plumule.
Handle your embryo with care, for it breaks easily.
Has its radicle begun to put forth roots ?

Take from your box a vigorous seed of Indian
corn in which the roots have begun to grow, and
compare it with Fig. 226.

Fig 226.

Separate the embryo and albumen, and, if it has
grown as much as the one pictured above, you may
easily find the cotyledon, the plumule, and the radicle.

When you are sure that you have found the radi¬
cle or root-end of your embryo, that you know which
part is cotyledon, and which plumule, take another
seed of the same kind, but less grown—one where the
root-end of the embryo has scarcely begun to swell—
and see if you can find the parts.

THE SEED.

133

Fig. 227 represents such an embryo with the parts
shown.

Point out and name the parts of the embryo of an
apple-seed; of a pumpkin-seed ; and of each of your

Fig. 227.

• Plumule.

Cotyledon.
Radicle.

Plumule.

specimens successively, as in former exercises., Which
of your seeds has the largest plumule before growth
begins ? Have you any in which the embryo has at
first no plumule at all ?

Have you failed to find cotyledons in any em¬
bryo looked at ? *

As the number of your observations increases, and
their character varies, you will see more and more
the value of your notes recording them.

To the question of this exercise, Parts of Embryo ?
you give the answers, as before, from direct observa-

* If these experiments with seeds are made as early as April,
in this climate, the children who have made them will he ready
for more extended observations when planting in the garden
begins. Most garden-seeds are too small to he separated into
parts by young children. But, when growth begins, their parts
enlarge, and a child, who has before studied larger seeds, will
be able to identify the radicle, cotyledons, and plumule, without
difficulty. In the kitchen-garden, a universal appendage of
country-houses, the sprouting of the radish, onion, beet, parsnip,
lettuce, tomato, carrot, cabbage, cucumber, etc., will furnish an
excellent continuation of the study of seeds.

134

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

tion of the structure of the embryo itself. If some
seeds give uncertain appearances, wait till growth
has proceeded a little further before you decide about
them. By premature judgments you may fill your
note-book with errors which you will be compelled to
erase.

EXERCISE XLY.

Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons .

A MonocotyledOnous embryo has one cotyledon
or seed-leaf (Fig. 228).

A Dicotyledonous embryo has two cotyledons
or seed-leaves (Fig. 229).

These are long, hard words, hard to pronounce,
and hard to spell. But they are very necessary words
in describing seeds. You can soon learn them.

Go over the seeds you have planted, and point out

THE SEED.

135

the dicotyledons. Show the two thick leases that were
packed within the seed-coat when the seed ripened.

Are any of your seeds monocotyledonous ? If so,
which ?

Figs. 228 and 229 were drawn from plants that
had grown a little. When your seeds have also grown
a little, compare them one after another with these
pictures. Look at your young bean-plant. Find the
first node above the cotyledons. How many leaves
are growing there ? how many at the first node of the
corn-stem ? how many in each of your growing seeds ?

Observe whether the cotyledons in all cases rise
into the light and air. Observe whether all cotyle¬
dons are shaped alike, and also whether they resem¬
ble the true leaves of the plant. Write carefully in
your note-book the decision you have made in this
exercise about each of your seeds. You will have
occasion to refer to it as soon as your plants have put
forth perfect full-grown leaves.^

* A word of caution may not here be amiss. There is danger
that the sympathy of teachers with bright and interested pupils
will lead them to tell in advance what children can find out for
themselves by continued observation. The connection between
number of cotyledons and venation is an instance of such temp¬
tation. This relation is an impressive one, and prominent in
classification; but there is no need of haste in getting to it.
By-and-by, when the leaves of his growing plants are well devel¬
oped, by the aid of his note-book, the pupil might be put in the
way of discovery, by asking him to make a list of his monocoty¬
ledons, and to give their venation in each case. Let him do the
same with his dicotyledons. He will now see a perfect uni¬
formity of relation in a few cases, and will be curious to know
if it is everywhere constant. He will thus arrive at the induc¬
tion by his own observation.

CHAPTER VIL

WOODY PLANTS.

EXERCISE XLVL
Their Different Kinds*

What do yon name all the soft, fragile plants that
die down to the ground in winter ? * Is there any
name for all woody plants? Do you know of any
woody plants that are not trees? If so, wliat do you
call them? What is the difference between a young
tree and a bush ? Between a bush and a shrub ?

The following pictures and definitions are given
to help you in distinguishing one group of woody
plants from another. After carefully looking them
over, you should go through the streets and the fields,
and whenever you see a woody plant, decide whether
it is a tree, shrub, bush, under-shrub, or vine. If you
take with you a companion who is interested in the
same pursuit, it will be all the better.

Although trees vary much in size, height, and
shape, and are often not nearly so tree-like as the one
represented by Fig. 230, yet it is not easy to mistake
them when full grown. If you are doubtful whether
a particular plant is a tree or shrub, remember that,
when a full-grown woody plant, less than fifteen feet
high, is slender, and perhaps has several stems start-

* See page 76.

WOODY PLANTS

137

Fig. 230.

ing together at or near the ground, as seen in Fig,
231, it is called a shrub.

When a full-grown, woody plant, with several
stems, is not more than five feet high, it is a bush.

Fig. 231.

Shrub,

138

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY*

And when only two or three feet high, whatever
its shape, it is called an under-shrub. Slender,
woody plants that can not hold themselves up, but
depend on other objects for support, or trail along
the ground, are called vines.

Besides this separation of woody plants into groups
depending upon size and shape, they are again divided
into two sorts, called Evergreen and Deciduous.

Fig. 232.

Bush.

Evergreen trees, shrubs, etc., keep their foliage
all the year round.

Decid'uous trees, shrubs, etc., lose their foliage in
winter.

So that in winter it is very easy to tell Evergreens
from Deciduous plants. Look carefully at the foliage
of Evergreens, and see if it resembles that of Decidu¬
ous trees.

WOODY PLANTS.

139

EXERCISE XLVII.

Parts of a Tree,

Trunk. —The main stem of a tree.

Head. —The branching top of a tree.

Observe the varying lengths of the trunks in the
trees about you, Measure the size around their trunks

Fig. 233.

Head.

Trunk.

at different heights from the ground. Judge as well
as you can at what distance from the ground the
lowest limb starts from the trunk. Then test your
judgment by measuring.

If you call the branches that start from the trunk
primary, the branches which these put forth may be
called secondary branches, and those given off next
would be tertiary branches. In observing the heads
of trees, fix your attention upon a primary branch,
and see if you can find these divisions. Observe
whether the tertiary branches bear still other branches.

140

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Gaud ex ok Stock. — An un branched trunk pro-
duced by the terminal bud alone (Fig. 234).

Crown.

Caudex.

Fig. 234.

Crown.—T he collection of leaves at the top of a

eaudexo

WOODY PLANTS

141

EXERCISE XLVIIL
Parts of a Trunk .

In living trees there grows each year a ring of
wood between the old wood and the bark, and by
counting the rings yon can tell the age of the tree.

Fiq. 235.

Fig. 235 is a picture of the end of a tree-trunk. A
dark and light streak, taken together, represent a
yearly ring of wood. Can you tell how many years
it was in growing ? When you see saw-logs, find out
their ages by counting the rings. Observe whether
these annual layers are always of the same thickness.
Notice whether the wood of a tree, from the center
to the circumference, is all of one color.

M2

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

EXERCISE XLIX.

Kinds of Trunk •

An Indefinite Trunk is one in which the trunk
runs through to the top, the terminal bud growing
on from year to year with more vigor than any of the
branches.

Fig. 236. Fig. 237.

In a Definite Trunk the stem breaks up into
branches, and so disappears, as seen in Fig. 237.

Have apple-trees definite trunks ?

Have pine-trees definite or indefinite trunks ?

WOODY PLANTS.

143

EXERCISE L.
Questions about Trees .

What is the attitude of the trunk in Fig. 238?
What is the form of the head ?

Fig. 238.

144

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY,

Fig. 239 c Fig. 240.

Which are the longest—the upper, lower, or mid
die branches ?

What is the direction of the branches ?

WOODY PLANTS.

145

Are the branches much subdivided ?

What proportion of the trunk is below the lowest
branches ?

Observe whether field-trees and forest-trees differ
in this respect.

Answer the same questions in regard to Fig. 239.
Fig. 240. Fig. 241. Fig. 212.

Which of these pictures represent definite trunks?

Which indefinite trunks ?

If the head of a tree is cone-shaped, which of its
branches are longest ?

If the head is round, which are longest ?

Mention all the differences you see between Figs.
239 and 240.

Which of the pictures shows the most compact
head ?

Are its branches more subdivided than the others?

When you are somewhat acquainted with the
woody plants of your neighborhood, find among them
an evergreen and observe it carefully throughout the
year. Describe, in your note-book, its appearance in
winter. Watch it in spring, and note the changes
produced on it by the warm weather. See if any of
its foliage ever falls; or if it changes color in the
course of the year. Watch for its flowers and fruit.
Observe the appearance of its bark, and whether it
looks the same in different parts of the tree.

Make and record similar observations upon a de¬
ciduous tree. Describe its winter aspect. What time
does it put forth leaves ? When does it flower ? Does
its foliage change in color after it is full grown? If

so, how ? When does it fall ? Compare the bark of
10

WOODY PLANTS

147

Fig. 242.

its trunk with that of its twigs.** Compare its bark
with that of an evergreen.

In the same way watch the progress of a fruit-tree,

* Twigs.— The remote ends of the branches

148

THE FIRST BOOK OP BOTANY.

after carefully observing its appearance before growth
in the spring begins.

Every bnsli, shrub, and tree passes eacb year
through a succession of striking changes, which very
few people ever observe. Let it be your purpose to
see them all.

CHAPTER VIIL

FRUIT.

EXERCISE LI.

What is Fruit?

Pltjck from the vine of the pea or bean several
pods of different ages, from one still enveloped by the
flower, to one that is full grown. Compare the young¬
est pod you have gathered with Pig. 163. What part
of the pistil becomes the pod ? Compare it with Fig.
164. How many carpels has the ovary of the bean
or pea ?

Observe the contents of this pod.

What name is given to these little soft bodies?

Answer.—0'vules.

Compare these ovules with the contents of a full-
grown pod. What are these full-grown, ripe bodies
called ?

What name is given to pod and contents taken
together ?

Answer.—Fruit.

What is every ovary and its contents?

Answer.—It is fruit. The fruit of a plant is its
ripened ovary.

By what words would you distinguish the young
from the mature ovary ?

Examine all the flowers that are just fading, and
look for the ovules in their unripe fruit. Find the

150

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

ovules of a young apple. Of an unripe cucumber.
Of an unripe tomato. Of any unripe fruit you see
growing within reach.

Observe the same plants when the fruit is ripe,
and compare the aspect of the seeds with the appear¬
ance the ovules presented.

Try to count the carpels in all the ovaries you ex¬
amine Observe whether they are grown together or
not. Count the carpels shown in Fig. 168. Do you
see the three white lines passing outward from the
center in this picture ? Should you judge that the
carpels from which this picture was taken were grown
together? Search, among plants that are going to
seed, for ovaries resembling this one.

EXERCISE LII.

Sutures and Dehiscence .

Look among the ripe and dry pea and bean pods,
upon the dry vines, for those that have begun to open.
Examine the edges of the separate parts. Do you
see something like a joint where the two parts were
united? Compare them with Fig„ 243 0

DehisAence. —The opening of a seed-vessel at
maturity. See Fig. 243.

Sut'ure. —A seam. The line along which dehis-
cence occurs, and so permits the escape of the seeds.

Ven'tral Suture.— The inner suture of a carpel.
The one looking toward the center of the flower. In
Fig. 243, it is the suture along which the ovules are
attached.

FRUIT.

151

Dor'sal Suture.— The outer suture. See Fig. 243.
What name is given to those joints in ovaries at

Fig. 248.

which they open when the seeds are ripe ? How many
sutures has a bean-pod? To which suture are the
beans attached ?

When an ovary opens spontaneously, and thus
liberates its seeds, it is called a dehiscent ovary.
When it does not so open, it is an indehiscent ovary.

Are there any indehiscent ovaries among the fruits
of the garden or farm ?

Mention all the dehiscent ovaries you can think of.

Again turn to Fig. 168, and compare it with Fig.
244.

Obtain the ripe fruit of Iris [flower-de-luce], and
compare it with the pictures. Is it a dehiscent or
indehiscent fruit ? Can you find sutures at which the
carpels open ? What do you call the suture at which
the seeds are attached ? What do you call the line
in the outer wall of each carpel, opposite the ventral
suture %

152

TIIE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Base.— The bottom of the ovary. The end at¬
tached to the peduncle. Figs. 244 and 245.

Fig. 244

A'pex. —Tlie top of the ovary. Fig. 244.
Dissip'iments.— The partitions between the cells
of syncarpous [carpels united] ovaries. Fig. 245.

Fig. 245.

Pari'etes.— The wall of the ovary. Fig. 245.
Ax'is.—The central part of the ovary where the
ventral sutures join together, a, Fig. 245.

FRUIT.

153

EXERCISE LIII.

Barts of Carpels.

Valves.— The parts into which carpels separate
by dehiscence. Fig. 246.

Placenta.— The cord along the ventral suture, to
which the ovules are attached. It is the “string 5 ’
that pulls off in preparing string-beans for cooking.
pi , Fig. 246.

Find the placenta in full-grown bean and pea-
pods. Find it in little ones where you can just see

Fig. 246.

the ovules. Observe the little stem by which the
ovules and seeds are attached to the placenta. By
what name is it known ?

Answer.—It is called the funk/ulus.

QUESTIONS UPON ANY OVARY.

Is it dehiscent or indehiscent?

154

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

IF DEHISCENT-

How many carpels compose it ?

Are the carpels grown together ?

Point out the sutures.

Which is dorsal and which ventral ?.

Find the valves. The placenta. The funiculus.

IF INDEHISCENT-

Can you count the carpels ?

Look for the ovules or seeds.

Point to the funiculus. The placenta.

Point out the base of the ovary. The apex. The
axis. The parietes. The dissipiments.

CHAPTER IX.

THE ACTIONS OF PLANTS

EXEKCISE LIY.

Root-action and Leaf-action •

Coyer a tumbler with a piece of card-board, cut
as seen in Eig. 247. Pull up by the roots a young

Fig. 247.

growing plant of any kind, and slip it root downward
into the hole made in the center of the card-board.

156

THE FIRST BOOK OF BOTANY.

Pour into the tumbler water enough to cover the
roots, and expose the leaves to sunshine.

Into another tumbler of water with a similar
cover put a second plant, leaves downward, as shown
in Fig. 248, and expose it to sunshine.

Fig. 248.

After a few hours, compare the two plants. How
has it fared with the one that had its roots in water ?
What is the appearance of the other?

Let us now find, if we can, what was going on in
the plant that kept up its freshness.

Arrange a glass of water with a cover of slit card¬
board as before. Place in it a plant, root downward,
and cover the leaves with a glass, as shown in Fig 0
249. Let it stand for a time in the sunshine. In a
little while look at the inverted tumbler. What do

i

THE ACTIONS OF PLANTS. i5f

yon see upon its inner surface ? Where did it come
from ? What had the roots to do with it ?

.Invert a tumbler in this way above the roots of a
plant placed as in Fig. 248. Do you, in this case, get
moisture on the inside of the inverted tumbler ?
Can you not make leaves do the work of roots ?

Strip a plant of its leaves and place it under a
glass as in Fig. 249, with the roots in water. Place

Fig. 249.

it in the sun as before and see if any moisture gathers
upon the glass.

What can be done by a plant with leaves, that

158 THE first book of botany.

can not be done by a plant without leaves ? What,
then, is one use of leaves ?

The action of the root in sucking up water is
named absorption.

The action of leaves in giving off water is called

TRANSPIRATION.

The roots absorb. The leaves transpire.

There are two more words that these experiments
illustrate. The first of these is the word organ. An
organ is any part of a plant or animal that does a
particular kind of work different from that done by
other parts.

Is the root an organ ? What do your legs do that
no other part of your body can do ? Are they organs ?
Is your tongue an organ ? Are leaves organs ?

The other word to be explained is function. Or¬
gans have functions. The function of an organ is
what it does. What is the function of your eye ?
What is the function of a bird’s wings ? What func¬
tion of roots have you discovered by your experiments ?
What is one of the functions of leaves \

Remember that the particular work any organ
does is its function.

THE END®

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in Botany

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