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?^?V
BOTANY FOR SECONDARY
SCHOOLS
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., Limited
LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.
TORONTO
1 "From fragile mushrooms, delicate water - weeds and pond scums, to floating leaves,
soft grasses, coarse weeds, tall bushes, slender climbers, gigantic trees and
hanging moss." See Chapter I.
BOTANY FOR
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
A GUIDE TO THE
KNOWLEDGE OF THE VEGETATION
OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD
-3
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BY
4-
Li
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BAILEY
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&tto gorfe
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd.
1913
All rights reserved
Copyright 1900, 1907, 1913
By L. H. BAILEY
New edition set up and electrotyped July, 1913
Reprinted October, 1913
JKount Pleasant Pregg
I. Horace McFarland Company
■ A<
\0
PARAGRAPHS FOR THE TEACHER
The purpose of this book is to lead the pupil to an
understanding of the vegetation of his neighborhood.
There are four general subjects in the book: the
nature of the plant itself; the relation of the plant
to its surroundings; histological studies; determination
of the kinds of plants. From the pedagogical point
of view, the third is the least important: tho writer
has inserted it because so many schools want it. Each
of the subjects is practically distinct, so that the
teacher may begin where he will. Few schools will
desire to pursue all the four parts.
The notes in small type at the ends of the chap-
ters are intended as suggestions and to supply infor-
mation to teachers: they are not necessarily for class
use. The "Notes" suggest additional experiments and
corollary observations.
*****
The schools and the teachers are not ready for the
text-book that presents the subject from the view-
point of botanical science. Perhaps it is better that
the secondary schools attempt only to teach plants.
A book may be ideal from the specialist's point of
view, and yet be of little use to the pupil and the
school.
Every statement in an elementary text-book has
two values, — the teaching value and the scientific
value. An elementary text exists primarily for the
7"7^X ■ (V) mOPfWTVnr
VI PARAGRAPHS FOR THE TEACHER
purpose of teaching; and good teaching results in
quickened perception rather than in accumulation of
facts.
The pupil should come at first to the study of plants
and animals with little more than his natural and native
powers. Study with the compound microscope is a
specialization to be made when the pupil has had
experience, and when his judgment and sense of
relationships are trained.
One of the first essential conceptions to the study
of natural history is the fact that no two things are
alike. This leads to the understanding that every
animal and plant contends for an opportunity to live;
and this is the central fact in the study of living things.
The world has a new meaning when this fact is
understood.
The ninety and nine cannot and should not be
botanists, but everyone can love plants and nature.
Every person is interested in the evident things, few
in the abstruse and recondite. Education should train
persons to live, rather than to be scientists.
Now and then a pupil develops a love of science
for science's sake. He would be an investigator. He
would add to the sum of human knowledge. He should
be encouraged. There are colleges and universities in
which he may continue his studies.
In the secondary schools, botany should be taught
for the purpose of bringing the pupil closer to the
things with which he lives, of widening his horizon,
of intensifying his hold on life. It should begin with
familiar plant forms and phenomena. It should be
related to the experiences of the daily life. It should
not be taught for the purpose of making the pupil
PARAGRAPHS FOR THE TEACHER Vll
a specialist: that effort should be retained for the few
who develop a taste for special knowledge. It is often
said that the high-school pupil should begin the study
of botany with the lowest and simplest forms of life.
This is an error. The microscope is not an introduc-
tion to nature. It is said that the physiology of plants
can be best understood by beginning with the lower
forms. This may be true: but technical plant physiol-
ogy is not a subject for the beginner. Other subjects
are more important.
The youth is by nature a generalist. He should
not be forced to be a specialist.
A great difficulty in the teaching of botany is to
determine what are the most profitable topics for con-
sideration. The trouble with much of the teaching is
that it attempts to go too far, and the subjects have
no connection with the pupil's experience.
Good botanical teaching for the young is replete
with human interest. It is connected with the common
associations.
The teacher often hesitates to teach botany because
of lack of technical knowledge of the subject. This
is well; but technical knowledge of the subject does
not make a good teache.. Expert specialists are so
likely to go into mere details and to pursue particu-
lar subjects so far, when teaching beginners, as to miss
the leading and emphatic points. They are so cogni-
zant of exceptions to every rule that they qualify their
statements until the statements have no force. There
are other ideals than those of mere accuracy. In other
words, it is more important that the teacher be a
Vlll PARAGRAPHS FOR THE TEACHER
good teacher than a good botanist. One may be so
exact that his words mean nothing. But being a good
botanist does not spoil a good teacher; and the ideal
teacher is one who has careful knowledge and knows
how to teach.
An imperfect method that is adapted to one's use
is better than a perfect method that cannot be used.
Some school laboratories are so perfect that they dis-
courage the pupil in making inquiries when thrown
on his own resources. Imperfect equipment often
encourages ingenuity and originality. A good teacher
is better than all the laboratories and apparatus.
Good teaching devolves on the personality and
enthusiasm of the teacher; but subject-matter is a
prime requisite. The teacher should know more than
he attempts to teach. Every teacher should have
access to the current botanical books. The school
library should contain these books. By consulting the
new books the teacher keeps abreast of the latest
opinion and points of view.
When beginning to teach plants, think more of
the pupil than of botany. The pupil's mind and sym-
pathies are to be expanded: the science of botany is
not to be extended. The teacher who thinks first of
his subject teaches science; he who thinks first of his
pupil teaches nature-study.
Teach first the things nearest to hand. When the
pupil has seen the common, he may be introduced to
the rare and distant. We live in the midst of common
things.
The old way of teaching botany was to teach the
PARAGRAPHS FOR THE TEACHER IX
forms and the names of plants. It is now proposed
that only function be taught. But one cannot study
function intelligently without some knowledge of plant
forms and names. He must know the language of the
subject. The study of form and function should go
together. Correlate what a plant is with what it does.
What is this part? What is its office, or how did it
come to be? What are its relations? It were a pity to
teach phyllotaxy without teaching light-relation: it
were an equal pity to teach light-relation without
teaching phyllotaxy.
Four epochs can be traced in the teaching of ele-
mentary botany: (1) The effort to know the names of
plants and to classify. This was the outgrowth of the
earlier aspect of plant knowledge, when it was neces-
sary to make an inventory of the things in the world.
(2) The desire to know the formal names of the parts
of plants. This was an outgrowth of the study of gross
morphology. Botanies came to be dictionaries of
technical terms. (3) The effort to develop the powers
of independent investigation. This was largely a result
of the German laboratory system, which developed the
trained specialist investigator. It emphasized the
value of the compound microscope and other appa-
ratus. This method is of the greatest service to botani-
cal science and to mankind, but its introduction into
the secondary schools is usually unfortunate. (4) The
effort to know the plant as a complete organism liv-
ing its own life in a natural way. In the beginning of
this epoch we are now living.
X PARAGRAPHS FOR THE TEACHER
There is a general protest against the teaching of
"big names" to pupils; but the pupil does not object
to technical terms if he acquires them when he learns
the object to which they belong, as he acquires other
language. When a part is discovered, the name becomes
a necessity, and is not easily forgotten. He should be
taught not to memorize the names. The "hard"
words of today are the familiar words of tomorrow.
There are no words in this book harder than chrysan-
themum, thermometer, and hippopotamus.
The book should be a guide to the plant: the plant
should be a guide to the book.
Plants should not be personified or endowed out-
right with motives; but figures of speech and para-
bles may often be employed to teach a lesson or to
drive home a point.
Excite the pupil's interest rather than his wonder.
The better the teacher, the less he will confine him-
self to the questions at the end of the lesson.
Botany always should be taught by the "laboratory
method:" that is, the pupil should work out the sub-
jects directly from the specimens themselves. It is
easy, however, to carry the laboratory method too
far. With beginners, it is rarely good teaching merely
to set a young pupil a task, expecting him to work
it out. The pupil needs suggestions, help, and the
enthusiasm inspired by a good teacher.
Specimens mean more to the pupil when he collects
them.
No matter how commonplace the subject, a speci-
men will vivify it and fix it in the pupil's mind.
A living, growing plant is worth a score of herba-
rium specimens.
PARAGRAPHS FOR THE TEACHER XI
Every opportunity should be taken to send the
pupils to the fields to see the plants naturally as they
grow.
Remember that garden plants and field crops are
as "botanical" and as well worth the attention of
botanists as are wild plants.
Many persons have aided in the making of this book
as it has gone through its various editions. In this
present revision the author has had the help of Lewis
Knudson, Assistant Professor of Plant Physiology, and
acting head of the department, in the New York State
College of Agriculture at Cornell University, assisted
by M. F. Barrus, Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology
in the same institution, who have reviewed the work
from first to last with much care.
L. H. BAILEY.
Ithaca, New York,
May 20, 1913.
CONTENTS
PART I
The Plant Itself
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Plant as a Whole 1
II. The Root 7
III. The Stem 13
IV. Propagation by Means of Roots and Stems ... 18
V. How the Horticulturist Propagates Plants by Means
of Roots and Stems 23
VI. Food Reservoirs 31
VII. Winter Buds 36
VIII. Plants and Sunlight 42
IX. Struggle for Existence amongst the Branches . . 52
X. Pruning 59
XI. The Forms of Plants G4
XII. Water and Mineral Nutrients. — Root Action . . 69
XIII. Water and Mineral Nutrients. — Action above the
Roots 75
XIV. Food Elaboration, and Respiration 82
XV. Dependent Plants 90
XVI. Leaves and Foliage 95
XVII. Morphology, or the Study of the Forms of Plant
Members 105
XVIII. How Plants Climb 112
XIX. Flower-Branches 118
XX. The Parts of the Flower 127
XXI. Fertilization and Pollination 133
XXII. Particular Forms of FlowerB 143
XXIII. Fruits .155
(xiii)
XIV
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
XXIV. Dispersal of Seeds 166
XXV. Germination 171
XXVI. Phenogams and Cryptogams 179
XXVII. Studies in Cryptogams 185
PART II
The Plant in Its Relation to Environment
and to Man
XXVIII. Where Plants Grow 205
XXIX. Contention with Physical Environment .... 212
XXX. Competition with Fellows 218
XXXI. Plant Societies 228
XXXII. Variation and Its Results 236
XXXIII. Weeds 241
XXXIV. Crops 249
XXXV. The Forest 256
PART III
Histology, or the Minute Structure of Plants
XXXVI. The Cell 263
XXXVII. Contents and Products of Cells 270
XXXVIII. Tissues 278
XXXIX. Structure of Stems and Roots 285
XL. Structure of Leaves . . 297
PART rv
The Kinds of Plants (p. 307)
BOTANY FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
PART I— THE PLANT ITSELF
CHAPTER I
THE PLANT AS A WHOLE
1. A plant is a living, growing thing. It partakes of
the soil and air and sunshine. It propagates its kind and
covers the face of the earth. It has much with which to
contend. It makes the most of every opportunity. We
shall learn its parts, how it lives, and how it responds.
2. The Parts of a Plant. — Our familiar plants are made
up of several distinct parts. The most prominent of these
parts are root, stem, leaf, flower, fruit and seed. (Fig. 2.)
Familiar plants differ wonderfully in size and shape, — from
fragile mushrooms, delicate water-weeds and pond-scums,
to floating leaves, soft grasses,
coarse weeds, tall bushes,
slender climbers, gigantic
trees, and hanging moss. See
frontispiece.
3. The Stem Part.— In
most of the familiar plants
there is a main central part
or shaft on which the other
or secondary parts are borne.
This main part is the plant
axis. Above ground, in famil-
iar plants, the axis bears
IN ■ >
2. The parts of a plant, — root, stem,
leaves, pods (or fruit, following the
flower) . Bean.
(1)
2 THE PLANT AS A WHOLE
the branches, leaves and flowers; below ground, it bears
the roots.
4. The rigid part of the plant, which persists over win-
ter and which is left after leaves and flowers are fallen, is
the framework of the plant. The framework is composed
of both root and stem. When the plant is dead, the frame-
work remains for a time, but it slowly decays. The dry
winter stems of weeds are the upper part of the framework or
skeleton of the plant. (Figs. 3, 4.) The framework of trees
is the most conspicuous part of the plant.
5. The Root Part. — The root bears the stem at its apex,
but otherwise it normally bears only root-branches. The
stem, however, bears leaves, flowers and fruits. Those
living surfaces of the plant that are most exposed to light
are green or highly colored. The root tends to grow down-
ward, but the stem tends to grow upward toward light.
The plant is anchored or fixed in the soil by the roots.
6. The Foliage Part. — The leaves precede the flowers
in point of time or in the life of the plant, although the flow-
ers may come first in the season (note that peach trees
bloom before they leaf). The flowers always precede the
fruits and seeds. Many plants die when the seeds have
matured. The whole mass of leaves of any plant or any
branch is known as its foliage.
7. The Plant Generation. — The course of a plant's
life, with all the events through which the plant naturally
passes, is known as the plant's life-history. The life-history
embraces various stages or epochs, as dormant seed, germi-
nation, growth, flowering, fruiting. Some plants run their
course in a few weeks or months, and some live for centuries.
8. The entire life-period of a plant is called a generation.
It is the whole period from birth to normal death, without
reference to the various stages or events through which
it passes.
9. A generation begins with the young seed, not with
LENGTH OF LIFE
germination. It ends with death — that is, when no life is
left in any part of the plant, and only the seed or spore
remains to perpetuate the kind. In a bulbous plant, as a
lily or an onion, the generation does not end until the bulb
dies, even though the top is dead.
10. When the generation is of only one season's duration,
the plant is said to be annual.
When it is of two seasons, it
is biennial. Biennials usually
bloom the second year. When
of three or more seasons, the
plant is perennial. Examples
of annuals are pigweed, bean,
pea, garden sunflower, maize;
of biennials, evening primrose,
mullein, teasel, parsnip, carrot;
of perennials, dock, meadow
grass, alfalfa, cat-tail, and all
shrubs and trees. The bien-
nial and perennial weeds
are the most difficult to
eradicate.
11. Duration of the
Plant Body. — Plant struc-
tures that are more or less
soft and that die at the
close of the season are said
to be herbaceous, in contradistinction to being ligneous or
woody. A plant that is herbaceous to the ground is called
an herb; but an herb may have a woody or perennial root,
in which case it is called an herbaceous perennial. Annual
plants are classed as herbs. Examples of herbaceous per-
ennials are buttercup, bleeding-heart, violet, water-lily,
many grasses, dock, dandelion, goldenrod, asparagus,
rhubarb, many wild sunflowers (Figs. 3, 4).
THE PLANT AS A WHOLE
12. Many herbaceous perennials have short generations.
They become weak with one or two seasons of flowering
and gradually die out. Thus common red clover begins to
fail after the second year. Gardeners know that the best
bloom of hollyhock, larkspur, pink, and many other
plants, is secured when the plants are only two or three
years old.
13. Herbaceous perennials that die away each season
to bulbs, corms or tubers, are sometimes called pseud-annuals
(that is, false annuals). Of such are lily, crocus, onion,
>Vh.%^|*;, .„ potato.
14. Plants that
are normally peren-
nial may become
annual in a shorter-
^ season climate by
'¥■ being killed by
frost, rather than
ijs by dying naturally
at the end of a
season of growth.
Such plants are
called plur-annuals
in the short-season
region. Many
warm -region per-
5. A shrub or bush. Dogwood osier. ennials are plur-
annuals when grown in the North, but they are treated as
true annuals because they ripen sufficient of their crop the
same season in which the seeds are sown to make them
worth cultivating, as tomato, red pepper, castor-bean.
15. Woody or ligneous plants are usually longer lived
than herbs. Those that remain low and produce several
or many similar shoots from the base are called shrubs, as
lilac, rose, elder, osier. (Fig. 5.) Low and thick shrubs are
NO TWO PARTS ARE ALIKE
U*
K
mm
6. A Tree. The weeping birch.
- r
Plants that produce one
main trunk and a more or less
elevated head are trees. (Fig. 6.)
16. Plants are Modified by the
Conditions in Which They Grow. —
In most plants, the size, form
and general appearance vary or
change with the conditions in
which the plant grows. That is,
there is no uniform or necessary
form into which all plants shall
grow. No two plants are exactly
alike. Observe plants of the same
kind and age, and see how they
differ or vary. The farmer and
gardener can cause plants to be
large or small of their kind, by changing the conditions or
circumstances under which they grow.
17. No two parts of the same plant are exactly alike.
No two parts grow in the same conditions, for one is nearer
the main stem, one nearer the light, and another has more
room. Try to find two leaves or two branches on the same
plant that are exactly alike. (Fig. 7.)
18. Every plant makes an effort to propagate or to per-
petuate its kind; and
so far as we can see,
this is the end for
which the plant itself
fives. The seed or
spore is the final pro-
duct of the plant.
19. Every plant,
— and every part of
a plant — undergoes
vicissitudes. Every
6 THE PLANT AS A WHOLE
plant is so constituted as to withstand the diverse condi-
tions of the circumstances in which it is placed. The plant
contends for place in which to grow, and for air and light.
Its life is eventful. Every plant, therefore, has a history.
Review. — Of what parts is a plant composed? What is the axis?
What parts are borne on the stem? On the root? On what part are the
mostly highly colored parts found? What direction does the root take?
The stem? How are plants anchored in the earth? In what order do
the different parts appear? What is meant by the life-history? What
are some of the stages or events in the life-history? At what point
does a generation begin? When end? By what means does the next
generation begin? What is an annual? Biennial? Perennial? Herb-
aceous perennial? Pseud-annual? Shrub? Bush? Tree? Give three
examples of each of these classes, not mentioning any given in the book.
What is a plur-annual? Why are no two parts or plants exactly
alike? What is the final effort of every plant? Why is the life of a plant-
eventful?
Note. — The teacher may assign each pupil to one plant in the
school-yard, field, garden, or in a pot, and ask him to bring out the
points in the lesson.
%&>
r£k %&»' -1:
CHAPTER II
THE ROOT
20. The Root System. — The offices of the root are to
hold the plant in place, and to absorb water and mineral
substances. Not all roots, however, absorb water and mineral
nutrients.
21. The entire mass of roots of any plant is called its
root system. The root system may be annual, biennial or
perennial, herbaceous or
woody, deep or shallow,
large or small.
22. Kinds of Roots —
A strong leading central
root, which runs directly
downwards, is a tap-root.
The side or spreading roots are usually
smaller. Plants that have such a root
system are said to be tap-rooted.
Examples are red clover, beet, turnip,
radish, burdock, dandelion, alfalfa.
(Fig. 8.)
23. A fibrous root system is one that
is composed of many nearly equal, slen-
der branches. The greater number of
plants have fibrous roots. Examples
are many common grasses, wheat, oats,
corn, and most trees. The bean in
Fig. 2 has a fibrous root system.
24. Shape and Extent of the Root System.— The depth
to which roots extend depends on the kind of plant and the
(7)
i^£>
Tap-root
of the
dandelion.
THE ROOT
nature of the soil. Of most plants the roots extend far in all
directions and lie comparatively near the surface. The
roots usually radiate from a
common point just beneath
the surface of the ground.
25. The roots may be of
considerable extent, ramify-
ing in the soil, and often
extending much farther in
all directions than the spread
of the top of the plant.
Roots tend to spread farther
in poor soil than in rich
soil. The root has no such
definite form as the stem has.
Roots are usually very
crooked, because they are
constantly turned aside by
obstacles. Examine roots in
stony or gravelly soil.
26. The extent of root
surface is usually very large,
for the absorbing roots are
fine and very numerous. An ordinary plant of Indian corn
may have a total length of root (measured as if the roots
were placed end to end) of hundreds
of feet. (Fig. 9.)
27. The finest feeding roots are in
the richest soils. It is commonly stated
that they are attracted by the
nutrients of the soil. This is
not strictly true. The roots
may grow toward a supply of ^.^j^a
water. Notice that in a moist
., , i , , 10. The bracing buttresses of
sou the roots are short; in a afield pine.
9. The abundant roots of maize. Note
that the root branches are much more
numerous than the leaves.
WHERE ROOTS GROW
9
dry soil they are usually long. Roots of the willow run into
wells and drains and into the margins of creeks and ponds.
Roots may frequently cause trouble by
clogging drain-pipes. Grow plants in a
long, narrow box, in one end of which
the earth is kept very dry and in the other
moist: observe where the roots grow.
28. The absorbing surface of the roots
is near their ends. As the roots become
old and hard, they serve only as channels
through which water and substances in
solution pass, and as hold-
fasts or supports for the
plant. The root-hold of a
plant is very stong. Slowly
pull upwards on some plant,
and note how firmly it is
anchored in the earth. With
the increase in diameter, the
upper roots often protrude
above the ground and be-
come bracing buttresses.
These buttresses are usu-
of the radish, ally largest in trees that
always have been exposed to strong winds.
(Fig. 10.)
29. The Root-hairs.— The larger part
of the water and mineral nutrients ab-
sorbed by the root is taken in through __
root-hairs. (Fig. 11.) These are very del-
icate prolonged surface cells of the
roots. They are borne for a short dis-
tance just back of the tip of the root.
30. The root-hairs are very small,
often invisible. They, and the young
i |
12. Aerial roots of
trumpet creeper or
tecoma.
10
THE ROOT
roots, are usually broken off when the plant is pulled up.
They are best seen when seeds are germinated between
layers of dark blotting-paper or flannel. On the young
roots, they will be seen as a mould-like or gossamer-like
13. Drooping aerial roots of an orchid.
14. Indian corn, showing the
aerial roots.
covering. Root-hairs soon die: they do not grow into roots.
New hairs form as the root grows.
31. Aerial Roots. — Although most roots grow in the
earth, there are some that grow above ground. These usually
occur on climbing plants, the roots becoming supports or
fulfilling the office of tendrils. These aerial roots usually
grow away from the light, and therefore enter the crevices
and dark places of the wall or tree over which the plant
climbs. The trumpet-creeper (Fig. 12), true or English ivy,
ROOTS ABOVE GROUND 11
and poison ivy climb by means of roots. The roots often
remain on the wall or other support after the plant is torn off.
32. In some plants, all the roots are aerial; that is, the
plant grows above ground, and the roots absorb water from
the air and from the bark of the tree on which they grow.
Such plants are known as epiphytes or air-plants (Chapter
XV). The most familiar examples are some of the tropical
orchids, which are grown in glasshouses. (Fig. 13.)
33. Some plants throw out aerial roots that propagate
the plant or act as braces. The roots of Indian corn are
15. A banyan tree in India. The old trunk is seen (at the left), together with
many trunks formed from the aerial roots.
familiar. (Fig. 14.) Many licus trees, as the banyan of India
(Fig. 15), send out roots from their branches; when these
roots reach the ground they take hold and become great
trunks, thus spreading the top of the parent tree over large
12
THE ROOT
areas. The mangrove tree (Fig. 16) of the tropics grows
along seashores and sends down roots from the overhanging
branches into the shallow water, and thereby gradually
marches into the sea.
The tangled mass behind
catches the drift, and soil
is formed.
Review. — What is the
root for? What is a root
system? Define tap - root.
Fibrous root. What deter-
mines how deep the root
may go? How far does the
root spread? Explain what
form the root system may
assume; also what extent.
Where is the greatest number
of fine roots found? Where
is the absorbing surface of
roots? Of what use to the
plant are the old woody roots?
What are root-hairs? What
do they do and what becomes
of them? What are aerial
roots? Where found? What are epiphytes, and where do their roots
grow? What are brace roots? How do the banyan and mangrove spread
(aside from seeds) ?
Note. — The pupil should see the root-hairs. A week before this
lesson is studied, the pupil should place seeds of radish, turnip or cab-
bage between folds of thick cloth or blotting-paper. Keep the cloth or
paper moist and warm. The hairs show best against a dark back-
ground. In some of the blotting-papers, sprinkle sand: observe how
the root-hairs cling to the grains (compare Chapter XII).
The pupil also should study the root-hold of a plant. Let him care-
fully pull up a plant. If a plant grows alongside a fence or other rigid
object, he may test the root-hold by securing a string to the plant,
letting the string hang over the fence and then adding weights to the
string. Will a stake of similar size to the plant and extending no deeper
in the ground, have such firm hold on the soil?
Mangroves marching into the sea.
CHAPTER III
THE STEM
?Mk
34. The Stem System.— The stem of a plant is the
part that bears the buds, leaves, flowers and fruits. Its office
is to hold up these parts to the light and air; and through
its tissues the various food-materials and nutrients in solu-
tion in water are distributed
to the parts of the plant.
35. The entire mass or fabric
of stems of any plant is called
its stem system. (Figs. 4, 17.)
The stem system may be her-
baceous or woody, annual, bien-
nial, or perennial; and it may
assume many different sizes and
shapes. (Paragraphs 11 to 13.)
36. Stems are of many forms.
The general way in which a
plant grows is called its habit.
The habit is the appearance or
looks. Its habit may be open or loose, dense, straight,
crooked, compact, straggling, climbing, erect, weak,, strong,
and the like. The roots and leaves are the important func-
tional or working parts : the stem merely connects them,
and its form is exceedingly variable.
37. Kinds of Stems. — The stem may be so short as to
be scarcely distinguishable. In such cases the crown of the
plant — that part just at the surface of the ground — bears
the leaves and flowers; but this crown is really a very short
stem. The dandelion (Fig. 8) is an example. Such plants
(13)
17. Stem system of an apple tree.
Deliquescent trunk.
14
THE STEM
18. A trailing plant (Abronia, grown in flower-gardens).
are often said to be stemless, however, in order to distin-
guish them from plants that have long or conspicuous
stems. These so-called stemless plants die to the ground
every year.
... 38. Stems are erect when they grow
j.J% straight up. (Figs. 3, 9.) They are
trailing or creeping when they run
along on the ground. (Fig. 18.) They
are decumbent when they lop over to
the ground.
They are ascend-
ing when they
lie mostly or in
part on the
ground but stand
more or less up-
right at their
ends. They are climbing when they cling to other rising
objects for support. (Fig. 12.)
39. Trees in which the main trunk or the "leader"
continues to grow from its tip are said to be excurrent in
growth. The branches are borne along
the sides of the trunk, as in common
pines (Fig. 19) and spruces. Excurrent
means "running out" or "running up."
40. Trees in which the main trunk
does not continue are said to be deliques
cent. The branches arise from one com-
mon point or from each other. The stem
is lost in the branches. The apple tree
(Fig. 17), maple, elm, oak, are familiar
examples. Deliquescent means "dissolv-
ing" or "melting away."
41. Each kind of plant has its own
peculiar habit or direction of growth.
KINDS OF STEMS
15
Spruces always grow to a single stem
or trunk, pear trees are always deli-
quescent, morning-glories are always
climbing, strawberries are always
creeping. We do not know why each
plant has its own habit; but the habit
is in some way associated with the
plant's genealogy or with the way in
which it has been obliged to live.
il# 42. The stem
may be simple or
branched. (Figs. 20,
21.) A simple stem
usually grows from
the terminal bud,
20. Simple stems of sorghum.
and side branches either do not start, or,
if they start, they soon perish. Mul-
leins are usually simple. So are
palms.
43. Branched stems may be of
very different habit and shape.
Some stem systems are narrow and
erect: these are said to be strict.
Others are diffuse, open, branchy,
twiggy.
44. Stems vs. Roots. — Roots
sometimes grow above ground (31-
33) ; so, also, stems sometimes grow
underground, and they are then
known as subterranean stems, rhi-
zomes, or rootstocks. (Figs. 22, 23.)
45. Stems normally bear leaves
and buds, and thereby are they dis-
tinguished from roots. The leaves,
however, may be reduced to mere
16
THE STEM
scales, and the buds beneath them may be
scarcely visible. Thus the "eyes" on an Irish
potato are cavities with a bud or buds at the
bottom. (Fig. 24.) Sweet potatoes have no
evident "eyes" when first dug (but they may
develop buds before the next growing season).
The Irish potato is a stem; the sweet potato
is an enlarged root.
46. How Stems Elongate. — Roots elongate
by growing near the tip. Stems elongate by
22. wintergreen, growing more or less throughout the young or
showing rootstock. g()ft part or «ketween joints." But any part
of the stem soon
reaches a limit be-
yond which it cannot
grow, or becomes
"fixed;" and the new
parts beyond elongate
until they, too, become
rigid. When a part of the stem once becomes fixed or hard,
it never increases in length:
that is, the trunk or woody
parts never grow longer or
jjl j higher; branches do not be-
' A come farther apart or higher
from the ground.
47. The different regions of
growth in stems and roots
may be observed in seedling
plants. Place seeds of radish
or cabbage between layers of
blotting-paper or thick cloth.
Keep them damp and warm.
When the stem and root have
grown an inch and a half long
23. Rhizome of a wild sunflower.
V^pF
24. Potato. Stems (where?) , fine
roots, and rootstocks.
STEM VS. ROOT
17
each, with waterproof ink mark spaces exactly one-quarter
inch apart. Keep the plantlets moist for a clay or two, and
it will be found that on the stem some or all of the marks
are more than one-quarter inch apart; on the root the
marks have not separated. The root has grown
beyond the last apical mark. (Figs. 25, 26.)
Review. — What is the stem system? What does
the stem do? How long may the stem persist? Whal
is meant by the habit of a plant? Name some kinds
of habit. What are so-called stemless plants? What
is the crown? What becomes of the tops of stemless
plants? What are erect, trailing, decumbent, ascending,
climbing stems? What are excurrent trunks? Deli-
quescent? What is a simple stem? What are strict
stems? What are subterranean stems? How are sterna
distinguished from
roots? What is the dif-
ference in mode of
growth between stems
and roots?
Note. — T h e pupil
s h o u 1 d make marks
with waterproof ink (as
Higgins' ink or indelible
marking ink) on any
soft growing stems — as
geranium, fuchsia, grass,
the twigs of trees. Note
that the separation of
the marks is most evi-
dent on the youngest
shoots.
The pupil should observe the fact that a stem of a plant has wonder-
ful strength. Compare the proportionate height, diameter ami weight
of a grass stem with those of the slenderest tower or steeple. Which
has the greater Strength? Which the greater height'.' Which will with-
stand the most wind? Note that the grass stem will regain its position
even if its top is bent to the ground. Split a cornstalk and observe how
the joints are tied together and braced with fibers. Note how plants
are weighted down after a heavy rain.
B
25,. The markiiiK of
the stem and root.
20. The result.
CHAPTER IV
PROPAGATION BY MEANS OF ROOTS AND STEMS
48. The primary function of roots and stems is to support
and maintain the plant; but these parts may also serve to
propagate the plant, or to produce new individuals.
49. Propagation by Means of Rhi-
zomes.— One function served by subter-
ranean stems or rhizomes (rootstocks) is
to propagate the species. Each stem has a
bud at its end, and from this bud a shoot
arises. By the dying away of the older
part of the rhizome, this shoot becomes
a separate plant, although the rhizome
maintains its connection for years in some
plants. Shoots may also arise from the
intermediate or lateral buds, but the
strongest shoots usually arise from the end
or near the end of the rhizome. (Fig. 23.)
50. Each successive plant is farther
removed from the original plant or the
starting-point of the colony. Thus the
colony or "patch" grows larger. Familiar
examples are the spreading patches of
mandrakes or may-apples, quack-grass
(Fig. 27), Solomon's seal, lily-of-the-valley,
ferns. Cannas propagate by means of
rhizomes; so does ginger, and
the "roots" can be purchased
at the drug -store. Fig. 28
27. Quack-grass or couch-grass. Point .,, ,t , e
out the rootstock. illustrates the spread of a
(18)
SPREADING BY MEANS OF ROOTSTOCKS
19
28. Creeping rhizomes of wild sunflower
colony of wild sunflower. On the right
the rhizomes have died away: note the
frayed ends. On the left, the strong up-
turned buds show where the shoots will
arise next spring. The old stems in the
middle show where the buds stood at the
close of the last season. Fig. 23 shows one
of the terminal buds.
51. When rhizomes are cut in pieces,
each piece having at least one bud or
"eye," the pieces may grow when planted.
A familiar example is the practice of
dividing tubers of potato. A severed piece
of plant designed to be used
to propagate the plant is
a cutting. See Fig. 29.
52. Cuttings of rhi-
zomes are often made
undesignedly or accidentally when land is cultivated. The
cultivator or har-
row breaks u p
the rhizomes of
quack-grass, Can-
ada-thistle, toad-
flax, and other
weeds, and scat
ters them over
the field.
53. Propa-
gation by
Means of
Roots . —
Roots some-
times develop
buds and
29. Cuttings of canna rhizome.
20 PROPAGATION BY MEANS OF ROOTS AND STEMS
throw up shoots or new plants. Severed roots often grow.
Blackberries, raspberries, and many plums and cherries,
throw up shoots or "suckers" from the roots; and this
propensity is usually increased when the roots are broken,
as by a plow. Broken roots of apples often sprout. Plants
may propagate by means of root-cuttings.
54. Occasional Buds.— The buds that appear on roots
are unusual or abnormal, — they occur only occasionally and
in no definite order. Buds appearing in unusual places on
any part of the plant are called adventitious buds. Such are
the buds that arise when a large limb is cut off, and from
which suckers or watersprouts arise, as on the apple tree.
55. Layers. — Roots sometimes
arise from aerial stems that are
partially buried. If a branch
1yjpJ$ touches the ground and takes
root, it is called a layer. Gar-
deners often bend a limb to the
ground and cover it for a short
distance, and when roots have
-A^- formed on the covered part, the
-$&. branch is severed from its parent
30. a layer of dewberry. The new and an independent plant is
Plant has arisen at the left. secured. See Fig. 30.
56. There are several kinds of layers: a creeper, when a
trailing shoot takes root throughout its entire length; a
runner, when the shoot trails on the ground and takes root
at the joints, as the strawberry; a stolon, when a more or less
strong shoot bends over and takes root, as the black rasp-
berry or the dewberry (Fig. 30) ; an offset, when a few very
strong plants form close about the base of the parent, par-
ticularly in succulent or bulbous plants, as house-leek
(old-hen-and-chickens) and some lilies. The rooting branches
of the banyan and mangrove (Figs. 15, 16) may be likened
to layers.
BUD-PKOPA<;.ATIOX
21
31. Bulblet of
tiger lily.
57. Natural Cuttings. — Sometimes cuttings occur with-
out the aid of man. Some kinds of willows shed their twigs,
or the storms break them off: many of these twigs take
root in the moist earth where willows grow, and
they are often carried down the streams and are
washed along the shores of lakes. Observe the wil-
lows along a brook, and determine whether any of
them may have come down the stream.
58. Propagation by Means of Leaves. —
Even leaves may take root and give rise to
new plants. There are examples in warm
countries. The lake-cress of northern streams
*also propagates in this way: the leaves with
little plants attached may often be seen float-
ing down stream. Gardeners propagate some
kinds of begonias by means of leaf -cutting;
also gloxinias and bryophyllums. (Paragraph 69.)
59. Propagation by Means of
Buds. — Buds often become detached
and propagate the plant. Familiar
examples are the bulblets of tiger
lilies, borne amongst the foliage; for
all bulblets and bulbs are only
special kinds of buds. Fig. 31.
Some water plants make heavy
winter buds, which become de-
tached on the approach of cold
weather and sink to the bottom.
In spring, they give rise to new
plants.
60. Grafts. — Sometimes a plant
may unite with another plant. A
branch or a trunk may lie against
another plant of the same kind, or of
a very closely related kind, and grow
22 PROPAGATION BY MEANS OF ROOTS AND STEMS
fast to it; and if its original trunk die away, the part will
be growing on an alien root. A branch that grows fast
to a branch of another plant, the wood of the two knitting
together, is called a graft. (Fig. 32.) It is necessary to dis-
tinguish between a graft and a parasite: a parasite preys
upon another plant, robbing it of its food, but a graft becomes
an integral part of the stock on which it grows, and does
its full work in elaborating food for itself and for the stock.
Review. — What are primary and secondary functions of roots and
stems? What are the functions of rhizomes? How does propagation
by rhizomes proceed? Why does the colony spread? Name some plants
that propagate by means of rhizomes. What is a cutting? May cuttings
be made of rhizomes? How are rhizomatous weeds often spread?
Name some of them. How do roots serve to propagate the plant? Name
instances. What are adventitious buds? What is a layer? Define some
of the kinds of layers, — runner, creeper, stolon, offset. Explain how
cuttings may occur without the aid of man. How may leaves serve
to propagate the plant? Explain how plants propagate themselves by
means of detachable buds. What is a graft? How may grafting take
place without the aid of man?
Note. — If there is an accessible "patch" of toad-flax, Canada
thistle, may-apple, or other perennial plant, the pupil should determine
by what means it enlarges from year to year. "Patches" are always
instructive when considered with reference to propagation and dis-
semination.
CHAPTER V
HOW THE HORTICULTURIST PROPAGATES PLANTS BY
MEANS OF ROOTS AND STEMS
61. Cuttings in General. — A bit of plant stuck into the
ground stands a chance of growing; and this bit is a cutting.
(Compare 51.) Not all plants can be propagated by the same
kind of cutting. The means is determined by experiment or
experience. In some cases the part to be used and the con-
ditions necessary for growing the cutting have not been dis-
covered, and we say that the plant is not propagated by
cuttings. It is probable that some plants cannot be grown
from cuttings, even under the greatest skill.
62. Most plants propagate from cuttings made of the
soft or growing parts (called "wood" by gardeners), of which
the "slips" of geranium and coleus are examples. Others
grow equally well from cuttings of the hard or mature
parts or wood, as currant and grape; and in some instances
this mature wood may be of roots, as in the blackberry.
Pupils should make cuttings now and then. If they can
do nothing more, they can make cuttings of potato
farmer does ; and they can plant them in a ^
as th
box in the window.
63. The Softwood Cutting.— The soft-
wood cutting is made from tissue that is
still growing, or at least from that which
is not dormant. It comprises one or two
joints, with a leaf attached. (Figs. 33,
34, 35.) It must not be allowed to wilt.
Therefore, it must be protected from
direct sunlight and dry air until it is well
(23)
33. Geranium cutting.
24
ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION
established in the earth; and if it has many leaves, some of
them should be removed, or at least cut in two, to reduce
the evaporating surface. Most of the common window-plants
may be propagated
easily by means of
softwood cuttings
or slips.
64. For most
plants, the proper
age or maturity of
wood for the making of cuttings may be
determined by giving the twig a quick
bend : if it snaps and hangs by the bark, it
is in proper condition; if it bends without
breaking, it is too young and soft or too old; if it splinters,
it is too old and woody. The tips of strong upright shoots
usually make the best cuttings. Preferably, each cutting
should have a joint or node near its base; and if the inter-
nodes (or spaces between joints) are very short, it may
comprise two or three joints.
65. The stem of the cutting is inserted one-third or more
its length in clean sand or gravel, and the earth is pressed
firmly about it. A newspaper may be laid over the bed to
34. Carnation
cutting.
36. Cutting-bed, showing carnations and rosea.
*•***&.
MAKING CUTTINGS
25
37. Verbena cutting ready
for transplanting.
exclude the light — if the sun strikes it — and to prevent
too rapid evaporation. The soil should be moist clear
through, not on top only.
66. Loose sandy or gravelly soil is
used. Mason's sand is good earth in
which to start most cuttings; or fine
gravel — sifted of most of its earthy
matter — may be used. Soils that con-
tain much decaying organic matter are
avoided, for these soils are breeding-
places of fungi, which attack the soft
cutting and cause it to "damp off," or
die at or near the surface of the ground. If the cuttings are
to be grown in a window, put three or four inches of the
earth in a shallow box or a pan. A soap box cut in two
lengthwise, so that it makes a box four or five inches deep
— like a gardener's flat — is excellent. A cutting-bed may
be made on a greenhouse bench or in a good shaded window,
as in Fig. 36. Cuttings of
common plants, as gera-
nium, coleus, fuchsia, carna-
tion, are kept at a living-
room temperature. As long
as the cuttings look bright
and green, they are in good
condition. It may be a
month before roots form.
When roots have formed,
the plants begin to make
new leaves at the tip. Then
they may be transplanted
into other boxes or into
pots. The verbena in Fig.
37 is just ready for trans- as. ow geraniun
, , . make it I brow oul a
planting. un(:> oan |,e m.ul(._
26
ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION
67. It is not always easy to find growing shoots from
which to make the cuttings. The best practice, in that
case, is to cut back an old plant, then keep it warm and well
watered, and thereby force it to throw out new shoots. The
old geranium plant from the window-garden, or the one
taken up from the lawn bed, may be treated this way.
See Fig. 38. The best plants of geranium and coleus and
most window-plants are those that are not more than one
year old. The ge-
ranium and fuchsia
cuttings that are
made in January,
February, o r
March will give
compact blooming
plants for the next
winter; and there-
after new ones
take their places.
(Fig. 39.)
68. The Hard-
wood Cutting. —
Best results are
secured when the
39. Early winter geranium, from a spring cutting. cuttings are ma(Je
in the fall and then buried until spring in sand in the cellar.
These cuttings are usually 6 to 10 inches long. They are not
idle while they rest. The lower end calluses or heals, and
the roots form more readily when the cutting is planted in
the spring. But if the proper season has passed, take cut-
tings at any time in winter, plant them in a deep box in the
window, and watch. They will need no shading or special
care. Grape, currant, willow and poplar readily take root
from the hardwood. Fig. 40 shows a currant cutting. It has
only one bud above the ground.
(T'TTIXCS AM) CRAFTS
27
40. Currant cutting.
69. Cuttings of Leaves. — Some plants
arc regularly propagated by leaf-cuttings.
^rr paragraph 58. Begonias of the "foliage"
kinds are the most frequent examples.
Sometimes the leaf is cut to wedge-shaped
parts, each part with a midrib and a bit of
the leaf -stalk; from the point which is put
in the earth a new plant arises, as shown
in Fig. 41. Gardeners often cut the begonia
leaf across and set the severed edge in the
earth; sometimes they lay the leaf flat on
the earth and peg it down at intervals.
The leaf should be nearly or quite mature,
but still full of vigor.
70. The Graft. — When the cutting is
inserted in a plant rather than in the soil,
we have a graft; and the graft may grow.
In this case the cutting grows fast to the
other plant, and
the two become
one. When the cutting is inserted
in a plant, it is no longer called a
cutting, but a cion; and the plant
in which it is inserted is called the
stock. Fruit trees are grafted in
order that a certain variety or kind
may be perpetuated.
71. Plants have preferences as
to the stocks on which they will
grow; but we can find out what
their choice is only by making the
experiment. The pear grows well
on the quince, but the quince does
not grow so well on the pear. The
pear grows on some of the haw-
41. Triangular leaf-cutting
of begonia or "beefsteak geran-
ium," with the leaf of a young
plant starting from the apex.
28
ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION
thorns, but it is an unwilling subject on the apple. Tomato
plants will grow on potato plants, and potato plants on
tomato plants. When the potato is the root, both tomatoes
and potatoes may be produced; when the tomato is the
root, neither potatoes nor tomatoes will be produced. Chest-
nut will grow on some kinds of oak.
72. The forming, growing tissue of the stem (on the plants
we have been discussing) is the cambium, lying on the out-
side of the woody cylinder, beneath the bark. In order that
union may take place, the cambium of the cion and of the
42. Cion of
43. The cion inserted.
44. The parts waxed.
stock must come together. Therefore the cion is set in the
side of the stock. There are many ways of shaping the cion
and of preparing the stock to receive it. These ways are
dictated largely by the relative sizes of cion and stock,
although many of them are matters of mere personal prefer-
ence. The underlying principles are two: securing close
contact between the cambiums of cion and stock; covering
the wounded surfaces to prevent evaporation and to pro-
tect the parts from disease.
73. On large stocks, the commonest form of grafting is
GRAFTING 29
the cleft-graft. The stock is cut off and split; and in one or
both sides a wedge-shaped cion is firmly inserted. Fig. 42
shows the cion; Fig. 43, the cions set in the stock; Fig. 44,
the stock waxed. It will be seen that the lower bud — that
lying in the wedge — is covered by the wax; but being nearest
the food supply and least exposed to weather, it is the most
likely to grow: it will push through the wax.
74. Cleft-grafting is performed in spring, as growth
begins. The cions are cut previously, when perfectly dor-
mant, and from the the tree which it is desired to propagate.
The cions are kept in sand or moss in the cellar. Limbs of
various sizes may be cleft-grafted, — from one-half inch up
to four inches in diameter; but a diameter of one inch is the
most convenient size. All the leading or main branches of
a tree-top may be grafted. If the remaining parts of the
top are gradually cut away and the cions grow well, the
entire top will be changed over to the new variety.
Review. — How do we determine how a plant, may be propagated?
Mention any plants that grow from cuttings. What are softwood
cuttings? Hardwood? Describe a geranium cutting. What is the proper
condition of wood for making a softwood cutting? How is it planted?
Where? In what kind of soil? Give directions for watering. How may
cutting-wood be secured? Describe a hardwood cutting. When is it
made? Name plants that can be propagated easily by means of hard-
wood cuttings. Describe a leaf-cutting. What is a cion? Stock? How
do we find out what stocks are congenial to the cion? Describe a cleft-
graft. When is cleft-grafting performed? Why do we graft ?
Note. — The cutting-box may be set in the window. If the box
does not receive direct sunlight, it may be covered with a pane of
glass to prevent evaporation. Take care that the air is not kept too
close, else the damping-off fungi may attack the cuttings, and they
will rot at the surface of the ground. See that the pane is raised a
little at one end to afford ventilation; and if water collects in drops on
the under side of the glass, remove the pane for a time.
Grafting-wax is made of beeswax, resin, and tallow. The hands
are greased, and the wax is then worked until it is soft enough to spread.
For the little grafting which any pupil would do, it is better to buy the
wax of a seedsman. However, grafting is hardly to be recommended
30 ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION
as a general school diversion, as the making of cuttings is; and this
account of it is inserted chiefly to satisfy the general curiosity on the
subject. But now and then a pupil may make the effort for himself,
for nothing is more exciting than to make a graft grow all by one's self.
The pictures of the cuttings (Figs. 33-35, 37, 40) and the grafts
(Figs. 42-44) are one-third natural size.
The many forms of grafting and budding are too special for dis-
cussion in this book. Descriptions of them may be found in "The
Nursery-Book" and other works.
CHAPTER VI
FOOD RESERVOIRS
75. Storehouses. — All greatly thickened or congested
parts are reservoirs for the storage of plant-food. This
food is mostly starch or sugar. Potatoes, beets, turnips,
thick rhizomes, seeds, are examples. Recall how potatoes
sprout in the cellar (Fig. 45) : the sprouts are produced from
the stored food.
76. The presence of starch can be determined by apply-
ing diluted tincture of iodin to the part: if a blue or purplish
brown color appears, starch is present. Cut the part open and
moisten the fresh sur-
face with iodin (to be
had at the drug store) .
The test will usually
give the best reaction
when the part is per-
fectly dormant. Starch
may be found in
nearly all twigs in fall
and winter. Test thin
cross-sections.
77. This stored
plant-food enables the
plant to start quickly
in the spring, without
waiting for food elab-
oration to begin in the
leaves; and it enables
the plantlet in the
Potato sprouts. The sprouts have Used the food
Btored in the tuber, and the tuber has shriveled.
(31)
32
FOOD RESERVOIRS
seed to grow until it establishes itself in the earth. The flow-
ers of early-blooming trees are developed mostly from the
nourishment stored in the twigs, not from the materials
taken in at the time by the roots, nor from food being made
by the newly forming leaves. This can be demonstrated
by bringing branches of peach, apple, and other early-
blooming plants into the house in the winter and keeping
them in water; they will bloom and sometimes even make
leaves. Study Fig. 46.
78. Kinds of Storage-organs. — Short and
much thickened or swollen parts of roots or
stems are known as tubers. These may be
stem-tubers, as the potato, or root-tubers, as
the sweet potato (45). Most tubers are sub-
terranean.
79. Many tubers are stem at the top and
root in the remaining part: these are called
crown-tubers, because the upper part comes
to the surface of the ground, or is a crown.
Leaves and stems arise from the upper part.
TUBERS AND BULBS
33
Beet, radish parsnip, turnip, salsify, carrot, dahlia roots,
are examples. These tubers are usually much longer than
broad, and generally taper down-
wards. (Fig. 47.) A good example of
stem-tuber is the kohlrabi. (Fig. 48).
-tuber above ground.
Kohlrabi.
49. A multiplier oni<
80. A much thickened part composed of scales or plates
is a bulb. The bulb may be scaly, as in the lily; or it may be
tunicated, — made up of plates or layers within layers, as
the onion.
81. Small bulbs borne amongst the foliage or flowers
are known as bulblets.
Such are the "top onions,"
and the little bulbs that
the tiger lily (Fig. 31)
bears on its stem. Bulbs
that grow around the main
bulb or which are formed
by the breaking apart of
the main bulb, are known
as bulbels. Many bulbous
plants propagate by means 50. section of
G
ultiplier onion. Natural size.
34
FOOD RESERVOIRS
of bulbels. The multiplier or potato onion (Fig. 49) is an
example. If the bulb is cut across, it is found to have two
or more "hearts" or cores (Fig. 50). When it has been
planted a week, each core
or part begins to separate
(Fig. 51), and there are
soon as many onions as
there are cores. Potato
onions can be bought of
seedsmen. They are used
for the raising of early
onions.
82. Solid bulb-like parts
are known as conns. These
usually have a loose cover-
ing, but the interior is not
made up of scales or plates.
Of such are gladiolus and
crocus corms. (Figs. 52, 53.) Conns multiply by cormels or
small corms, as bulbs do by bulbels; or the plant may bear
cormlets amongst the branches and foliage. Fig. 54 shows
an old gladiolus corm on which three new corms have grown.
83. We have seen that thickened parts may serve one
or both of two purposes: they may be storage-organs for
51. beginning to
Each part will be a
52. Corm of crocus. Nat. size.
53. Section of a crocus corm.
TUBERS AND BULBS
35
food; they may be means of propagating the plant. The
storage of food carries the plant over a dry or cold season.
By making bulbs or tubers, the plant persists until spring.
Future growth is, therefore, pro- ~
vided for by the storage. Bulbous /%$ ]
plants are characteristic of many
dry countries.
54. Three corms growing on an
old one. — Gladiolus.
Review. — What do you understand
by food reservoirs? How is the presence
of starch determined? Where may starch
be found? Of what service to the plant is
this stored food? How are the flowers and
[eaves enabled to start so early in spring?
Define tuber. Root-tuber. Stem-tuber. Crown-tuber. Give examples.
Define bulb. Scaly bulb. Tunicated bulb. Bulblet. Bulbel. Give
examples. Define corm. Cormel. What two purposes do congested
parts serve?
Note. — The pupil should examine various kinds of bulbs and
tubers. If these are not at hand, many kinds can be purchased of
seedsmen or florists. Secure onion, narcissus, hyacinth, gladiolus,
crocus, potato. Cut them in two. Study the make-up. Test them
for starch. Plant some of them in pots or boxes. Observe how they
grow. In the onion and some other plants, most of the stored food is
sugar. Place a potato tuber in a tumbler or cup in a window so that
the bottom of the tuber will be in the water.
CHAPTER VII
WINTER BUDS
84. What Buds Are. — Because of cold or dry weather,
the plant is forced into a period of inactivity. We have
seen that it stores food, and is ready to make a quick start
in the spring. It also makes embryo branches and packs
them away underneath close-fitting scales: these branch-
lets and their coverings are winter buds. The growing
points of the plant are at rest for a time. In the warm
season, the growing point is active, and the covering of
scales is not so pronounced. A winter bud may be defined
as a resting covered growing point.
85. A resting bud, therefore, is a shortened axis or branch,
bearing miniature leaves or flowers, or both, and protected
by a covering. Cut in two, lengthwise, a bud of the horse-
chestnut or other plant that has large buds. With a pin,
separate the tiny leaves. Count them. Examine the big
bud of the rhubarb as it lies under
the ground in winter or early spring.
Dissect large buds of the apple and
and pear. (Figs. 55, 56.)
86. The bud is protected by firm
. '" and dry scales; but these scales are
Bud of apn- only modified leaves. The scales
cot showing , . 56. Bud of pear
the minia- fit close. Often the bud is protected showing both
ture leaves. by varnish (see horse-chestnut and ^ aTnhe
the balsam poplars). Most winter buds are latter are the
^ L ' . little knobs in
more or less woolly. Examine them under the center.
a lens. As we might expect, bud-coverings are most prom-
inent in cold and dry climates.
(36)
MANY KINDS OF BUDS
37
>
c
87. Where Buds Are. — Buds are borne in the axils
of the leaves, — in the acute angle that the leaf makes with
1^ the stem. When the leaf is grow-
ing in the summer, a bud is form-
ing above it. When the leaf falls,
the bud remains, and a scar marks
the place of the leaf. Fig. 57
shows the large leaf-scars of ailan-
thus. Observe those on the horse-
chestnut, maple, apple, pear, bass-
wood, hickory, or any tree or bush.
88. Sometimes two or more buds
are borne in one axil: the extra
ones are accessory or supernumerary s8. Termi-
buds. Observe them in the Tar- between
tarian honeysuckle (common in bWu°d°th—
yards), walnut, butternut, red Cum"lt'
maple, honey locust, and sometimes in the apricot and
peach.
89. Shoots of many plants bear a bud at the tip: this
is a terminal bud. It continues the growth of the axis in
a direct line. Very often three or more buds are clustered
Leaf-scars.-
Ailanthus.
«:-%f* "-.•- x
at the tip (Fig. 58);
and in this case there
may be more buds than
leaf-scars. Only one of
them, however, isstrictly
terminal.
90. Bulbs and cabbage
heads may be likened
to buds: that is, they
are condensed stems,
with scales or modified
leaves densely overlapping and forming a rounded body.
(Fig. 59.) They differ from true buds, however, in the fact
59. A gigantic bud. — CalibMgc
38
WINTER BUDS
that they are condensations of main stems rather than
embryo stems borne in the axils of leaves. But bulblets
may be scarcely distinguish-
able from buds on the one
hand and from bulbs on the
other. Cut a cabbage head in
two lengthwise, and see what
it is like.
91. What Buds do.— A bud
is a growing point. In the
growing season it is small,
and persons do not notice it.
In the winter it is dormant
and wrapped up and is plainly
seen: it is waiting. All branches spring from
buds.
92. All winter buds give rise to branches,
not to leaves alone: that is, the leaves are borne
on the lengthening axis. Sometimes the axis,
or branch, remains very short, — so short that it
may not be noticed. Some-
times it grows several feet
long.
93. Whether the
branch grows long
or not depends on
the chance it has,
— position on the plant, fertility
of soil, rainfall, and many
other things. The new shoot is
the unfolding and enlarging of
the tiny axis and leaves that
we saw in the bud. (Figs. 55,
56.) If the conditions are congenial, the shoot may form more
leaves than were tucked away in the bud, but commonly
^0. Willow.
The "pus-
sies" are
pushing
out, and
a large
black bud
scale is
ready to
fall from
the base
of each.
64. Growth is
progressing.
CONTENTS OF BUDS
39
65. Opening of the
pear bud.
it does not. The length of the shoot usually depends more
on the lengths between joints than on the number of leaves.
94. How Buds Open. — When the bud
swells, the scales are pushed apart, the
little axis elongates and pushes out. In
most plants, the outside scales fall very soon,
leaving a little ring of scars. Notice peach,
apple, plum, willow, and other plants.
(Fig. GO.) In others, all the scales grow
for a time, as in the pear. (Figs. 61, 62.)
In other plants, the inner bud-
scales become green and al-
most leaf-like. See the maple
and hickory. Fig. 63 shows a
hickory bud. Two weeks later,
the young shoot had pushed out
and the enlarged scales were hanging. (Fig. 64.)
95. Sometimes flowers come out of the buds.
Leaves may or may not accompany the flowers.
We saw the embryo flowers in Fig. 56. The
bud is shown again in Fig. 61. In Fig. 62 it is
opening. In Fig. 65 it is
more advanced, and the woolly un-
formed flowers are appearing. In
Fig. 66 the growth is more advanced.
In Fig. 67 the flowers are full blown;
and the bees have found them.
96. Buds that contain or produce
only leaves are leaf-buds. Those that
contain only flowers are flower-buds
or fruit-buds. The latter occur on
peach, almond, apricot, and many
very early spring-flowering plants. 67- p,:u '" '"" bloom-
(Fig. 68.) The single flower is emerging from the apricot
bud in Fig. 69. Those that contain both leaves and flow-
40
WINTER BUDS
Almond flower — the
sole occupant of a bud.
ers are mixed buds, as in pear (Fig. 67), apple, and most late
spring-flowering plants.
97. Fruit-buds are usually thicker
or stouter than leaf-buds. They are
borne in different positions on differ-
ent plants. In some plants
(apple, pear) they are mostly
on the ends of short branches
or spurs; in others (peach, red
maple) they are mostly along
the sides of the last year's
growths. In Fig. 70 are shown
three fruit-buds and one leaf-
bud on e, and leaf-buds
on a. In Fig. 71 a fruit-bud is at the left, and a leaf-bud
at the right.
98. The "Burst of Spring"
means chiefly the opening of the
buds. Note the process in Fig. 72.
Everything was made ready in the
previous growing season. The em-
bryo shoots and flowers were devel-
oped in the buds, and the food was
stored. Spring comes on. The warm
rain falls, and the shutters open and
the sleepers wake: the frogs peep
and the birds come.
Review. — What are resting buds?
What are they for? What is their cover-
ing? Where are they borne? When are
they formed? What is a leaf-scar? What
are accessory buds? What other name is
applied to them? Define terminal bud.
What does it do? What are bulbs and
cabbages? How do they differ from
buds? What do buds do? From what do
Fruit-buds and leaf-buds
of pear.
QUESTIONS ON BUDS
41
branches arise? To what do winter buds give rise? What determines
whether the branch shall be long or short? Describe the opening of
a bud. What are flower-buds? Leaf -buds?
Mixed buds? How may fruit-buds be distin-
guished? What is the "burst of spring?"
Note. — It is easy to see the swelling of the
buds in a room in winter. Secure branches of
trees and shrubs, two to three feet long, and
stand them in vases or jars, as you would
flowers. Renew the water frequently and cut
off the lower ends of the shoots occasionally'
In a week or two the. buds will begin to swell.
Of red maple, peach, apricot, and other very
early-flowering things, flowers may be secured
in ten to twenty days. Try it.
The shape, size, and color of the winter buds
are different in every kind of plant. By the buds
alone botanists are often able to distinguish the
kinds of trees. Even such similar plants as the different kinds of
willows have good bud characters. The study of the kinds of buds
affords excellent training of the powers of observation.
Fruit-bud and leaf-
bud of apple.
72. The burst of spring in the lilac.
CHAPTER VIII
PLANTS AND SUNLIGHT
99. Each Plant Responds to Light. — Green plants live
only in sunlight, direct or indirect. The gradual with-
drawal of light tends to weaken the plant; but the plant
makes an effort to reach the light
and therefore grows toward it. The
whole habit of a plant may be
changed by its position with ref-
erence to sunlight. Choose two
similar plants. Place one near
the window and the other far
from it. Watch the behavior from
day to day. Fig. 73 shows a
fern that grew near the glass in
a conservatory: Fig. 74 shows one that grew on the
floor of a conservatory. Fig. 74 also teaches another
lesson, which is to be explained in another chapter (Chapter
XXVIII).
100. Plants grow toward the light. The most vigor-
ous branches, as a rule, are those that receive most light.
73. Sufficient light.
75. Growing toward the light.
REACHING FOR LIGHT
43
Climb a tree and observe where the thriftiest shoots arc;
or observe any bush.
101. When plants or their parts are not stiff or rigid,
76. Branches of the cedar reaching for light.
they turn toward the light, if the light comes mostly from
one direction. The geraniums and fuchsias in the window
arc turned around occasionally so that they will grow sym-
metrical. Plant radish in a pot or pan. When the plants
are three or four inches high, place the pan in a tight box
44
PLANTS AND SUNLIGHT
which has a hole on one side. The next day it will look
like those in Fig. 75. This turning toward the light is
called heliotropism (helios is Greek for "sun").
102. Even under natural
conditions, plants become
misshapen or unsymmetri-
cal if the light comes
mostly from one direction.
On the edge of a forest,
the branches grow #out
toward the light. (Fig. 76.)
Trees tend to grow away
from a building. Branches
become fixed in their
position, so that even in
winter they show the in-
fluence of light.
103. Some plants climb
other plants in order to
reach the sunlight; or they
climb rocks and buildings. Notice that the vine on the house
luxuriates where it is lightest. Climbing plants may injure
or even kill the plant on which they climb. This they may
do by throwing their mantle of foliage over it, and smother-
ing it, or by sending their roots into its trunk and robbing
it of food. Sometimes they do both, as in Fig. 78.
104. Each Branch Grows Toward Light. — The plant is
made up of branches. There is a struggle amongst the
branches for sunlight. We have seen (Fig. 7) that no two
branches are alike: we now know one reason why. Notice
that the small branches die in the center of the tree. Look
on the inside of a pine, spruce or other dense tree. Every
branch has a story to tell of the value of sunlight.
105. Each Leaf Grows Toward Light. — Leaves are borne
toward the ends of the branches. This is particularly
77. Mantle of clematis. The leaves, and later
the flowers, spread themselves to the light.
THE LIGHT REACTION
45
marked when the struggle is severe. If the outside of a
plant is densely thatched with leaves, the inside will be
found to be comparatively bare. Contrast Figs. 79 and 80,
both being views of one tree. We know the tree as seen
in Fig. 79: the squirrel knows it as seen in Fig. 80.
106. On any branch in a very thick-topped tree or bush,
leaves of equal age usually tend to be largest where the
light is best. Leaves that grow in full sunlight tend to per-
sist later in the fall than those that grow in poor light.
This fact is sometimes obscured because the outermost
leaves are most ex-
posed to autumn
winds.
107. Plants that
start in cellars, from
seeds, bulbs, or tubers,
grow until the stored
food is exhausted and
then die: the leaves
do not develop to full
size in darkness. Figs.
81 and 82 show this.
Fig. 81 is rhubarb
forced in a cellar for
the winter market;
Fig. 82 is a plant
grown out-of-doors.
Compare Fig. 45.
108. The position
or direction of leaves
is determined largely
by exposure to sun-
light. In temperate climates, they usually hang in such a
way that they receive the greatest amount of light. Observe
the arrangement of leaves in Fig. 83. One leaf shades the
8. A olimbing Iir choking a palm.
46
PLANTS AND SUNLIGHT
79. Looking at the top of a Norway maple. — As the bird sees it.
other to the least possible degree. If the plant were placed
in a new position with reference to light, the leaves would
make an effort to turn their blades. Observe the shingle-like
arrangement in Fig. 79. If the pupil were to examine the
3. Looking up into the same tree. — As the squirrel
THE LICHT RELATION
47
leaves on the Norway maple, which is photographed in Fig.
79, he would find that leaves which are not on the outside
lengthen their leaf-stalks in order to get the light. See Fig.
157. Norway maple is common on lawns and roadsides.
109. We have seen (85) that a large part of the leaves
of any one year are packed away in the buds of the previous
winter. It is almost impossible that these leaves should be
packed away hit or miss. They are usually arranged in a
mathematical order. We can see this order when the shoot
has grown. We can see it by studying the buds on recent
shoots, since there was a leaf for each bud. The leaves (or
buds) may be opposite each other on the stem, or alternate.
(Fig. 84.)
110. When leaves are opposite, the pairs usually alter-
nate. That is, if one pair stands north and south, the next
pair stands east and west. See the box-elder shoot, on
the left in Fig. 84. One pair does not shade the pair beneath.
The leaves are in four vertical ranks.
111. There are several kinds of alternate arrangement.
In the elm shoot in Fig. 84, the third bud is vertically above
the first. This is true, no matter which bud is taken as the
48
PLANTS AND SUNLIGHT
starting point. Draw a thread around the stem until the
two buds are joined. Set a pin at each bud. Observe that the
two buds are passed (not counting the last) and that the
thread makes one circuit of the stem. Representing the num-
ber of buds by a denominator, and the number of circuits
by a numerator, we have the fraction ]/2, which expresses
the part of the circle that lies between any two buds.
That is, the buds are
one-half of 360 de-
grees apart, or 180
degrees. Looking
endwise at the stem,
the leaves are seen
to be 2-ranked. Note
that in the apple
shoot (Fig. 84, right),
the thread makes
two circuits and five
buds are passed:
two-fifths represents
the divergence be-
tween the buds. The
leaves are 5-ranked.
112. Every plant
has its own arrange-
ment of leaves. For
opposite leaves, see
maple, box-elder, ash, lilac, honeysuckle, mint, fuchsia. For
2-ranked arrangement see all grasses, Indian corn, basswood,
elm. For 3-ranked arrangement see all sedges. For 5-ranked
(which is one of the commonest), see apple, cherry, pear,
peach, plum, poplar, willow. For 8-ranked, see holly, osage
orange. More complicated arrangements occur in bulbs,
house-leeks, and other condensed parts. The arrangement
of leaves on the stem is known as phyllotaxy (literally
82. Rhubarb growing in the light.
LEAF ARRANGEMENT
49
S3. All the leaves are exposed
to light.
"leaf-arrangement"). Make out the
phyllotaxy on any plant. Try it
on a long potato tuber.
113. In some plants, several
leaves occur at one level, being
arranged in a circle around the
stem. Such leaves are said to be
verticillate or whorled. Leaves
arranged in this way are usually
narrow.
114. Although a definite
arrangement of leaves is the rule
in most plants, it is subject to mod-
ification. On shoots that receive the light only from one
side or that grow in difficult positions, the arrangement may
not be definite. Examine shoots that grow on the under
side of dense tree-tops or in other partially lighted positions.
115. The direction or
"hang" of the leaf is
usually fixed, but there
are some leaves that
change their direction be-
tween daylight and dark-
ness. Thus, leaves of
clover (Fig. 85), bean,
locust, and many related
plants, "sleep" at night;
also oxalis. It is not a
sleep in the sense in which
animals sleep, however,
but its function is not
well understood.
116. Leaves usually ex-
pose one particular surface
to the light. This is be-
50
PLANTS AND SUNLIGHT
85. Day and night positions of the
clover leaf.
cause their internal structure is such that light is most
efficient when it strikes this surface, as we shall learn later
on. Some plants, how-
ever, expose both surfaces
to the light, and their leaves
stand vertical. Others
avoid the intense light of
midday and turn in the
direction of least light.
Leaves standing edgewise
are said to exhibit -polarity.
They are "compass plants" if they point north and south.
The famous compass plant or silphium of
the prairies, and the wild lettuce (Fig. 86),
are examples of plants having polar leaves.
Every leaf has a story to tell of the value of
sunlight.
117. Winter Buds Show What Has Been
the Effect of Sunlight. — Buds are borne in
the axils of the leaves (87), and the size or
vigor of the leaf determines to a large extent
the size of the bud. Notice that, in most
instances, the largest buds are nearest the tip.
(Fig. 87.) If the largest ones are not near the
tip, there is some special reason for it. Ex-
amine the shoots on trees and bushes.
118. The largest buds usually start first
in spring, and the branches that arise from
them have the advantage in the struggle
for existence. Plants tend to grow most vig-
orously from their ends. Observe that only
the terminal bud grew in the hickory twig
86ieuucde?arweedk^ in Fig. 64. If the side buds or lower buds
wMteldpiaace^ grew more vigorously than the end buds, the
l^ss Tert^aL6 °r plant would become exceedingly branched
QUESTIONS ON THE LTGHT-RELATION 51
and its whole form might be changed. Consider how such a
mode of branching would affect any small tree that you
know. Every bud has a story to tell of the value of sunlight.
Review.— What is the relation of the plant
to sunlight? Does its form ever depend on its
relation to light? In what direction do the tops
of plants grow? Where are the most vigorous
branches? What is heliotropism? Why are trees
sometimes unsymmetrical? Do you know any
instance's yourself? What is one way in which
plants profit by the climbing habit? Explain.
Where are leaves borne in reference to light?
Where are leaves usually largest? Do they de-
velop in darkness? Are leaves borne directly
above i >ne another? How may leaves be arranged?
Explain what phyllotaxy is. Are leaves always
arranged definitely? Explain the arrangement
in sonic plant that is not mentioned in this
lesson. What is the "sleep" of leaves? Which
surface of the leaf is exposed? What are com-
pass plants? How do buds show what the effect
of sunlight has been? What buds start first in 37. The bis terminal
spring? buds. — Hickory-
CHAPTER IX
STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE AMONGST
THE BRANCHES
119. No Two Branches are Alike. — Every twig has a
history. It has to contend for sunlight and a place in which
to grow. Its size and shape, therefore, depend on the con-
ditions under which it lives. Observe the long, straight,
big-leaved shoots on the top of the plant, and the short,
weak, crooked ones on the inside or under side.
120. There is struggle for existence for every twig and
every leaf. Those finding the best conditions live and thrive ;
88. The struggle for life. — Mulberry shoot.
those finding the poorest die. The weak are overpowered
and finally perish: this prunes the tree, and tends to make
the strong the stronger. Observe the competition in the
branch photographed in Fig. 88. Pick out the dead twigs,
the weak ones, the strong ones. See also Fig. 7.
121. The Buds May Not Grow. — There is not room in a
tree-top for all the buds to grow into branches. Some buds
(52)
THK STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE
53
89. The branching is crooked
and irregular.
are suppressed. Branches die. So it comes that branches
are not arranged regularly, although the buds may be. In
the Tartarian or "tree"
honeysuckle the buds are
opposite ; Fig. 89 shows how
the branches are. Even
though the branch or plant
is apparently regular in
shape (as in Fig. 90), never-
theless many of the buds
have been suppressed, else
there would be a branch
from every axil.
122. The results of the
struggle for existence in the
tree-top can be expressed in figures. Consider that every bud
is the germ or starting point of a branch. Observe at what
distances apart the buds are usually borne on any plant, and
estimate the number of buds that the plant has borne:
count the number of branches which the tree actually bears.
It will be found that the number of buds is far in excess of
the number of
branches: the differ-
ence between the
numbers shows how
many buds or
branches have failed.
Or, count the buds
on any branch, and
figure up the pos-
sibilities. A branch
12 inches long, for
example, has 10 buds.
If each bud grows,
at the end of the next
Not all t
branches
ids have produc
■Tea plant.
54
STRUGGLE AMONGST BRANCHES
season, there will be 10 branches, each of which may have
10 buds. At the end of the second year there will be 100
branches; at the end of the third, 1,000. Can 1,000 branches
be borne on a 4-year-old branch 12 inches long, as a base?
Or, count the old bud-scars on the branches — for the places
of the buds persist as wrinkles in the bark, often for many
years. (Fig. 91.) One can often
locate these bud-scars on old
branches with his eyes closed by
running his fingers over the bark.
123. Buds that fail to grow
are called dormant buds. They
are usually the weakest ones, —
those which grew in the most
uncongenial conditions. They are
toward the base of the shoot.
We have seen (118) that
it is the terminal or
uppermost buds which
are most likely to grow.
The dormant buds
gradually die. They
may live four or five
years on some plants.
If the other buds or
branches fail or are in-
jured, they may grow,
but usually they do not.
124. Dormant buds must not be confounded with ad-
ventitious buds. We have learned (54) that adventitious
buds are those formed at unusual times or places, because
of some disturbance of the part. If a large branch is cut
off, suckers or watersprouts are thrown out near the wound:
these arise from buds that are made for the occasion. These
buds did not exist there. In many countries it is a custom
Scars of the dormant buds. — Willow.
92. A pollard tree
In this case, man has added to the struggle for existence. An ash tree in Alger
The shoots are cut for forage.
(55)
56
STRUGGLE AMONGST BRANCHES
to "pollard" or cut off the tops of trees every few years for
the firewood or other uses, and strong adventitious shoots
arise along the trunk.
(Fig: 92.)
125. Where the
Branches Grow. — Be-
cause new shoots tend
to arise from the top
of the twigs, the branches
of most trees are in tiers
or layers. These tiers of-
ten can be traced in trees
50 and 100 years old.
Try it in any oak, maple,
ash, or other tree. For
practice, begin with
young, vigorous trees.
(Figs. 93 and 94.)
126. When part of a
top is removed, the remaining branches fill the space. The
branches are attracted by the light, and grow in that
direction. A pruned or injured top always tends to come
back to equilibrium.
93. Tiers of
branches on
young tree.
94. Even in old trees
the tiers can be
traced.
95. Crushed by storm, the tree still shoots upward.
HISTORY OF A TWIG
57
127. A mangled or broken plant tends to regain its former
position. From fallen trees, upright shoots arise. In Fig.
95 observe the new trunks arising from the older prostrate
trunks.
^' •> W °7- The same shoot- APril 20-
'<■' VBi; K
m
Review. — What is meant by the statement thai every twig has
a history? Upon what docs the shape and size of a branch depend?
Explain what you mean by the struggle for existence. Why do not all
buds grow? If buds arc arranged in mathematical order, why arc not
branches so arranged'.' How may the effect of struggle for existence be
expressed in figures? Choose some branch and explain. Define dormant
buds. Adventitious buds. Why arc branches in tiers, or borne at
intervals? How do plants tend to regain their form and position, when
injured?
Note. — Let the pupil work out the history of some branch. It is
better to choose a branch that is vigorous. He should first determine,
if the shoot is dormant, how much grew the previous season. The
last year's growth bears buds on the main axis, not on side branches;
58
STRUGGLE AMONGST BRANCHES
and the "ring" (scars or bud-scales) marks the junction between the
different years' growth. Notice this ring in the front shoot in Fig. 87.
The teacher will find many twigs worked out in "Lessons with Plants."
Figs. 96-100 show an actual case. These drawings were all made with
the greatest care from one elm twig. The twig (Fig. 96) shows three
years' growths. The side branch is evidently only one year old, for it
did not arise until the twig which bears it was one year old. Note
that only one of the buds made a branch. There are five blossom-buds.
Fig. 97 shows the twig in bloom. Fig. 98 shows it in fruit and leaf.
Fig. 100 shows the net result. The side branch grew from a to s and made
two blossom buds. The tip of the main shoot (Fig. 96) was broken in
a storm. The two buds next in succession grew. Each made flower-
buds. Observe how many buds on this elm shoot have failed.
100. October 18.
CHAPTER X
PRUNING
128. We are now ready to discuss the reasons for pruning,
and how the work should be performed. We have discovered
that there is competition between different plants and also
between branches on the same plant.
When one or more of the competitors
is removed, the remain-
ing plants or parts
have better condi-
tions and will prob-
ably increase in vigor.
Pruning is a means of
allowing the remaining
branches a better op-
portunity to develop.
129. Pruning should therefore increase
the vigor of remaining parts. In fruit trees
it also thins the fruit, increasing its size.
It opens a tree-top to air and light;
removes superfluous fruit -buds; allow
more thorough spraying; increases ease of
access into the tree by the pickers. Prun-
ing also keeps plants within bounds, and ^
Corrects misshapen or awkward forms.
130. The first pruning is performed
when the plant is set or planted. The
broken and dead roots are removed, and
part of the top is taken away. There
should be a -proper balance between root
(59)
)l. Showij
gin
>\V III
icl
the leave
9 or
top
)f a
young pi
removed
planting.
Hit
may
tri
be
ns-
2. Suggestions for
pruning rout and tup
of an apple tree » hell
ii i- i ransplanted. A
pruned top ifl shown
at a.
60
PRUNING
and top, when a tree is dislodged from the earth and taken
to another place. We have found that the leaves of cuttings
are sometimes reduced for a similar reason (63). In most
^f",;;,.
103. Peach tree unpruned and pruned.
trees and shrubs (except conifers) the top is cut back as
much as one-half on transplanting. (Figs. 101, 102.)
131. Young trees may be so pruned that so many branches
will not grow as to confuse and crowd the tree-top later on.
A few framework or scaffold branches should be left. (Fig.
103.) An effort should be made to shape the tree sym-
metrically; and if the trees are to constitute an orchard,
they should be uniform in shape and height of top. (Figs.
104, 105.) "As the twig is bent the tree's inclined."
132. Fruit
plants should be
so pruned as to
encourage and
spare sufficient
bearing wood to
insure a good
crop. We have
identified the
fruit-buds (Chap-
ter VII). The
strongest and best
States and Canada, apple trees are usually trained lower , ■, , ■,
than this, to shield the trunks. Placea DUC1S
k-.::
HOW TO PRUNE
(il
105. Well-formed peach trees in the eastern region.
should be saved. Thinning the fruit-buds thins the fruit.
In some fruit plants, the bearing wood is on canes that live
or that bear for
a single year
only. Of such
are blackberries
and raspberries.
The raspberry
cane that springs
from the root
this year, bears
fruit next year,
and then dies or
becomes so weak
as to be worth-
less; and the
cane that comes
up next year bears fruit the year after, thus maintaining the
succession. Therefore, every fall or spring the canes that
have borne should be cut away near the ground; a certain
number (four to eight) of the new ones should be allowed to
remain; and these new ones are later cut back to make them
upright and to concentrate the bearing area. (Figs. 106, 107.)
133. Shrubs and trees grown for bloom may bear their
flowers from winter or resting buds, or from growing shoots
of the season; if the former, they bloom very early in
spring, as lilac, flowering almond, deutzia, weigela, for-
sythia or golden bell; if the latter, they bloom later after
active twig growth begins, as rose of sharon or hibiscus,
hydrangea, privet, mock orange, rose acacia, most honey-
suckles. If it is desired not to remove (he bloom, those
bushes that bloom from resting buds should be pruned
or headed back (if at all) after flowering or when in leaf:
the other class should be pruned before flowering, or when
the plant is dormant.
62
PRUNING
134. Pruning is sometimes employed to increase the vigor
of weak or injured plants, and to renew and reshape old trees.
Woody plants severely injured by frost are often cut back
106. Raspberry before pruning.
107. Same bush after the
spring pruning.
heavily to fresh clean wood. (Fig. 108.) The vigor of the
plant is condensed into a smaller area, new shoots arise, and
a renewed top may be formed.
135. In pruning, all long stubs should be avoided, and
the cut should be smooth and not splintered. The "healing"
of such a wound is merely the covering of the stub or cut
area by a callus or ring of tissue that arises from the cambium
region (between wood and bark); this callus does not form
readily on long
and leafless
stubs. An un-
covered wound
tends to rot, and
a hole is formed
into the tree.
Figs. 109 and 110
show poor and
good pruning.
The limb should
108. Peach trees heavily cut back after a freeze.
HOW THE LIMBS ARE TO BE CUT
63
be severed practically parallel to its parent branch and close
to it. Some of the worst examples of pruning (or of tree
butchery) are to be found along streets where trees have
been cut to allow the passage of telephone and telegraph
wires and other improvements. Only careful and practiced
persons should be allowed to prune street trees.
136. Pruning may be performed at any time of the year,
depending on the climate and the objects to be attained.
Fruit trees and shade trees are usually pruned in spring,
before the leaves appear. Sometimes the heading in of fruit
trees is performed in late summer or fall, but late winter and
spring pruning for all trees is most favored in cold climates.
109. Poor pruning
110. Good pruning.
Review. — What do you understand by pruning? What does prun-
ing accomplish? Is it "unnatural"? How should newly set trees and
plants be pruned? Why? What relation has pruning to the bearing
wood? What are the considerations in the pruning of flowering shrubs'.'
What kind of pruning is practised on weak or injured plants? How
should the pruning wounds be made? How do wounds heal'.' When
may pruning be performed? How would you prune a bearing apple
tree (ask some one who knows)? A raspberry or blackberry bush?
CHAPTER XI
THE FORMS OF PLANTS
137. Although the form of the' branch, and to some
extent the entire plant, is determined by a struggle with
the conditions in which it grows, nevertheless each kind
of plant has its own peculiar habit of growth. The lum-
111. Different forms of trees.
berman distinguishes the kinds of trees by their "looks,"
rather than by their leaves or flowers, as the botanist does.
The farmer usually does the same with his cultivated plants.
138. The habit of a plant is determined by its size,
general style or direction of growth, form of head, and method
of branching. The general style or stature
of plants has been mentioned in Chapter
III — they may be erect, strict, creeping,
decumbent, and the like. The shape of
the top or head is well illustrated in trees.
Note the general effect of the mass, as
seen at a distance. The elm is vase-form
or round-headed. (Fig. 111.) So are maple,
beech, and apple trees. The Lombardy
poplar (Fig. 112) is columnar or fastigiate.
Young spruces and firs are conical.
(64)
k
112. Round-headed and
fastigiate trees.
THE TREE TOPS
65
Heads may be narrow,
wide, flat, symmetrical,
irregular or broken.
139. The general leaf-
age or furnishing of the
top is different for each
kind. The top may be
dense or thin. The foliage
may be heavy, light, large,
small. Compare maples
and elms, apples and
peaches, and other trees.
140. The trunk or bole
of the tree is one of its
most conspicuous fea-
tures. Observe the strict
ii3. The unbranched trunk, of palms. straight trunk of the
palm (Fig. 113), and the forking trunk of elms and maples.
Observe that no two trees have trunks quite alike. The bark
is different for each kind of plant.
114. The plant form in winter.-
%&
*£§&&:
i
is
j£P»
-Russian thistle.
15. A plant form. — Cotton.
141. Plants awaken certain thoughts or feelings: they
are said to have expression. This expression is the source
of much of our pleasure in them. Trees are particularly
expressive. One suggests restfulness, because of its deep,
66
THE FORMS OF PLANTS
shady top; another gaiety, from its moving, small, light-
colored leaves; another heaviness, from its very large, dull
foliage; another strength, from the massive branches; another
grace, from the flowing outline or flexile growth. We think
of the oak as strong, the willow as lithe, the aspen as weak,
116. The many trunks of an old olive tree. Italy.
and the like. Irregular or gnarly trees suggest struggle.
If all plants, or even all trees, were alike, we should have
little pleasure in them.
142. The expression of a plant depends to some extent
on the character of the shadows in the top. These shadows
(or lights and shades) are best seen by looking at the plant
THE INTEREST IN PLANT FORMS
67
when the sun is low and behind the observer. Stand at
some distance. Look at the dark places in the old pasture
maple: they are lumpy and irregular. In the pasture beech
they are in layers or strata. The shadows depend mostly
on the method of branching. Those who take photographs
know how the "high lights" and
shadows develop on the plate.
(Fig. 117.)
143. The habit of a plant is
usually most apparent when it is
leafless. The framework is then
revealed. Woody plants are as
interesting in winter as in sum-
mer. Observe their forms as out-
lined against the sky — every one
different from every other. Notice
the plant forms as they stand in
the snow. (Fig. 114.) Compare
this form with that of the cotton
in Fig. 115; or with that of any
other plant. How do stems of
the pigweed differ from those of burdock and grasses?
Observe how the different plants hold snow and ice.
144. The more unusual the shape of any tree or other
plant, the greater is our interest in it, because our curiosity
is awakened. Some unusual circumstance or condition
has produced the abnormal form. Such plants should be
preserved whenever possible. (Fig. 11G.)
Review. — What do you mean by the statement that each kind of
plant has its own habit (36)? How do plants differ in habit? Name
some of the forms of tree-tops. How may plants differ in the furnish-
ing of the top? Is the trunk characteristic? Hark'.' Bring in and
describe the hark of three kinds of trees. What is the expression of
a tree? Name some of the expressions? Explain what you under-
stand by the shadows in the top. On what do the shadows chiefly
depend? What is there to see in plants in winter? Why are we interested
117. The lights and shades. — Honey
locust tree.
68
THE FORMS OF PLANTS
in plants of unusual form? Tell how any two trees differ in "looks."
Note. — One of the first things the pupil should learn about plants
is to see them as a whole. He should get the feeling of mass. Then
he should endeavor to determine why the mass is so and so. Trees
are best to begin on. No two trees are alike. How do they differ?
The pupil can observe as he comes and goes from school. An orchard
of different kinds of fruits shows strong contrasts. Even different
varieties of the same fruit may be unlike in habit. This is especially
true in pears (Figs. 118, 119). It is well, also, to develop the feeling
for the mass, and to apprehend the expression, in a field of wheat or of
clover, a field of potatoes, an apple orchard, a vegetable garden: dis-
tinguish the various plant forms and also the impression that the
entire field or garden or woodland makes on you.
1 18. A young pear tree of the Kieffer
variety.
119. A pear tree of the Hardy
variety.
CHAPTER XII
WATER AND MINERAL NUTRIENTS.— ROOT ACTION
145. Plant-food. — Having learned what a plant is and
having seen it as a whole, we may now inquire how it secures
food with which to live. We can discuss only the outlines
of the subject here: the pupil may consider the question
again when he takes up Part III. The plant secures water
and mineral nutrients from the soil. It also takes up mineral
elements which are not nutrients, but which enter the plant
because they are in solution in the soil-water. The word
plant-food is used commonly to include the water and
mineral nutrients taken in by the roots. Technically, the
word plant-food is used to designate such products as
starch, sugar, fats and other substances elaborated by
the plant. The latter usage is unfortunate, but we shall
follow it here, according to botanical usage, to avoid
confusion. ,. a^
146. Root Structure. — Roots divide &LlJ80%
into the thinnest and finest fibrils: there fi
are roots and there are rootlets. The large,
fleshy root of the radish (Fig. 120) ter-
minates in a common-sized root to which
little rootlets are attached. There are
also little rootlets attached to the fleshy
root at various places near the base. But
the rootlets that we see are only inter-
mediary, and there are numerous yet
smaller structures.
147. The rootlets, or fine divisions, are clothed with
root-hairs (29), which are very delicate structures. Carefully
(69)
120. Root ami rootlets.
70
WATER AND MINERAL NUTRIENTS
germinate radish or other seed, so that no delicate parts
of the root will be injured. For this purpose, place a few
seeds in packing-moss or in the folds of cloth or blotting-
paper, being careful to keep them
moist. In a few days the seed has
germinated, and the root has grown
an inch or two long. Notice that,
excepting at a distance of about a
quarter of an inch behind the tip,
the root is covered with minute
hairs (Figs. 11, 121). They are
actually hairs, that is, root-hairs.
Touch them and they collapse, they
are so delicate. Dip one of the plants in
water; remove it, — the hairs are not to be
seen. The water mats them together along
the root and they are no longer evident.
Root-hairs usually are destroyed when a
plant is pulled out of the soil, be it done
ever so carefully. They cling to the minute
particles of earth. Under a microscope,
observe how they are flattened when
they come in contact with grains of sand
(Chapter II). These root-hairs clothe the young rootlets,
and a great amount of soil is thus brought into actual con-
tact with the plant. Root-hairs are not young roots: they
soon die.
148. Rootlet and root-hair differ. The rootlet is a compact,
cellular structure. The root-hair is a delicate tube (Fig.
122), within the cell-wall of which is contained living matter
(protoplasm); the wall and the lining membrane permit
water and substances in solution to pass in. Being long and
tube-like, these root-hairs are especially suited for taking
in the largest quantity of solutions; and they are the principal
means by which material is absorbed from the soil, although
121. Root of pumpkin
seedling, showing the
covering of root-hairs.
WATER ABSORPTION
71
the surfaces of the rootlets themselves do a small part.
Water-plants probably absorb
through the leaves and stems.
Most of the higher plants, how-
ever, growing in water, are pro-
vided with roots and root-hairs
and considerable absorption is
effected by these. Certain of the
water-plants have roots but
produce no root-hairs; others,
as the utricularia or bladder-
wort, have no roots whatever.
149. Osmosis. — To under-
stand how water enters the
root-hair, it is necessary that
we study
a great quantity of water
To illustrate osmosis,
122. Cross-section of root, enlarged,
showing root-hairs.
the process of osmosis. A salt or sugar
solution, separated from water by a
semi-permeable membrane, will in-
C crease its volume, due to the passage
into the solution of some of the water.
This can be easily demonstrated. (Fig.
123.) Dissolve in one pint of water, one
ounce of either common household sail
(sodium chlorid) or saltpeter (sodium
nitrate). Saltpeter is a valuable plant
fertilizer. Tie securely over the large
mouth of the tube a piece of animal
membrane (hog's bladder is excellent
for the purpose). Now fill the enlarged
end of tube with either the common
salt or the saltpeter. Then sink the
tube, as in Fig. 123, in the bottle A. of
water, until the level of the water in the
tube stands at the same height as that
72 WATER AND MINERAL NUTRIENTS
in the bottle. The tube may be readily secured in this position
by passing it through a hole in the cork. In a short time, we
notice that the liquid in N begins to rise, and in an hour or
so it stands at F, say. The diffusion of water through this
membrane into the salt solution is known as osmosis. Under
these conditions, there is pressure in the tube and this pres-
sure is .known as osmotic pressure. We may have osmosis
taking place from a weak solution to a stronger solution.
150. The root-hairs secure water from the soil. — The
above experiment enables us to understand how the count-
less little root-hairs act, — each one like the tube N, if only
the whole surface of the tube were a bladder membrane, or
something acting similarly. The soil-water does not contain
much of the soil fertility; that is, it is a very weak solution.
The active little root-hair, on the other hand, is always
filled with cell-sap, a more concentrated solution; hence
soil-water must come in, and along with it come also small
quantities of dissolved food materials. Some of these ma-
terials may be fertilizers that have been applied to the land.
151. This principle of absorption of water by osmosis
may now be demonstrated by another experiment. Fleshy
pieces of root or stem will absorb water from weak solutions
and become rigid; in strong solutions such fleshy parts will
give up their water and become flexible. Cut several slices
of potato tuber about one-eighth of an inch in thickness,
and let them remain in the air half an hour. Make up two
solutions of cane-sugar: (1) dissolve four ounces of sugar in
a quart of water; (2) dissolve one-half ounce of sugar in a
quart of water. Place pieces of the potato tuber in these
solutions. In half an hour those pieces in the weak solution
will be rigid or stiff (turgid); those in the strong solution
will be flexible (flaccid). The potato tuber is composed of
thousands of minute cells, each with a cell wall, protoplasm,
starch grains, and cell-sap. The cell-sap contains sugars
and various salts in solution. When the slice of tuber is
OSMOSIS AND SAP-PRESSURE
73
placed in weak sugar solution (each cell having a concen-
tration greater than the outside solution), it takes up water.
The slices of tuber in the strong solution lose water because
the concentration of the external solution is stronger than
that of the cell-sap.
152. The root-hairs are able to take up water from the
soil because the soil solution is extremely dilute. If the soil
solution were strong, the plant might give up
water to the soil. It would be possible to add
so much fertilizer to the land as to cause the
plant to lose water by exosmosis. There is
seldom, however, any danger that the farmer or
gardener will add so much fertilizer to the soil,
in practice, as to cause a wilting of the plant
due to loss of water by exosmosis.
153. The water and salts in solution taken
up by the root-hairs pass into the root proper
and finally into definite routes that are con-
tinuous from the root through the stems to the
leaves. To illustrate the path of water-ascent,
insert a growing shoot in water that is colored
with eosin. (Eosin may be had of dealers in
microscopic supplies. Common aniline may
answer very well.) The tissues stained with
the dye are the conducting tissues. In woody
plants, the water is conducted in the young
wood, not between the bark and wood
as commonly supposed.
154. The absorption of water by a
root may be so rapid as to give rise to
distinct pressure. This force is root- or
sap-pressure. It varies in different plants
and in the same plant at different times.
The "bleeding" of plants is a manifesta-
tion of this pressure. In the spring, the
124. To show
sap-pressure.
74 WATER AND MINERAL NUTRIENTS
maple and grape particularly exhibit strong sap-pressure. To
illustrate root-pressure, grow squash or cucumber plants, and
when they are about a foot or more in height cut off the
plant close to the ground. To the plant stem attach a small
piece of rubber tubing. Fill it with water and then connect
it to a glass tube. (Fig. 124.) At intervals note the rise of
water due to root-pressure. The root-pressure in a large
cucumber plant may force sap to a height of five feet or more
in a tube of five millimeters diameter.
Review. — What is meant by plant-food? Plant nutrient? De-
scribe the root structure. What are root-hairs? Their function? How-
do water plants secure water? Do they have roots and root-hairs?
Explain osmosis. Exosmosis. How does water enter the root? Why?
How can you illustrate the path of water-ascent? What is root- or sap-
pressure? Why do plants "bleed?" Have you ever actually seen root-
hairs? Explain where and when. Make a drawing as they appeared
to you.
CHAPTER XIII
WATER AND MINERAL NUTRIENTS.
THE ROOT
-ACTION ABOVE
155. The water in the soil is not usually present as free
water, but in the form of films that adhere to the indi-
vidual particles of soil. The root-hairs are in contact with
the soil particles and films of water. (Fig. 125.) The finer the
soil, the greater the number of soil-particles and the greater
the film-moisture. The film-moisture surrounding the grains
may not be perceptible, yet the plant
can utilize it. Absorption by roots may
continue in a soil that seems to be
dust dry.
156. The root must be warm if it is to
perform its functions. A proper tempera-
ture is essential to the life processes.
Should the soil of fields or greenhouses
be much colder than the air, the plant
suffers. When in a warm atmosphere,
or in a dry atmosphere, plants need to
absorb much water from the soil, and
the roots must be warm if the root-hairs
are to supply the water as rapidly as it
is needed. If the roots are chilled, the
plant may wilt or die. Try this with two
potted plants, as radish, coleus, tomato.
Put one pot in a dish of ice water, and
the other in a dish of warm water, and
keep them in a warm room. In a short
time notice how stiff and vigorous is
(75)
125. The rootlets and
root-hairs cling to the
particles of soil.
76 WATER AND MINERAL NUTRIENTS
the one whose roots are warm, whereas the other may show
signs of wilting.
157. Plants take from the soil an immense quantity of
water. A single corn plant may require in a growing season
200 to 500 pounds of water. From 250 to 400 or more pounds
of water are required for the production of one pound of
dry matter in plants. Most of the water absorbed by the
roots is given off by the plant as water vapor in a process
of evaporation called transpiration (166).
158. Water serves the plant in a number of ways. It is
a nutrient for the plant and takes part in the formation of
substances manufactured by the plant. The cell sap is
water with substances in solution. The water serves as a
carrier of the materials derived from the soil and also
for the manufactured food made within the plant. Let us
see what nutrients the ordinary green plants secure from
the soil.
159. Nutrient Materials Secured from the Soil. — We have
seen that all nutrient material must be in solution in water
to be taken in by the root. The ordinary green plant obtains
from the soil the following essential elements:
Nitrogen, chemical symbol N. Potassium, K.
Phosphorus, P. Calcium, Ca.
Sulfur, S. Magnesium, Mg.
Iron, Fe.
Chlorin is also an essential element for buckwheat. The
elements in the above list (except nitrogen) are known as
the mineral elements. All of the above elements are taken
up not in their elemental form but in the form of salts.
160. Ten elements are essential for the growth of all
green plants. In addition to the seven above mentioned, the
plant requires hydrogen, H, oxygen, O, and carbon, C.
Hydrogen and oxygen are supplied in the form of water,
which has the chemical formula H2O. Carbon for the green
FERTILIZERS
77
plant is provided in the carbon dioxid (CO2) of the air. Oxygen
is also derived from air (187). When the plant is burned, the
six mineral elements remain in the ash.
161. The ash is but a very small part of the total weight
of the plant. In a corn plant of the roasting-ear stage, the
ash (what remains after ordinary burning) is about one per
cent of the total substance. A good wheat crop will require
per acre about ten pounds of phosphoric acid and about
thirty pounds of potash. The amount of phosphoric acid
removed by 200 bushels of
potatoes is nine pounds; and
of potash sixty pounds.
162. The farmer does not
add all the elements to the soil
in the shape of fertilizers. Some
of the nutrient elements are
used in such small quantities
and are present in the soil to
such an amount that the ad-
dition of them is not necessary.
The farmer adds nitrogen, pot-
ash and phosphorus to the land
to provide nutrients, and he
also adds calcium in lime or
land-plaster because of its
chemical and physical effect on
the soil. Some of the fertilizers
are mined, others are by-pro-
ducts Of packing-houses and 126. Nodules on soybean,
other manufacturing establishments. Stable manure is gen-
erally considered to be the best single fertilizer.
163. Nitrogen is one of the most essential elements
required by the plant. It is expensive to add to the soil as
fertilizer. Fortunately, nature has provided a method
whereby some of the inexhaustible nitrogen supply of the
ntk
fi 1
^wk
I ^fl^a
lTmL
\m
-'/
\L-~P
78
WATER AND MINERAL NUTRIENTS
air is taken into the soil. Dig up a clover, vetch, pea, bean,
cowpea, alfalfa or other legume plant. Carefully wash the
soil away from the roots. Nodule swellings will probably
be found on the roots. (Figs.
126, 127.) In these nodules are
certain bacteria that secure
nitrogen from the air, and from
which they build up more
complex nitrogenous com-
pounds. The legume host-plant
then appropriates some of the
nitrogen fixed by bacteria and
the remainder, of course, re-
mains in the bacteria.
164. Only the leguminous
plants bear these nodules.
The legumes are plants of the
great family Leguminosse,
comprising all pea-like, bean-
like, clover-like, acacia-like and
other pod-bearing plants. It
has been demonstrated that
over 100 pounds of nitrogen
per acre can be fixed by these
nodule-forming bacteria dur-
ing a growing season. These
bacteria are not present in all
fields. They must be intro-
duced to fields on which
legumes have not grown.
Moreover, the bacteria that
127. Nodule, on root of Canada field pea. j^^ the df ajf & wiU not j^^
the cowpea. A different "strain" or variety is necessary for
almost every legume. So important are the bacteria that
the farmer who desires to enrich his soil and secure good
SOIL NUTRIENTS 79
crops introduces these bacteria into his field by the appli-
cation of soil taken from a field known to have them, or
possibly in some cases he introduces the bacteria by the use
of commercial cultures. Certain legume crops, as alfalfa, will
do poorly unless the bacteria are present.
165. A simple experiment will demonstrate the growth
of plants in a nutrient solution, such as may exist in the
soil. Secure from the druggist the following chemicals and
make a solution of them, using the amounts here indicated:
Potassium nitrate, KNO3 2 grains
Calcium phosphate, monobasic, CaH4(P04)2 1 grain
Or Calcium phosphate dibasic Ca2H2(PO\j)2 1 grain
Magnesium sulfate, MgS04 0.50 grain
Ferric chloride, very slight trace.
Water (distilled) 5 quarts
Fill four or five tumblers with this solution and cover
the tumblers with paraffined paper. Germinate peas or seeds
of a similar plant, and when the roots are two inches long
punch holes in the paper and insert the roots through the
holes into the nutrient solution. Place the cultures in good
light and allow the seedlings to grow three or four weeks.
For comparison, grow some of the plants in distilled water
in place of the nutrient solution.
166. Transpiration. — We have found that the plant
takes nutrients from the soil in very dilute solutions. Much
more water is absorbed by the roots than is used in growth,
and this surplus water is given off from the leaves into the
atmosphere by the evaporation process known as trans-
piration (157). The transpiration takes place more abun-
dantly from the under surfaces of leaves in most plants,
and through the pores or stomates. It has been found that a
sunflower plant of the height of a man, during an active
period of growth, gives off more than a quart of water per
day. A large oak tree may transpire 150 gallons per day
80
WATER AND MINERAL NUTRIENTS
during the summer. For every ounce of dry matter pro-
duced, it is estimated that fifteen to twenty-five pounds
of water must pass through the plant. Cut off a succulent
shoot of any plant, press the end of it through a hole in a cork
and stand it in
a small bottle of
water. Invert
over this bottle
a large-mouthed
bottle (as a fruit-
jar), and notice
that a mist soon
accumulates on
the inside of the
glass. In time,
drops of water
form. The ex-
periment may be
varied as shown
in Fig. 128. Or
invert the fruit-
jar over an entire
plant, as shown
128. To illustrate transpiration. • p- inq tak-
ing care to cover the earth with oiled paper or rubber cloth
to prevent evaporation.
167. Even in winter, moisture is given off by leafless
twigs. Cut a twig, seal the severed end with wax, and allow
the twig to lie several days : it shrivels.. There must be some
upward movement of water even in winter, else plants would
shrivel and die.
168. When the roots fail to supply to the plant sufficient
water to equalize that transpired by the leaves, the plant
wilts. Transpiration from the leaves and delicate shoots is
increased by all of the conditions that increase evaporation,
w&k. .;' ■^■^''^?4
M
''■'■■"■>'Bf ■■
-'■ — '';*■• Blii'lir
itni^^'liil' 1
WHY PLANTS WILT
81
as higher temperature, dry air or wind. In especially hot
weather, when the wind is brisk and the air dry, the roots
may be very active and yet fail to absorb sufficient moisture
to equalize that given off by the leaves. Any injury to the
roots or even chilling them (156)
may cause the plant to wilt. On a
hot, dry day, note how the leaves
of corn "roll" toward afternoon.
Early the following morning, note
how fresh and vigorous the same
leaves appear. Water is also forced
up by root-pressure (154). Some of
the dew on the grass in the morn-
ing may be the water forced up by
the roots; some of it is the condensed
vapor of the air.
169. The wilting of a plant is due
to the loss of water from the cells.
The cell walls are soft, and they col-
lapse. A toy balloon will not stand alone until it is inflated
with air or liquid. In the woody parts of the plant the cell
walls may be stiff enough to support themselves, even though
the cell is empty. Measure the contraction due to wilting
and drying by tracing a fresh leaf, and then tracing the
same leaf after it has been dried between papers. The
softer the leaf, the greater will be the contraction.
Review. — What relation do root-hairs have to soil-particles? What
is the effect of the chilling of roots? Of what use to the plant is water'.'
What essential elements are taken from the soil? How many elements
are essential for the plant? What is the ash? What elements does the
fanner add as fertilizers? How may the nitrogen supply of the soil be
increased? What plants possess the root nodules? What is soil
inoculation? What is transpiration? When does a plant wilt?
129. To illustrate transpiration.
CHAPTER XIV
FOOD ELABORATION AND RESPIRATION
170. Sources of Raw Material. — The ordinary green plant,
as we have seen, secures water and certain, substances from
the soil. It also secures from the air raw material which it
utilizes in the elaboration of food material. When a plant is
thoroughly dried in an oven, the water passes off; this water
came from the soil. The remaining part is called dry sub-
stance or dry matter. If the dry matter is burned in an ordi-
nary fire, only the ash remains; this ash came from the soil.
The part that passed off as a gas in the burning contained
the elements that came from the air. It also contained
some of those that came from the soil — all those (as nitrogen,
hydrogen, chlorin) that are transformed into gases by the
heat of a common fire.
171. Carbon. — Carbon enters abundantly into the com-
position of all plants. Note what happens when a plant
is burned without free access of air, or smothered, as in a
charcoal pit. A mass of charcoal remains, almost as large
as the body of the plant. Charcoal is almost pure carbon,
the ash being so small in proportion to the large amount
of carbon that we look on it as an impurity. Half or more
of the dry substance of a tree is carbon. The carbon goes
off as a gas when the plant is burned in air. It does not go
off alone, but in combination with oxygen, and in the form
called carbon dioxid gas, C02.
172. The green plant secures its carbon from the air.
In other words, much of the solid matter of the plant comes
from one of the gases. By volume, carbon dioxid forms
only about three-hundredths of 1 per cent of the air. It
(82)
CARBON AND CHLOROPHYLL 83
would be very disastrous to animal life, however, if this
small percentage were much increased, for it excludes the
life-giving oxygen. Carbon dioxid is often called "foul-
gas." It may accumulate in old wells, and an experienced
person will not descend into such wells until they have been
tested with a torch. If the air in the well will not support
combustion, that is, if the torch is extinguished, it usually
means that carbon dioxid has drained into the place. The
air of a closed schoolroom often contains far too much
of this gas along with little solid particles of waste matters.
Carbon dioxid is often known as carbonic acid gas.
173. Appropriation of the Carbon. — The carbon dioxid
of the air readily diffuses into the leaves and other green
parts of the plant. The leaf may be delicate in texture, and
air may diffuse directly into the leaf-tissues. There are, how-
ever, special inlets adapted for the admission of gases into
the leaves and other green parts. These inlets consist of
numerous pores (stomates or stomata), which are especially
abundant on the under surface of the leaf. They may also
be present on the upper surface. The apple leaf contains
about one hundred thousand of these pores to each square
inch of the under surface. Through these pores the outside air
enters into the air-spaces of the plant, and finally into the
little cells containing the living matter. In Chapter XL
these stomata will be studied.
174. Chlorophyll. — The green color of leaves is due to a
substance called chlorophyll. Purchase at the drug store
about a gill of (grain) alcohol. Secure a leaf of geranium, clover,
or other plant that has been exposed to sunlight for a few
hours and, after dipping it for a minute in boiling water,
put it in a white cup with sufficient alcohol to cover the
leaf. Place the cup on the stove where it is not hot enough
for the alcohol to take fire. After a time the chlorophyll is
dissolved by the alcohol, which has become an intense
green. Save this leaf for a future experiment. Without
84 FOOD ELABORATION AND RESPIRATION
chlorophyll, the plant can not appropriate the carbon di-
oxid of the air.
175. In most plants, this chlorophyll or leaf-green is
scattered throughout the green tissues in little oval bodies,
and these bodies are most abundant near the upper surface
of the leaf, where they secure a large amount of light. With-
out this green coloring matter, there would be no reason for
the large flat surfaces that leaves possess, and no reason for
the fact that the leaves are borne most abundantly at the
ends of the branches, where the light is most available.
Plants with colored leaves, as coleus, have chlorophyll, but
it is masked by other coloring matter. 'This other coloring
matter is usually soluble in hot water. Boil a coleus leaf and
notice that it becomes green and the water becomes colored.
176. Plants grown in darkness are yellow and slender,
and do not reach maturity. Compare the potato sprouts
that have grown from a tuber lying in the dark cellar with
those that have grown normally in the bright light (Fig.
45). The shoots have elongated until the food which is
stored in the tuber is exhausted. These shoots have lived
useless lives. A plant that has been grown in darkness
from the seed will soon die, although for a time the little
seedling will grow very tall and slender. Light induces the
production of chlorophyll. Sometimes chlorophyll is found
in buds and seeds, but it is probable in most cases that
these places are not perfectly dark. Notice how potato tubers
develop chlorophyll, or become green, when exposed to light.
177. Photosynthesis. — Carbon dioxid diffuses into the
leaf (173) and is used during sunlight, and oxygen is given
off. We have seen (172) that carbon dioxid will not support
animal life. Experiments show that carbon dioxid is absorbed
and that oxygen is given off by all green surfaces in the hours
of sunlight. How the carbon dioxid may be used in making
organic food is a complex question and need be considered
here only in a general way.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS 85
178. Chlorophyll absorbs certain of the sun's rays and
the energy thus derived is used in uniting the carbon dioxid
with some of the water brought up from the roots. The
process is complex, with some kind of sugar or starch as
the ultimate product. Glucose is probably the first carbo-
hydrate formed. In most plants, the first visible product is
starch. Certain plants do not produce starch. The common
onion, amaryllis and iris are of this class. The process of
using the carbon dioxid of the air has been known as carbon-
assimilation, but the term now commonly used is photo-
synthesis (from Greek words, meaning "light" and "put
together").
179. Glucose or grape sugar is composed of carbon, hydro-
gen, and oxygen (CeHi206). Starch is likewise composed
of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, but differs in the percent-
ages. Its chemical formula is generally given (C6Hio05).
Cane sugar, malt sugar, woody substances are very similar
in composition. They are called carbohydrates. In making
the glucose sugar from the carbon dioxid and water, the
oxygen gas is given off by the plant as a waste product.
The general chemical formula for the process is: 6C02 +
6H20 = C6Hi,06+602.
180. In the daytime the plant, therefore, takes in carbon
dioxid and gives off oxygen. It is not so easy to demonstrate
this fact. Chemical analysis is the only way of proving it.
The escape of oxygen can best be demonstrated by employ-
ing water plants. Make an experiment as illustrated in Fig.
130. Under a funnel in a deep glass jar containing fresh
spring or stream water, place fresh pieces of the common
water-weed, elodea (or anacharis). In sunlight, bubbles of
oxygen will arise and collect in the test-tube. Some of the
bubbles may be only air, particularly if marked changes in
the temperature of the water occur. A simple experiment is
to immerse a stem of elodea in a test-tube of water and hold
the tube in bright sunlight. Bubbles of gas will arise from
86
FOOD ELABORATION AND RESPIRATION
the cut end of the twig. This gas has been found to be largely
oxygen. The water-plant gets its carbon dioxid gas from
that which is dissolved in the water. A gas, as well as a
solid, may be dissolved in water. Observe the bubbles on
pond-scums and water-weeds on
bright day.
181. Starch is present in the
green leaves that have been ex-
posed to sunlight; but in the dark
no starch can be formed from
carbon dioxid and water. Apply
iodin to the leaf from which the
chlorophyll was dissolved in a
previous experiment (174). Note
that the leaf is colored purplish
brown throughout. Starch gives
a blue coloration with iodin.
The leaf contains starch (76).
Secure a leaf from a plant
that has been in the darkness
for about two days. Dissolve
the chlorophyll, as before,
and attempt to stain this
leaf with iodin. No purplish
brown color is produced.
182. Plants or parts of plants that have developed no
chlorophyll can form no starch. Secure a variegated leaf
of coleus, ribbon-grass, geranium, or of any plant showing
both white and green areas. On a day of bright sunshine,
test one of these leaves by the alcohol and iodin method
for the presence of starch. Observe that the parts devoid of
green color have formed no starch. However, after starch
has once been formed in the leaves, it may be changed into
soluble substances and removed to be again converted
into starch in other parts of the living tissues.
DIGESTION AND ASSIMILATION 87
183. Digestion. — The starch made by the leaf during the
daytime is present in the form of insoluble granules. In
order to be carried from the leaf to other parts of the plant
for purposes of storage or growth, it must be made soluble.
The starch of the leaves at night is converted into sugars
by the action of enzymes, or ferments, and is then conveyed
to other parts of the plant. This conversion is a process of
digestion. It is much like the change of starchy foods to
sugary foods by the saliva.
184. After being changed to the soluble form, this material
is ready to be used in growth, either in the leaf, in the stem,
or in the roots. With other more complex products it is
then distributed throughout all of the growing parts of the
plant; and when passing down to the root it passes readily
through the inner bark, in plants that have a definite bark.
This gradual downward diffusion of materials suitable for
growth through the inner bark is the process referred to
when the "descent of sap" is mentioned. Starch and other
products are often stored in one growing season to be used
in the next season (Chapter VI). If a tree is constricted or
strangled by a wire around its trunk, the digested food can-
not readily pass down and it is stored above the girdle, caus-
ing an enlargement.
185. Assimilation. — The food from the air and the nutrients
from the soil unite in the living tissues (see Photosynthesis,
178). The sap that passes upwards from the roots in the
growing season is made up largely of the soil-water and the
salts that have been absorbed in the diluted solutions.
We have found that this upward-moving water is conducted
largely through certain tubular cells of the young wood (153).
These cells are never continuous tubes from root to leaf;
but the water passes readily from one cell to another in its
upward course.
186. The upward-moving water gradually passes t<> the
growing parts, and it comes in intimate contact with the
88 FOOD ELABORATION AND RESPIRATION
soluble carbohydrates and products of photosynthesis. In
the building-up or reconstructive and other processes it is
therefore available. There is a series of changes, gradually
increasing in complexity. There are formed substances
containing nitrogen, in addition to carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen. Others will contain also sulfur and phosphorus, and
the process may be thought of as culminating in protoplasm.
Protoplasm is the living matter in plants. It is in the cells,
and is usually semifluid. Starch is not living matter. The
process of building up the protoplasm is called assimilation.
187. Respiration. — In the maintenance and growth of
the plant, energy is required. This energy is derived from
the food that the plant has manufactured; and its ultimate
source is the sunlight. For the release of this energy, chemi-
cal changes are involved which, require oxygen; as by-r
products, carbon dioxiol gas is given off and water is formed
in the cells; this whole process is respiration. This process
of respiration is similarin animals. All animals require oxygen
and give off carbon dioxid. Likewise, all living parts of
the plant must have a constant supply of oxygen.
188. In green plants, at night, carbon dioxid is given off
into the air and oxygen is taken into the cells. In the day-
time, respiration goes on, but the required oxygen is derived
from the supply released in photosynthesis; and the carbon
dioxid released in respiration supplies a part of the carbon
dioxid used in photosynthesis. In the daytime, the plants
tend to purify the air because they use carbon dioxid and
give off oxygen. At night, like animals, they tend to make
the air foul because they use oxygen and give off carbon
dioxid. The carbon dioxid given off by a few plants at
night, however, is so slight that it need not disturb one at all.
189. The oxygen that the plants need may come into
the plant through the stomata, through pores in the stems or
trunks of trees, or it may diffuse through the cell walls.
All rapidly growing plants respire very freely. Germinating
RESPIRATION 89
seeds especially give off a large quantity of carbon dioxid.
In a wide-mouthed bottle place several hundred germinating
pea seeds. Fill a small vial with a filtered concentrated
solution of barium hydrate. Place the vial in the bottle
with the seeds. Do not spill the solution. Tightly stopper the
wide-mouthed bottle and after several hours note the heavy,
white precipitate that forms in it. As a check, place a
similar vial of barium hydrate solution is a similar bottle
tightly stoppered. Does a heavy precipitate form? Using
a piece of glass tubing, blow air into a bottle of barium hy-
drate. The exhaled air is rich in carbon dioxid. The water
becomes turbid, due to the precipitate formed when carbon
dioxid reacts with barium hydrate.
Review. — What are the sources of the raw material? What part
of the dry matter is carbon? What percentage of the air is carbon
dioxid? How does it enter the plant? WThat is chlorophyll? What is
necessary for its formation? What is meant by photosynthesis? What
gas is given off in photosynthesis? What conditions are necessary for
photosynthesis? What is meant by digestion of starch? What is meant
by assimilation? Respiration? When does it occur? What gas is given
off in the process? What gas is required in the process? Contrast the
process of respiration in animals and plants.
CHAPTER XV
DEPENDENT PLANTS
190. Dependent and Independent Plants. — Plants with
roots and foliage usually depend on themselves. They
collect the raw materials and make them over into assimi-
lable food. They are independent. Plants without green
foliage cannot make food : they must have it made for them
or they die. They are dependent. The
potato sprout (Fig. 45) cannot collect
and elaborate carbon dioxid. It lives
on the food stored in the tuber.
191. All plants with naturally white
or blanched parts are dependent. Their
leaves do not develop. They live on
organic matter — that which has been
made by a plant or an animal. The
Indian pipe, aphyllon (Fig. 131),
beech -drop, coral -root (Fig. 132)
among flower-producing plants, also
mushrooms as well as bacteria and
other fungi (Figs. 133, 134, 135) are
common examples.
192. Saprophytes and Parasites. —
A plant that lives on dead or decay-
ing matter is a saprophyte. Mush-
rooms are examples: they live on the
decaying matter in the soil. Mould on
bread and cheese is an example. Lay
a piece of moist bread on a plate and
invert a tumbler over it. In a few
(90)
131. A parasite, growing in
woods. — Aphyllon. It is in
bloom.
SAPROPHYTES AND PARASITES
91
days it will be mouldy. The spores were in the air, or per-
haps they had already fallen on the bread but had not had
opportunity to grow.
193. Saprophytes break down or decompose organic
„ substances. Chief of these saprophytes are the
microscopic organisms known as bacteria (Fig.
136). These innumerable bodies are immersed in
water or in animal and plant
juices, and absorb food over
their entire surface. By
breaking down organic com-
binations, they produce de-
cay. Largely through their
agency, and that of many
true but microscopic fungi,
all things pass into soil and
gas. Thus are the bodies Of 133- A mushroom, example
, i-i , of a saprophytic plant.
plants and animals removed
and the continuing round of life is maintained.
194. A plant that secures its nutrition di-
rectly from a living plant or animal is a parasite,
and the plant or animal on which it lives is the
host. The dodder is a true parasite. So are the
rusts and mildews that attack leaves and shoots
and injure them. The threads of the parasitic
fungus usually creep through the intercellular
spaces in the leaf or stem and send suckers (or
haustoria) into the cells. (Fig. 137.)
In some forms these threads (or
lyphse) penetrate the cells. The
hyphse clog the air-spaces of 'the leaf
and often plug the stomata, and they
also appropriate and disorganize the
cell fluids: thus they injure or kill
showing the mycorhizas. ' their host. The mass of hyphse of a
92
DEPENDENT PLANTS
134. The cultivated mushroom, a saprophytic plant.
fungus is called mycelium. Some of the hyphse finally grow-
out of the leaf and produce spores or reproductive cells
which answer the
purpose of seeds
in distributing the
plant (6, Fig. 137).
195. The ab-
normal condition
produced in plants
by fungous and
bacterial parasites
and by other agents
is known as a dis-
ease. On some
plants, the disease takes the form of a leaf-spot or a blight;
in others swellings or galls are produced. Cankers on branches
of trees and on stems of herbaceous plants are produced
by fungi living in the affected tissue. The well-known fire-
blight and blight-canker
of pears are caused by
bacteria. The rots of
fruits and vegetables
are largely produced by
fungi or bacteria.
196. Some parasites
spring from the ground
(Figs. 131, 132), as
other plants do, but
they are parasitic on
the roots of their hosts.
Some parasites may be
partially parasitic and partially saprophytic. Many (perhaps
most) of these root-saprophytes are aided in securing their
food by soil fungi, which spread their delicate threads over
the root-like branches of the plant and act as intermediaries
135. Saprophytic fungus. One of the shelf fungi
(Polyporus) growing on dead trunks and logs.
PARASITES AND SAPROPHYTES 93
between the food and the saprophyte. The roots of the
coral-root (Fig. 132) are covered with this fungus, and
the roots have practically lost the power of absorbing
nutrients direct. These fungus-covered roots are known as
mycorhizas (meaning "fungus root"). Mycorhizas are
© ^p^ not peculiar to saprophytes. They are found
*e& °©e>$i on many wholly independent plants as, for
c>^ e?%0 example, the heaths, oaks, apples and
*f» pines. It is probable that the fungus-
136. Bacteria, much threads perform some of the offices of rOOt-
magnified. hairg ^ the ^ Qn the other hand> the
fungus obtains some nourishment from the host. The
association seems to be mutual.
197. Some parasites are green-leaved. Such is the mistle-
toe. They anchor themselves on the host and absorb its
juices, but they also appropriate and use
the carbon dioxid of the air. In some
groups of bacteria the process of photo-
synthesis, or something equivalent to it,
takes place.
198. Parasitism and saprophytism are
usually regarded as degeneration, that is,
as a loss of independence. The ancestors
of these plants might have been inde-
pendent. Thus, the whole class of fungi
is looked upon as a degenerate evolution.
The more a plant depends on other
plants, the more it tends still further to
1 ., • j j 137. A parasitic fungus,
lOSe ltS independence. magnified. The my-
199. Epiphytes. — To be distinguished part!'"* sh<wraby the
from the dependent plants are those that ramiryingin theP?e a!
grow on other plants without taking food haustoria projecting
from them. These are green-leaved plants shown.06 Ther Jong
whose roots burrow in the bark of the fungu°fhang f rom the
host plant and perhaps derive some food UJaf.61 ?
94 DEPENDENT PLANTS
from it, but which subsist chiefly on materials that they
secure from air-dust, rain-water and the air. These plants
are epiphytes (meaning "upon plants") or air-plants.
200. Epiphytes abound in the tropics. Orchids are
amongst the best known examples. (Fig. 13.) The Spanish
moss or tillandsia of the South is another. Mosses and
lichens that grow on trees and fences may also be called
epiphytes. In the struggle for existence, the plants probably
have been driven to these special places in which to find
opportunity to grow. Plants grow where they must, not
where they will.
Review. — What is an independent plant? Dependent? Give
examples. How are dependent plants distinguished from others in
looks? Define saprophyte. Parasite. Give examples. What is a
host? How does a parasitic fungus live on its host? What is meant by
plant disease? What are hyphse? What is mycelium? What are root-
parasites? Give examples. What is a mycorhiza? What is the relation
of the soil fungus to its host? What is the role or office of saprophytes
in nature? Are parasites ever green? Explain. What has probably
been the evolution of most parasites and saprophytes? What is an
epiphyte? Give examples. How do epiphytes live? Why may they
have become epiphytes?
Note. — Usually, the most available parasite is the dodder. It is
common in swales from July until autumn, winding its coral-yellow
stems about herbs and soft-growing bushes. It is a degraded mem-
ber of the morning-glory family. It produces true flowers and seeds.
These seeds germinate the following spring. The slender young vine
grows from the ground for a time, but if it fails to find a host, it perishes.
One of the dodders is a pest in alfalfa fields. From the Ohio River
southward, the mistletoe is available.
CHAPTER XVI
LEAVES AND FOLIAGE
201. Leaves may be studied from two points of view
— with reference to their function, or what they do; and
with reference to their form, or their shapes and kinds.
202. Function. — Leaves, as we have seen, make organic
matter from carbon dioxid. Almost any part of the plant,
however, may bear chlorophyll and perform the function
of leaves. The general form and structure of leaves is
intimately associated with their function: they are thin and
much expanded bodies, thereby exposing the greatest pos-
sible surface to light and air. The position of the leaves
usually has relation to light, as we have seen (Chapter
VIII). Leaves usually hang in such a way that one casts
the least shade on the other; those that have the least
favorable positions die and fall.
203. Parts. — Leaves are simple or un-
branched (Fig. 138), and compound or
branched (Fig. 139). The method of
compounding or branching follows the
style of veining. The veining, or venation,
is of two general kinds: in most plants
the main veins diverge, and there is a
conspicuous network of smaller veins:
such leaves are netted-veined. In other
plants the main veins are parallel, or
nearly so, and there is no conspicuous
network: these are parallel-veined leaves
simple loaf. One (Fig. 150). The venation of netted-
veined leaves is pinnate or feather-like,
(95)
of the cupatoriums or
bonesets.
96
LEAVES AND FOLIAGE
when the veins arise from the side of a continuous midrib
(Fig. 138); palmate or digitate (hand-like), when the veins
arise from the apex of
the petiole (Fig. 140).
If the leaf were divided
between the main veins,
it would be pinnately
or digitately compound.
204. It is customary
to speak of a leaf as
compound only when
the parts or branches
are completely separate
blades, as when the
139,141,142). The parts
Sometimes the leaflets
the
139. Compound or branched leaf of brake
(which is a fern).
division extends to the midrib (Figs
or branches are known as leaflets
themselves are compound, and
whole leaf is then said to be bi-com-
pound or twice-compound (Fig. 139).
Some leaves are three-compound, four-
compound, or five-compound. Decom-
pound is a general term to express any
degree of compounding beyond twice-
compound.
205. Leaves that are not divided
to the midrib are said to be:
lobed, openings
140. Digitate-veined peltate
leaf of nasturtium.
141. Pinnately compound leaf of ash.
or sinuses not
more than half the depth of
the blade (Fig. 143).
cleft, sinuses deeper than the
middle.
parted, sinuses two -thirds or
more to the midrib (Fig. 144).
divided, sinuses nearly or quite
to the midrib.
KTNDS OF LEAVES
97
142. Digitately com-
pound leaf of rasp-
berry.
common in
The parts are called lobes, divisions, or segments, rather
than leaflets. The leaf may be pinnately or digitately lobed,
parted, cleft, or divided. A pinnately parted
or cleft leaf is sometimes said to be pinnatifid.
206. Leaves may have one or all of
three parts — blade or expanded part, petiole
or stalk, stipules or appendages at the base
of the petiole. All these parts are shown in
Fig. 145. A leaf that has all three of these
parts is said to be complete. The stipules
are often green and
leaf-like and per-
form the function
of foliage, as in the
pea and Japanese
quince (the latter
yards).
207. Leaves and leaflets that
have no stalks are said to be sessile
(Fig. 149), i.e., sitting. The same is
said of flowers and fruits. The blade
of a sessile leaf may partly or wholly surround the stem,
when it is said to be clasping (Fig. 146). In some cases the
leaf runs down the stem,
forming a wing: such leaves
are said to be decurrent
(Fig. 147). When opposite
sessile leaves are joined by
their bases, they are said
to be connate (Fig. 148).
208. Leaflets may have
one or all of those three
parts, but the stalks of leaf-
lets arc called pefriolvles and
the stipules of leaflets are
143. Lobed leaf of sugar maple.
98
LEAVES AND FOLIAGE
called stipels. The leaf of the garden bean has leaflets,
petiolules, and stiples.
209. The blade is usually attached to the
petiole by its lower edge. In pinnate-veined
leaves, the petiole seems to continue through
the leaf as a midrib (Fig. 138). In some
plants, however, the petiole
joins the blade inside or be-
yond the margin (Fig. 140).
Such leaves are said to be
peltate or shield-shaped. This
mode of attachment is par-
ticularly common in floating
leaves (e.g., the water-lilies),
us. Compile leaves 146. Clasping Fe'af Peltate 1 e a v e s are usually
of willow. of wild aster. ciigitate-veined.
210. Shape. — Leaves and leaflets are infinitely variable
in shape. Names have been given to some of the more
definite or regular shapes. These names are a part of the
language of botany. They represent ideal or typical shapes,
but there are no two leaves alike and very few that perfectly
conform to the definitions. The shapes are likened to those
of familiar objects or of geometrical figures:
Linear, several times longer than broad, with the sides
\ nearly or quite parallel. Spruces and most grasses
are examples. (Fig. 150.) In linear leaves, the main
veins are usually parallel to the midrib.
Oblong, twice or thrice as long as broad, with the sides
% parallel for most of their length. Fig. 149 shows the
short-oblong leaves of the box, a plant which is much
used for edgings in gardens.
Elliptic differs from the oblong in having the sides gradu-
Vally tapering to either end from the middle. The Eu-
ropean beech (Fig. 151) has elliptic leaves. (This tree
is often planted.)
SHAPES OF LEAVES 99
Lanceolate, four to six times longer than broad, widest
V below the middle and tapering to each end. Some of
the narrow-leaved willows are examples. Most of
the willows and the peach have oblong-lanceolate
leaves.
Spa tulate, a narrow leaf that is broadest toward the apex.
\The top is usually rounded. It is much like an oblong
leaf.
Ovate, shaped somewhat like the longitudinal section of
^ an egg: twice as long as broad, tapering from near
A the base to the apex. This is one of the commonest
^ leaf forms. (Fig. 152.)
Obovate, ovate inverted, — the wide part toward the apex.
A Leaflets of horse-chestnut are obovate. This form is
^, commonest in leaflets of digitate leaves.
Reniform, kidney-shaped. This form is sometimes seen in
^^ wild plants, particularly in root-leaves. Leaves of
"W wild ginger are nearly reniform.
Orbicular, circular in general outline. Very few leaves are
^fe perfectly circular, but there are many kinds that are
^^ nearer circular than any other
shape. (Fig. 153.)
The shape of many leaves is
described in combinations of these
terms, as ovate-lanceolate, lanceo-
late-oblong.
211. The shape of the base and .
apex of the leaf or leaflet is often
characteristic. The base may be III Decurrent
rounded (Fig. 138), tapering (Fig. \|| mtdiein.
127), cordate or heart-shaped (Fig.
152), truncate or squared as if cut
off. The apex may be blunt or obtuse, acute or sharp,
acuminate or long-pointed, truncate (Fig. 154).
212. The shape of the margin is also characteristic of
100
LEAVES AND FOLIAGE
148. Two pairs of connate leaves
of honeysuckle.
m
%
each kind of leaf. The margin is entire when it is not indented
or cut in any way (Fig. 149). When not entire, it may be
undulate or wavy (Fig. 140), ser-
rate or saw-toothed (Fig. 152),
dentate or more coarsely notched
(Fig. 138), crenate or
round-toothed, lobed,
and other forms.
213. Leaves often
differ greatly in shape
on the same plant.
Observe the different
shapes of leaves on the
young growths of mul-
berries (Fig. 88) and
wild grapes; also on vigorous squash and pumpkin
vines. In some cases there may be simple and com-
pound leaves on the same plant. This is marked
in the so-called Boston ivy or ampelopsis (Fig. 155),
a vine which is used to
cover brick and stone build-
ings. Different degrees of
compounding, even in the
same leaf, may often be
found in honey-locust and
Kentucky coffee tree. Re-
markable differences in
forms are seen by com-
paring seed-leaves with mature leaves
of any plant (Fig. 156).
214. The Leaf and Its Environ-
ment.— The form and shape of the
leaf often have direct relation to the place in which the
leaf grows. Floating leaves are usually expanded and flat,
and the petiole varies in length with the depth of the water.
(&
f7)
€
7
J
V
150. Linear-
acuminate
leaf of
grass.
[g:3
149.
Short-oblong leaves of box.
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEAVES
101
Submerged leaves are usually linear or thread-like, or are
cut into very narrow divisions.- Thereby is more surface ex-
posed, and possibly the leaves are less injured by moving
water.
€
151. Elliptic leaf
of purple beech.
—J
152. Ovate serrate leaf
of hibiscus.
215. The largest leaves on a sun-loving plant are usually
those that are fully exposed to light. Compare the sizes of
the leaves on the ends of branches with those at the base of
the branches or in the interior of the tree-top (106). In
dense foliage masses, the petioles of the lowermost or under-
most leaves tend to elongate — to push
the leaf to the light. (Fig. 157.)
216. On the approach of winter the
leaf ceases to work, and often dies.
It may drop, when it is said to be de-
ciduous; or it may remain on the plant,
when it is said to be persistent. If
persistent leaves remain green during
the winter, the plant is said to be
evergreen. Most leaves fall by break-
ing off at the lower end of the petiole
with a distinct joint or articulation.
There are many leaves, however, that wither and hang
on the plant until torn off by the wind: of such are the
154. Truncate leaf of
tulip-tree.
102
LEAVES AND FOLIAGE
155. Different forms of leaves from
one plant of ampelopsis.
leaves of grasses, sedges, lilies, orchids, and other plants
known as monocotyledons (Chapter XXV). Most leaves
of this character are paral-
lel-veined.
217. Leaves also die and
fall from lack of light. Ob-
serve the yellow and weak
leaves in a dense tree-top
or in any thicket. Why do
the lower leaves die on
house-plants? Note the
carpet of needles under the
pines. All evergreens shed
their leaves after a time.
Counting back from the tip
of a pine or spruce shoot,
determine how many years
the leaves persist. (Fig. 158.) In some spruces a few leaves
may be found on branches ten or more years old.
218. Although the forms and positions of leaves often
have direct relation to the places and conditions in which
the leaves grow, it is not probable that all forms and shapes
have been developed to adapt the plant to its environment.
It is probable that the toothing or lobing of the leaf-margins
is due to the same causes that produce compounding or
branching of leaves, but
what these causes are is
not known. It has been
suggested that leaves have
become compound in order
to increase their surface and
thereby to offer a greater
exposure to light in shady places, but very many sun-loving
species have compound leaves, and many shade-loving
species have simple and even small leaves. Again, it has
156. Muskmelon seedlings, with the unlike
seed-leaves and true
CHARACTERISTICS OF LEAVES
103
been suggested that compound leaves shade underlying
leaves less than simple leaves do.
219. How to Tell a Leaf. — It is often difficult to dis-
tinguish compound leaves from leafy branches, and leaflets
157. A leaf mosaic of Norway maple. Note the varying lengths of petioles.
from leaves. As a rule, leaves can be told by the follow-
ing tests: (1) Leaves are temporary structures, sooner
or later falling. (2) Usually buds are borne in their axils.
(3) Leaves are usually borne at joints or nodes. (4) They
arise on wood of the current-year's growth. (5) They have
a more or less definite arrangement. When leaves fall, the
twig that bore them remains; when leaflets fall, the main
petiole that bore them falls also.
Review. — How may leaves be studied? What is meant by function?
What do leaves do? What other parts may perform the function
104
LEAVES AND FOLIAGE
of leaves? How is the form of leaves associated with their function?
What are simple leaves? Compound? What is venation? What are
the types or kinds of venation? What are the two types of compound
leaves? What is a leaflet? Define bi-compound; decompound.
What are lobed, cleft, parted, and divided leaves? Pinnatifid
leaf? Complete leaf? Complete leaflet? What is a sessile leaf?
How may the petiole join the blade? How are the shapes of leaves
named or classified? Define the shapes described in 210. Describe
common shapes of the base of the leaf. Of the apex. Of the margin.
How are the forms and sizes of leaves ever related to the place in which
they grow? Why do leaves fall? Define deciduous. Persistent. Ever-
green. When do pine leaves fall? How can you distinguish leaves?
158. Shoot of the common white pine, one-third natural size.
The picture shows the falling of the leaves from the different years' growth. The
part of the branch between the tip and A is the last season's growth; between A and
B it is two years old; the part between B and C is three years old; it has few leaves.
The part that grew four seasons ago — beyond C — has no leaves.
CHAPTER XVII
MORPHOLOGY, OR THE STUDY OF THE FORMS OF
PLANT MEMBERS
220. Botanists interpret all parts of the plant in terms
of root, stem and leaf. That is, the various parts, as thorns,
flowers, fruits, bud-scales, tendrils, and abnormal or un-
usual members, are supposed to represent or to stand in
the place of roots, stems (branches) or leaves.
221. The forms of the parts of plants are interesting,
therefore, in three ways: (1) merely as forms, which may
be named and described; (2) their relation to function, or
how they enable the part better to live and work; (3) their
origin, as to how they came to be and whether they have
been produced by the transformation or modification of
other parts. The whole study of forms is known as morphology
(literally, the "science of forms")- We may consider examples
in the study of morphology.
222. It is customary to say that the various parts of
plants are transformed or modified root, stem or leaf, but
the words transformation and modification are not used in
the literal sense. It is meant that the given part, as a tendril,
may occupy the place of or represent a leaf. It was not
first a leaf and then a tendril: the part develops into a ten-
dril instead of into a leaf: it stands where a leaf normally
might have stood: it is the historical descendant of the leaf.
223. It is better to say that parts which have similar
origins, which arise from the same fundamental type, or
which are of close genealogical relationship, are homol-
ogous. Thus the tendril, in the example assumed above,
is homologous with a leaf. Parts that have similar func-
(105)
106
MORPHOLOGY
tions or perform similar labor, without respect to origins,
are analogous. Thus a leaf-tendril is analogous to a branch-
tendril, but the two are not homologous.
224. There are five tests by means of which
we may hope to determine what a given part
is: (1) by the appearance or looks of the part
(the least reliable test) ; (2) by the
position of the part with relation
to other parts — its place on the
plant; (3) by comparison with
similar parts on other plants
(comparative morphology); (4) by
study of intermediate or connecting
parts; (5) by study of the develop-
ment of the part in the bud or as it originates by means of
the microscope (embryology). The last test can be applied
only by the trained investigator, but it often gives the most
conclusive evidence. Even with the application of all these
tests, it is sometimes impossible to arrive at a definite con-
159. Leaf and
cladophyllaof
asparagus.
160. Leaves of
asparagus.
161. Fern-like leaf-branches of a
greenhouse asparagus.
elusion as to the origin or morphology of a part. For ex-
ample, it is not yet agreed whether most cactus spines
represent leaves or branches, or are mere outgrowths of the
epidermis (as hairs are).
LEAF-BRANCHES
107
225. The foliage
of asparagus is com-
posed of modified
branches. The true
leaves of asparagus
are minute whitish
scales, (a, Fig. 159.)
The green foliage is
produced in the axils
of these scales. On
the strong spring
shoots of asparagus,
which are edible, the
true leaves appear as
large scales, (a, a,
Fig. 160.) These
large scales persist on the base of
the asparagus plant, even in the
fall. In the species of greenhouse or ornamental
asparagus, the delicate foliage is also made up of
green leaf-like branches. (Fig. 161.) In some cases
the true leaves fall after a time, and there is little
evidence left. The strong new shoots usually show
the true leaves plainly (as in Fig. 162). Branches
that simulate leaves are known as cladophylla
(singular, cladophyllum). The broad flat leaves
of florists' smilax (common in glasshouses) are
cladophylla.
226. In the study of morphology, it is not
enough, however, merely to determine
whether a part represents root, stem or
leaf: one must determine what part or
kind of root, stem or leaf it stands for.
For example, the foliage in Fig. 163 rep-
resents green expanded petioles. These
163. Phyllodia of aca-
cia. These Australian
trees are sometimes
grown in glasshouses.
108
MORPHOLOGY
1G4. The thorns are in the axils
of leaves.
leaf-like members have buds (which produce branches) in their
axils, and they have the arrangement or phyllotaxy of leaves ;
therefore they are considered to be
true leaf parts. But they stand
edgewise as if they might be pet-
ioles; sometimes they bear leaf-
blades; other acacias have com-
pound expanded leaves; there are
intermediate forms or gradations
between different acacias; young
seedlings sometimes show intermediate
forms. From all the evidence, it is now
understood that the foliage of the simple-
leaf acacias represents leaf-like petioles.
Such petioles are known as phyllodia (sin-
gular, phyllodium).
227. Thorns and strong spines are usu-
ally branches. The spines of hawthorns
or thorn-apples are examples: they are
borne in the axils
of leaves as branches are (Fig. 164);
hawthorns usually bear two or more
buds in each axil (Fig. 165), and one
or two of these buds often grow the
following year into normal leafy
branches (Fig. 166) ; sometimes the
thorn itself bears leaves. (Fig. 167.)
The thorns of wilding
pears, apples and plums
are short, hardened branches. In well-culti-
vated trees there is sufficient vigor to push the
main branch into longer and softer growth, so
that the side buds do not have a chance to
start. The thorns of osage-orange and honey-
locust are also branches. Those of the honey- may bear leave".
165. Two or more buds
are borne in the axils.
166. Some of the buds pro
duce leafy branches.
PRICKLES AND SPINES
109
locust usually arise from supernumerary
borne somewhat above the axils.
228. Prickles, bristles and weak spines
definite arrangement on the stem, are usually
modified leaves or parts of leaves. The spines
of thistles are hardened points of leaf-lobes.
The spines of the barberry are reduced
leaves; in their axils are borne short branches
buds that
which have a
1
168. Leaf-spine ot
barberry.
or leaf-tufts (Fig. 168); in
spring on young shoots may
be found almost complete gradations from
spiny leaves to spines. The prickly ash has
prickles (Fig. 169) that simulate stipules
and stipels, but the irregularity of position
indicates that they are not homologous with
stipules. The prickles of the common locust
(robinia) are usually interpreted as stipules.
229. Prickles, bristles and hairs that are
scattered or have no definite arrangement, are
usually mere outgrowths of the epidermis.
They commonly are removed with the bark.
Of such are the prickles of squashes, briars
(Fig. 170), and the
169. Small prickles of
the prickly ash.
roses.
230. The reason
for the existence of spines is difficult
to determine. In many or most
cases they seem to have no distinct
use or function. In some way they
are associated with the evolution of
the plant, and one cannot deter-
mine why they came without know-
ing much of the genealogy of the
plant. In some cases they seem to
contraction of the plant-body, as in
170. Prickles of dewberry.
be the result of the
the cacti and other
110
MORPHOLOGY
171. The diminishing leaves
of boneset.
desert plants; and they may then serve a purpose in lessen-
ing transpiration. It is a common notion that spines and
prickles exist for the purpose of keep-
ing enemies away, and that hairs keep
the plant warm, but these ideas usu-
ally lack scientific accuracy. Even if
spines do keep away browsing animals
in any plant, it is quite another ques-
tion why the spines came to be. To
determine what spines and hairs are
for demands close scientific study of
each particular case, as does any other
problem.
231. Leaves are usually smaller as
they approach the flowers. (Fig. 171.)
They often become so much reduced
as to be mere scales, losing their office as foliage. In their
axils, however, the flower-branches may be borne. (Fig. 172.)
Much-reduced leaves, particu-
larly those that are no longer
green and working members,
are called bracts. In some
cases, large colored bracts are
borne just beneath the flowers
and look like petals: the flow-
ering dogwood is an example;
also the bougainvillea, which is
common in glasshouses ; also the
scarlet sage of gardens, some of
the euphorbias or spurges, and
the flaming poinsettia of green-
houses. Sometimes a green leaf
is borne close against a head or
cluster of flowers, as in the clover (Fig. 173); but a separate
bract or scale will be found for each flower in the head.
172. The uppermost flowers are borne
in the axils of bracts. — Fuchsia.
BUD-SCALES
111
232. The scales of buds are special kinds of bracts. In
some cases each scale represents an entire leaf; in others,
it represents a petiole or stipule.
In the expanding pear, maple, lilac,
hickory and horse-chestnut buds,
note the gradation from dry scales to ^,
green leaf-like bodies. When the
winter scales fall by the pushing out
of the young shoot, scars are left:
these scars form "rings," which mark
the annual growths. (See Chap. VII.)
The scales of bulbs are also special
kinds of leaves or bracts. In some
cases they are merely protective bodies)
in others they are storehouses. We
have found (45) that the presence of
scales or bracts is one means of dis-
tinguishing underground stems from
173. Red clover. Leaves
rOOtS. 3-foliolate.
Review. — What are considered to be the fundamental or type
forms from which the parts of plants are derived? How do the forms
of plants interest us? What is morphology? What is meant by trans-
formation and modification as used by the morphologist? What is
meant by homologous parts? Analogous parts? Tell how one may
determine the morphology of any part. What is a cladophvllum?
Phyllodium? Show a specimen of one or the other, or both (canned
asparagus can always be had in the market). What is the morphology
of most thorns? Explain the thorns of hawthorn. What are bristles,
prickles and hairs? Why do spines and bristles exist? Explain what
a bract is. A bud-scale. A bulb-scale.
CHAPTER XVIII
HOW PLANTS CLIMB
233. We have seen that plants struggle or contend for
a place in which to live. Some of them have become suited to
grow in the forest shade, others to grow on other plants as
epiphytes, others to climb to the light. Observe how woods
grapes, and other forest climbers, spread their foliage on
the very top of the forest tree, while their long flexile trunks
may be bare. One who has seen a dense tropical forest has
realized the struggle for light on the tops of the trees.
234. There are several ways by which plants climb, but
most climbers may be classified into four groups: (1) scram-
blers, (2) root-climbers, (3) tendril-climbers, (4) twiners.
■ 235. Scramblers.— Some plants rise to light and air by
resting their long and weak stems on the tops of bushes
and quick-growing herbs. Their stems are elevated by the
growing twigs of the plants
_Jtl — jteffifr— on which they recline. Such
plants are scramblers. Usu-
ally they are provided with
prickles or bristles. In most
weedy swamp thickets,
scrambling plants may be
found. Briars, some roses,
bed-straw or galium, bitter-
sweet (Solanum Dulcamara,
not the celastrus), the tear-
thumb polygonums, and other plants are familiar examples
of scramblers.
236. Root-climbers. — Some plants climb by means of
(112)
174. A root-climber. — The English ivy.
CLIMBERS 113
true roots, as explained in paragraph 31. These roots
are of adventitious origin. They grow in a horizontal di-
rection and enter the chinks of walls or the furrows in the
bark of trees. Fig. 12, the trumpet creeper, is a familiar
example. The true or English ivy, which is often grown to
cover buildings, is another example. (Fig. 174.) Still another
175. Tendril of Virginia creeper. The direction of the coil changes near the middle
is the poison ivy. Roots are distinguished from stem tendrils
by their irregular or indefinite position as well as by their
mode of growth.
237. Tendril-climbers. — A slender coiling part that
serves to hold a climbing plant to a support is known as a
tendril. The free end swings or curves until it strikes some
object, when it attaches itself and then coils and draws the
plant close to the support. The spring of the coil also allows
the plant to move in the wind, thereby enabling the plant
to maintain its hold. Slowly pull a well-matured tendril
from its support, and note how strongly it holds on. Watch
the tendrils in a storm. To test the movement of a free ten-
dril, draw an ink line lengthwise of it, and note that the line
is now on the concave side and now on the convex side.
Of course this movement is slow, but often it is evident in
an hour or so. Usually the tendril attaches to the support
by coiling about it, but the Virginia creeper and Boston ivy
attach to walls by means of disks on the ends of the tendrils.
H
114 HOW PLANTS CLIMB
238. Since both ends of the tendril are fixed, when it
finds a support, the coiling would tend to twist it in two. It
will be found, however, that the tendril coils in different
directions in different parts of its length. In Fig. 175 the
change of direction in the coil occurs at the straight place
beyond the middle. In long tendrils of cucumbers and
melons there may be several changes of direction.
176. The fruit-cluster and tendril of grape are homologous.
239. Tendrils may be either branches or leaves. In
the Virginia creeper and grape they are branches; they
stand opposite the leaves in the position of fruit-clusters
(Fig. 176), and sometimes one branch of a fruit-cluster
is a tendril. These tendrils are therefore homologous with
fruit-clusters, and fruit-clusters are branches.
240. In some plants tendrils are leaflets. Examples are
the sweet pea (Fig. 177) and common garden pea. In
Fig. 177, observe the leaf with its two stipules, petiole,
CLIMBERS
115
two normal leaflets and two or three pairs of leaflet-tendrils
and a terminal leaflet-tendril. The cobea, a common gar-
den climber, has a similar arrangement. In some cases
tendrils are stipules, as probably in the greenbriers (smilax).
241. The petiole or midrib may act as a tendril, as in
various kinds of clematis. In Fig. 178, two opposite leaves
are attached at a. Each leaf is pinnately compound and
In the sweet pea (and garden pea) the leaflets are tendrils
has two pairs of leaflets and a terminal leaflet. At b and
c the midrib or rachis has wound about a support. The
petiole and the petiolules may behave similarly. Examine
the tall-growing nasturtiums in the garden.
242. Twiners. — The entire plant or shoot may wind
about a support. Such a plant is a twiner. Examples
are bean, hop, morning-glory, moon-flower, false bitter-
sweet or wax- work (celastrus), some honeysuckles, wis-
116
HOW PLANTS CLIMB
taria, Dutchman's pipe, dodder. The free tip of the twining
branch sweeps about in curves, much as the tendril does,
until it finds support or becomes old and rigid.
243. Each kind of plant usually coils in only one direction.
Most plants coil against the sun, or from the observer's
178. Clematis climbs by means of its leaf-stalks.
left across his front to his right as he faces the plant.
Such plants are said to be antitropic, or to move against
the sun from the position in which the observer stands.
Examples are bean, morning-glory. The hop twines from
the right to his left; such plants are eutropic (with the sun).
Fig. 179 shows the two directions.
CLIMBERS
117
Review. — How do
plants climb? Explain
what is meant by
scramblers. By root-
climbers. What is a
tendril? How does it
find a support? How
does it coil? How does
it grasp its support?
What is the morphol-
ogy of the tendril of
Virginia creeper? Of
the pea? Of the clem-
atis? What is a
twiner? How does it
find a support? What
is an antitropic twiner?
Eutropic?
Note. — The pupil
may not un-
derstand why
the branch (as
tendril and
flower-cluster)
stands o p p o - c
site the bud in the grape and Virginia creeper. Not
grape-shoot ends in a tendril (a, Fig. 180). The
represents the true axis of the shoot. On the side
borne, from the axil of which the branch grows to
the shoot. This branch ends in a tendril, b.
Another leaf has a branch in its axil, and this
branch ends in the tendril c. The real apex of the
shoot is successively turned aside until it appears
to be lateral. That is, the morphologically terminal
points of the successive shoots are the tendrils, and
the order of their appearing is a, b, r. The tendrils
branch: observe the minute scale representing a
leaf at the base of each branch. This type of branch-
ing— the axial growth being continued by successive
lateral buds — is aympodial, and the branch is a
8ympode. Continuous growth from the terminal bud
is monopodial, and the branch is a monopode.
2
f
e that a vJ
tendril ^
a leaf is >m
continue 'n
180. Sympodo
of the grupi'.
CHAPTER XIX
FLOWER-BRANCHES
^fe^
244. We have seen (87) that branches arise from the
axils of leaves. Sometimes the leaves may be reduced to
bracts and yet branches are borne in their axils (225). Some
of the branches grow into long limbs; others become short
spurs or thorns (227) ; others bear flowers.
£ 245. Flowers are usually borne near the
top of the plant, since the plant must grow
before it blooms. Often they are produced in
great numbers. It results, therefore, that
flower-branches usually stand close together,
forming a cluster. The shape and arrange-
ment of the flower-cluster differ with the kind
of plant, since each
plant has its own mode
of branching.
246. Certain definite
or well - marked types
of flower-clusters have
received names. Some
of these names we shall
but the
flower-clusters that
perfectly match the definitions are
the exception rather than the rule.
The determining of the kinds of
flower-clusters is one of the most
perplexing subjects in descriptive
botany. We may classify the sub-
(118)
181. Solitary ter-
minal flower of disCUSS,
182.
Lateral flower
of abutilon.
CORYMBS
119
ject around three ideas: solitary
flowers, corymbose clusters, cymose
clusters.
247. Solitary Flowers.— In
many cases flowers are borne
singly. They are then said to be
solitary. The solitary flower may
be either at the end of the main
shoot or axis (Fig. 181), when it
is said to be terminal, or from
the side of the shoot (Fig. 182),
when it is said to be lateral.
The lateral flower is also said to be axillary.
248. Corymbose Clusters.
183. Leafy flower-cluster of fuchsia.
184. Racemes of sweet
clover.
If the
flower -bearing axils were rather close
together, an open or leafy flower-cluster
might result, as in Fig. 183. The fuchsia
continues to grow from the tip, and the
older flowers are left farther and farther
behind. If the cluster were so short as
to be flat or convex on top, the outer-
most flowers would be the older. A
flower-cluster in which the lower or outer
flowers open first is said to be a corym-
bose cluster. It is sometimes said to be
an indeterminate cluster, since it is the re-
sult of a type of growth which may go on
more or less continuously from the apex.
249. The simplest form of a definite
corymbose cluster is a raceme, which is
an unbranched open cluster in which the
flowers are borne on short stems and
bloom from below (that is, from the older
part of the shoot) upwards. The raceme
may be terminal to the main branch, or it
120
FLOWER-BRANCHES
may be lateral to it, as
in Fig. 184. Racemes
often bear the flowers
on one side of the stem,
or in a single row.
250. When a corym-
bose flower -cluster is
long and dense and the
flowers are sessile or
nearly so, it is called a
spike (Figs. 185, 186).
Common examples of
spikes are plantain,
mignonette, mullein.
251. A very short
and dense spike is a head,
187) are examples
186. Spike of
hyaci n th.
Note, also,
that the
flowers and
foliage are
produced
from the
stored food
in the bulb,
only water
being given.
Clovers (Figs. 173,
The sunflower and related
plants bear many small flowers in a very dense
head. This special kind of head of the sun-
flower, thistle and aster tribes has been called
an anthodium, but this word is little used. Note
that in the sunflower (Fig. 188) the outside or
exterior flowers open first. Very often the antho-
dium terminates the main stem, as m Fig. 189.
252. Another
special form of
spike is the cat-
kin, which usu-
ally has scaly
bracts and the
whole cluster is
deciduous after
"" jM If flowering or
^^^^FT fruiting, and the
Ga clover.mSO 188. Head of sunflower. flowers (in typi-
CORYMBS
cal cases) have only one sex. Ex-
amples are the "pussies" of willows
(Fig. 229) and flower-clusters of
oaks (Fig. 228), hickories, poplars
and walnut (Fig. 190).
253. When a loose, elongated
corymbose flower-cluster branches,
or is compound, it is called a pan-
icle. Because of the earlier growth
of the lower branches, the panicle
is usually broadest at the base or
conical in outline. The flower-
cluster of the oat is an example.
(Fig. 191.) True panicles are not
common.
254. When an indeterminate
flower-cluster is short, so that the
top is con-
121
oCT)7
r*
189. Terminal heads of the white-
weed (in some places erro-
neously called ox-eye daisy).
190. Catkins of black walnut,
at/). Pistillate flowers at a.
Paragraph 284.
vex or flat,
it is a
corymb.
(Fig. 192.)
The outer-
most flowers open first. Fig. 193
shows many corymbs of the bridal
wreath, one of the spireas.
255. When the branches of an
indeterminate cluster arise from a
common point, like the frame of
an umbrella, the cluster is an umbel.
(Fig. 194.) Typical umbels occur
in carrot, parsnip, parsley and other
plants of the parsley family: the
family is known as the Umbelliferae
or umbel -bearing family. In 1 1 *
122
FLOWER-BRANCHES
carrot and many other Umbelliferse,
there are small or secondary umbels,
called umbellets, at the end of each of
the main branches. (In the center of
the wild carrot umbel one often finds a
single, purplish, often aborted flower,
comprising a 1-flowered umbellet).
256. Cymose Clusters. — When the
terminal or central flower opens first,
the cluster is said to be cymose. The
growth of the shoot or cluster is deter-
minate, since the length is definitely
determined or stopped by the terminal
flower. Fig. 195 shows a determinate
or cymose mode of flower-bearing.
257. Dense cymose clusters are
usually flatfish on top because of the
cessation of growth in the main
or central axis, but cymes are
•*&*■#.*.
192. Corymb of candytuft.
of the bridal wreath (apirea).
CYMES
123
194. Compound umbel of
wild carrot.
sometimes open and loose.
These flower-clusters are known
as cymes. Apples, pears (Fig.
196) and cherries bear flowers
in cymes. Some cyme -forms
are like umbels in general ap-
pearance. A head-like cymose
cluster is a glomerule: it blooms
from the top downwards rather than
from the base upwards.
258. Centripetal and Centrifugal. —
A cluster in which the outermost
(or lowermost) flowers open first is
corymbose or indeterminate, as we
have learned; it is also said to be
centripetal (meaning "toward the cen-
ter"). A cluster in which the inner-
most or central flowers open first is
cymose or determinate; it is also said
to be centrifugal (meaning "away from
the center"). These contrasts can
best be under-
stood by study
of diagrams,
since actual
clusters so often
vary from the
assumed stan-
dard. Such diagrams are presented in
Figs. 197, 198, 199.
259. Mixed Clusters.— Often the 19G- Cyne of pear
cluster is mixed, being determinate in one part and indeter-
minate in another part of the same cluster. This is the case
in horse-chestnuts. The main cluster is indeterminate, bu1
the branches are determinate. The cluster has the appear-
195. Determinate or cymose
arrangement. — Wild geranium
124
FLOWER-BRANCHES
V
Y:
:■
197. Forms of centripetal flower-clusters,
raceme; 2, spike; 3, umbel; 4, head or anthodium; 5, corymb.
198. Centripetal inflorescence.
0, spadix; 7, compound umbel; 8, catkin.
199. Centrifugal inflorescence
1, cyme; 2, scirpioid cluster (or half cyme
FLOWER -CLUSTERS AND -STEMS
125
ance of a panicle, and is usually so called, but it is really a
thyrse. Lilac is a familiar example of a thyrse. In some
cases, the main cluster is determinate and the branches are
indeterminate, as in hydrangea and elder. Such clusters also
are mixed clusters.
260. Inflorescence. — The mode or method of flower
arrangement is known as the inflorescence. That is, the
inflorescence is cymose, corymbose, paniculate, spicate,
solitary. By custom, however,
the word inflorescence has come
to be used for the flower-cluster
itself in works on descriptive
botany. Thus a cyme or a
panicle may be called an inflo-
rescence. It will be seen that
even solitary flowers follow either
indeterminate or determinate
methods of branching.
261. The Flower-stem.— The
stem of a solitary flower is known
as a peduncle; also the general
stem of a flower-cluster. The
stem of the individual flower in
a cluster is a pedicel.
262. In the so-called stemless plants (37) the peduncle
may arise directly from the ground, or crown of the plant,
as in dandelion, hyacinth (Fig. 186), garden daisy (Fig. 200).
This kind of a peduncle is called a scape. A scape may bear
one or many flowers. It has no foliage leaves, but it may have
bracts. In some cases, of course, the flowers are sessile, and
in others very nearly sessile (207). In Fig. 201, the little
fruits (following the flowers) are in close clusters in the axils
of the leaves.
Review. — What is the homology of flower-branches? How is it
that flowers arc often borne in clusters? Explain what may be meant
200. Scapes ol the I
English daisy.
126
FLOWER-BRANCHES
by a solitary flower. What are the two types of flower-clusters? What
are corymbose clusters? Define raceme. Spike. Head and anthodium.
Catkin. Panicle. Umbel. Umbellet. Corymb. What are cymose
clusters? What is a cyme? Glomerule? Contrast indeterminate and
determinate modes of branching. Centripetal and centrifugal. Explain
mixed clusters. What is a thyrse? Define peduncle, pedicel and scape.
Note. — In the study of flower-clusters, it is well to choose first
those that are fairly typical of the various classes discussed in the
preceding paragraphs. As soon as the main types are well fixed in the
mind, random clusters should be examined, for the pupil must never
receive the impression that all flower-clusters follow the definitions in
books. Clusters of some of the commonest plants are very puzzling,
but the pupil should at least be able to discover whether the inflores-
cence is determinate or indeterminate.
201. The practically sessile axillary clusters of coffee.
CHAPTER XX
THE PARTS OF THE FLOWER
263. The flower exists for the purpose of producing
seed. It is probable that all its varied forms and colors
contribute to this supreme end. These forms and colors
please the human fancy and make living the happier, but
the flower exists for the good of the plant, not for the good
of man.
264. The parts of the flower are of two general kinds —
those that act as covering and protecting organs, and those
that are directly concerned in the 'production of seeds. The
former parts are known as the floral envelopes; the latter as
the essential organs.
265. Envelopes.— The floral envelopes usually bear a
close resemblance to leaves. These envelopes are very com-
monly of two series or kinds — the outer and the inner. The
outer series, known as the calyx, is usually smaller and green.
It commonly comprises the outer cover of
the flower-bud. The calyx is the lowest
whorl in Fig. 202.
The inner scries,
known as the co-
rolla, is usually
colored and more
special or irregular
cup in section. inshape than the 203. Flower of buttercup.
calyx. It is the showy part of the flower, as a rule. The
corolla is the second or large whorl in Fig. 202. It is the
large part in Fig. 203.
266. The calyx may be composed of several leaves. Each
(127)
128
PARTS OF THE FLOWER
204. Gamosepalous
and gamopetalous
flowers of sweet
potato.
leaf is a sepal. If it is of one piece, it may be lobed or di-
vided, in which case the divisions are called calyx-lobes. In
like manner, the corolla may be
composed of petals, or it may be
of one piece and variously lobed.
267. A calyx of one piece (as in
Fig. 204),. no matter how deeply
lobed, is gamosepalous. A corolla
of one piece is gamopetalous. When
these series are of separate pieces
(as in Fig. 202), the flower is said
to be polysepalous and polypelalous.
Sometimes both series are of sep-
arate parts, and sometimes only
one of them is so formed. The
floral envelopes are homologous
with leaves.
268. Sepals and petals, at least when more than three or
five, are each in more than one whorl, and one whorl stands
below another so that the parts over-
lap. They are borne on the expanded
or thickened end of the flower-stalk:
this end is the torus. In Fig. 202 all
the parts are seen as attached to the
torus. This part is sometimes called
a receptacle, but this word is a com-
mon-language term of several mean-
ings, whereas torus is a technical word
exclusively. Sometimes one part is
attached to another part, as in the
fuchsia (Fig. 205) in which the petals
are borne on the calyx-tube.
269. Essential Organs.— The
essential organs are borne within
the floral envelopes (when envelopes
205. Flower of fuchsia
in section.
STAMENS AND PISTILS
129
are present). They are of two series. The outer series is
composed of the stamens. The inner series is composed of
the pistils. Stamens and pistils are
lomologous with leaves.
;, ^ 270. Stamens bear
200. Pistil of garden pea,
the stamens being pulled
down in order to disclose
it ; also a section, showing
the single compartment.
207. Simple pistils of
buttercup, one in
longitudinal section.
the pollen, which is
made up of a large
number of minute
grains. The stamen is
of two parts, as readily
seen in Figs. 202, 203, 205, — the enlarged terminal part or
anther, and the stalk or filament. The filament is often so
short as to seem to be absent, and the
anther is then said to be sessile. The anther
bears the pollen grains. It is made up of
two or four parts (known as sporangia or
spore-cases), which burst and discharge the
pollen. When the pollen is shed, the
stamen dies.
271. Pistils bear the ovules, which become
seeds. The pistil may be of
one part or compartment, or
of many parts. The different
units or parts of which it is
composed are carpels. Each
carpel is homologous with a
leaf. Each carpel bears one
or more seeds. A pistil of
one carpel is simple; of two
or more carpels, compound.
Usually the structure of the
pistil may be determined by
cutting across the lower or
seed-bearing part. Figs. 206, 207, 208 explain. A flower may
contain one carpel (simple pistil) as the pea (Fig. 200);
The structure of a plum blossom.
se. sepals; p. petals; sta. stamens; o.
ovary; s. style; si. Btigma. The pistil
consists of I he ovary, style, :nnl Stigma.
It contains the seed part. The stamens
are tipped with anthers, in which the
poUen is borne. The ovary, <>, ripens
into the fruit.
130
PARTS OF THE FLOWER
several separate carpels or simple pistils, as the
buttercup; or a compound pistil, as the St. John's-
wort (Fig. 208).
272. The pistil, whether simple or compound,
has three parts: the lowest or seed-bearing part,
which is the ovary; the stigma at the upper
extremity, which is a flattened or expanded
surface and usually roughened or sticky ; the
stalk-like part or style, connecting the ovary
and stigma. Sometimes the style is appar-
ently wanting,
)ia? and the stigma
is said to be
sessile o n the
ovary. These
parts are shown
in the fuchsia,
Fig. 205. The
ovary or seed vessel is at a. A long style, bearing a large
stigma, projects from the flower. See,
also, Figs. 207 and 209.
273. Conformation of the Flower. —
A flower that has calyx, corolla, stamens
and pistils is said to be complete; all
others are incomplete. In some flowers
both the floral envelopes are wanting:
such are naked. When one of the floral
envelope series is wanting, the remaining
series is said to be calyx, and the flower
is therefore apetalous (without petals).
The knotweed (Fig. 210), smartweed,
buckwheat, elm (Fig. 96), are examples.
274. Some flowers lack the pistils but „
r 211. Flower of garden
have stamens: these are staminate, nasturtium. Separate
1,1,1 , . . petal at a. The calyx is
whether the envelopes are missing or prolonged into a spur.
210. Knotweed, a very common but inconspicuous plant
along hard walks and roads. Two flowers, enlarged, are
shown at the right. These flowers are very small and
borne in the axils of the leaves.
FORMS OF FLOWERS
131
212. The five petals of the pansy,
detached to show the form.
not. Others lack the stamens but have pistils: these are
pistillate. Others have neither stamens nor pistils: these are
sterile (snowball and hydrangea).
Those that have both stamens and
pistils are -perfect, whether or not
the envelopes are missing. Those
that lack either stamens or pistils
are imperfect or diclinous.
Staminate and pistillate
flowers are imperfect or
diclinous.
275. Flowers in which
the parts of each series
are alike are
said to be regular
(as in Figs. 202, 203, 204, 205). Those in which
some parts are unlike other parts of the same series
are irregular. The irregularity may be in the catyx,
as in nasturtium (Fig. 211); in the corolla (Figs.
212, 213); in the stamens (compare nasturtium,
catnip (Fig. 213) sage, or in the pistils. Irregularity
is most frequent in the corolla.
Review. — What is the flower for? What are the two
general kinds of organs in the flower? What is the
homology of the flower-parts? What
are floral envelopes? Calyx? Sepals?
Calyx-lobes? Corolla? Petals? Corolla-
lobes? Gamosepalous flowers? Gamo-
petalous? Polysepalous? Polypetalous?
Define torus. What arc the essential
organs? Stamen? Filament? Anther?
Pollen? Pistil? Style? Stigma? Ovary?
Carpel? Define a complete flower. In
what ways may flowers be incomplete?
Explain perfect and imperfect (or di-
clinous) flowers. Define regular flowers.
In what ways may flowers be irregular?
%■/'?: -'I."..
\~-t^dff£-^ Dissect-
""" inn needle.
214. Improvised 1., natural
stand for lens. size.
132
PARTS OF THE FLOWER
Note. — One needs a lens for the examination of the flower. It is
best to have the lens mounted on a frame, so that the pupil has both
hands free for pulling the flower in pieces. An ordinary
pocket lens may be mounted on a wire in a block, as in
Fig. 214. A cork is slipped on the top of the wire to avoid
injury to the face. The pupil should be provided with two
dissecting needles (Fig. 215), made by securing an ordinary
needle in a pencil-like stick. Another convenient arrange-
ment is shown in Fig. 216. A small tin dish is used for the
base. Into this a stiff wire standard is
soldered. The dish is filled with solder,
to make it heavy and firm. Into a cork
slipped on the standard, a crosswire is
inserted, holding on the end a jeweler's
glass. The lens can be moved up and
down and sidewise. This outfit can be
for about seventy-five cents. Fig. 217
convenient hand-rest or dissecting
stand to be used under this lens. It may be
16 in. long, 4 in. high, and 4 or 5 in. broad.
Various kinds of dissecting microscopes are on
_,„ _. .. the market and these are to be recommended
216 Dissecting
glass. when they can be afforded.
made
shows
217. Dissecting stand.
CHAPTER XXI
FERTILIZATION AND POLLINATION
276. Fertilization. — Seeds result from the union of two
elements or parts. One of these elements, a nucleus of a
plant-cell, is borne in the germinating pollen-grain. The
other element, an egg-cell, is borne in the ovary. The pollen-
grain falls on the stigma. (Fig. 218.) It absorbs water or the
juices exuded by the stigma and grows by sending out a
tube. (Fig. 219.) This tube grows downward through the
style, absorbing food as it goes, and finally reaches the egg-
cell in the interior of an ovule in
the ovary, and fertilization by the
union of the two nuclei takes place.
The ovule then develops into a
seed. The growth of the pollen-
tube is often spoken of as germi-
nation of the pollen, but it is
not germination in the sense in
which the word is used when
speaking of seeds.
277. In order that
the pollen may grow,
the stigma must be ripe. At this stage, the
stigma is usually moist and sometimes sticky.
The pollen is held by the mucilaginous secre-
tion on the stigma. The stigma may be barbed
or feathery and hold the pollen by this means.
Observe the stigma of some of the lilies. In
corn the "silk" constitutes the style, and the
stigma is feathery. A ripe stigma is said to be
(133)
218. B. pollen of plum escaping
from anther. A, pollen germin-
ating on the stigma. Enlarged.
219.
Pollen - grain
germinating.
Magnified.
134
FERTILIZATION AND POLLINATION
receptive. The stigma may remain receptive for several hours
or even days, depending on the kind of plant, the weather,
and how soon pollen is received. When fertilization takes
place, the stigma lJft($> Vl
dies. Note the dried fflj^lki-OillliM '/ - fh„
3
220.
nther of
221.
Barberry
azalea,
o p e n in g
by termi-
nal pores.
stamen
with an-
ther open-
ing by lids.
222. Flower of hollyhock; proterandrous. See Fig. 223.
end of the "silk" of corn. Observe, also, how soon the petals
wither after the stigma has received pollen.
278. Pollination. — The transfer of the pollen from anther
to stigma is known as pollination. The pollen may fall of its
own weight on the adjacent stigma, or it may be carried
from flower to flower by wind, insects or other agents. There
may be self-pollination, close-pollination or cross-pollination.
In self-pollination,
the pollen that falls
on the pistil is de-
rived from the same
flower. In close-
pollination, the pol-
len may be derived
from different flowers
on the same plant.
In cross-pollination,
the pollen is derived
from flowers on differ-
FERTILIZATION AND POLLINATION
135
224. Flower of larkspur.
225. Envelopes of a larkspur. There
are five wide sepals, the upper
one being spurred. There are
four small petals.
ent plants. Fertilization resulting from self- or close-pollina-
tion is close-fertilization. Fertilization resulting from cross-
pollination is cross-fertilization. In
many cases cross-pollination is
essential for good seed or fruit
development. Corn, if close-pol-
linated, pro-
duces imperfect W M
ears. Culti-
vated plants
frequently ex-
hibit decreased
vigor by close-
pollination.
279. Usually
the pollen is dis-
charged by the
bursting of the anthers. The commonest method of discharge
is through a slit on either side of the anther. (Fig. 218.) Some-
times it discharges through a pore at the apex, as in azalea
(Fig. 220), rhododendron, huckleberry, wintergreen. In
some plants a part of the anther wall
... Mjf/% . raises or falls as a lid, as in barberry (Fig.
'viffe^ 221)> Dmc cohosh, May apple. The open-
i) ing of an anther (as also of a seed-pod) is
known as dehiscence. When an anther or
seed-pod opens it is said to dehisce.
280. Most flowers are so constructed as
to increase the chances of cross-pollination.
The commonest means of insuring cross-
pollination is the different times of matur-
ing of stamens and pistils in the same
Mower. In most cases the stamens mature
826. Stamens of lark- first: the flower is then /irotrnuitlrous.
spur, surrounding Ttri , . ... _ . _
the pistils, When the instils mature firsl the flower is
136
FERTILIZATION AND POLLINATION
proterogynous. (Aner, andr, is a Greek root often used, in
combinations, for stamen, and gyne for pistil.) The dif-
ference in time of ripening may be an hour or two, or it
may be a day. The ripening of the stamens and pistils at
different times is known as dichogamy, and flowers of such
character are said to be dichog-
amous. There is little chance
for dichogamous flowers to pol-
linate themselves. The holly-
hock is proterandrous. Fig. 222
shows a flower recently ex-
panded. The center is occupied
by the column of stamens. In
Fig. 223, showing an older
flower, the long styles are con-
spicuous. Many flowers are im-
perfectly k dichogamous — some
of the anthers mature simul-
taneously with the pistils, so
that there is chance for self-pol-
lination in case foreign pollen
does not arrive. Even when the
stigma receives pollen from its
own flower, cross -fertilization
may result.
281. Some flowers have so
developed as to prohibit self-
pollination. Very irregular flow-
ers are usually of this cate-
gory. Regular flowers usually depend on dichogamy and
on the impotency of pollen on the pistil of the same flower.
Flowers that are very irregular and provided with strong
perfume are usually pollinated by insects. Gaudy colors
probably attract insects in many cases, but odor appears to
be a greater attraction. The insect visits the flower for the
MEANS OF POLLINATION
U7
228. Staminate catkins of oak. The pistil-
late flowers are in the leaf axils,
and not shown in this picture.
nectar (for the making of honey) and may unknowingly
carry the pollen. Spurs and sacs are commonly nectaries,
but in spurless flowers the
nectar is usually secreted in
the bottom of the flower-cup.
Fig. 224 shows a larkspur,
and the envelopes are sepa-
rated in Fig. 225. The long
spur at once suggests insect
pollination. The spur is sepal.
Two hollow petals project
into this spur, apparently
serving to guide the bee's
tongue, but probably of no sig-
nificance. The two smaller petals, in front, are differently
colored and seem to serve the bee in locating the nectary.
The stamens ensheath the pistils. (Fig. 226.) As the insect
stands on the flower and thrusts his head into its center, the
envelopes are pushed downward and outward and the pistil
,<>!^4&*,. and stamens come in contact
with his abdomen. Since the
flower is proterandrous, the
pollen which the pistils receive
from the bee's abdomen must
come from another flower. Note
a somewhat similar arrange-
ment in the toad-flax or butter-
and-eggs. (Fig. 227.) Clover
and alfalfa are pollinated by
insects.
282. The bee is perhaps the
most efficient of all insects in
distributing pollen, for in ad-
dition to carrying away pollen accidentally in its search for
nectar, it also deliberately gathers pollen from the flowers.
229. Catkins of a willow. A staminate
flower is shown at s. and a pistil-
late flower at p. The staminate
and pistillate are on different
plants.
138
FEETILIZATION AND POLLINATION
In certain seasons, moreover, it confines
itself to a single species of plants. Bees are
very useful to the fruit-grower, wholly aside
from the honey that they make for him.
283. Many flowers are pollinated by the
wind. Such flowers produce great quantities
of pollen, for much of it is wasted. They
usually have broad stigmas, which expose
large surfaces to the wind. They are usu-
ally lacking in gaudy colors and in perfume.
Grasses and pine trees are typical examples
of wind-pollinated plants.
284. In many cases cross-pollination is
insured by the stamens and pistils being
in different flowers (diclinous, 274). When
the staminate and pistillate flowers are on
the same plant, e.g., oak (Fig. 228), beech,
chestnut,
230. Indian corn, a
monoecious plant,
with staminate
flowers borne in
the tassel and
pistillate flowers
borne in the ear.
hazel, walnut
(Fig. 190),
hickory, the
plant is mon-
oecious ("in
one house")- When they are
on different plants (poplar and
willow, Fig. 229), the plant is
dioecious ("in two houses").
Monoecious and dioecious
plants may be pollinated by
wind or insects, or other agents.
They are commonly wind-
pollinated, although willows
are often, if not mostly, in-
sect-pollinated. Some plants,
as rye, insure cross-pollination
231. Ear of maize, product of the pistil-
late flowers fertilized by pollen borne
in the tassel, the whole enclosed in a
husk or sheath.
MEANS OF POLLINATION
139
#*p
because the pollen of one flower
is impotent on the pistil of
that flower. Buckwheat is
another such plant.
285. The corn plants are
monoecious, and therefore self-
pollination is impossible. The
staminate flowers of the In-
dian corn are in a terminal A^'^M
panicle or tasi
The pistillate
dense spike (ear), inclosed in a
sheath or husk. (Fig. 231.) Each
"silk" is a style.
Each pistillate
flower may produce
a kernel of corn.
Sometimes a few
pistil-
flowers are in a ',**«* *•'■"*' -^k1 wr &
232. Panicle or tassel of a sorghum in
blooming time.
late flowers are borne in the tassel
and a few staminate flowers on the
tip of the ear. In sorghums, broom-
corn and kafirs (Figs. 232, 233, 234),
the two kinds of flowers are in the
same cluster or tassel.
286. Although most flowers are of
such character as to insure or increase
the chances of cross-pollination, there
are some in which crossing is abso-
lutely forbidden. These flowers are
usually borne beneath or on the
233. Head or
brush of
broom - corn 234. Head of
at seeding one of the
co'rnBri°s0m; ^unseed! ground, and they lack showy colors
and perfumes. They are known as
clr i stoga mous flowers (meaning "hidden
peduncles or grownm dry fl^rs")- The P^t haS 1U,nnal
th? ftiff ffiTmlK cleistogamous flowers (meairing "hidden
140
FERTILIZATION AND POLLINATION
235. Hog-poanut, showing a leaf, and a
cleistogamous flower at a.
showy flowers that may be insect-pollinated, and in addi-
tion is provided with these specialized flowers. Only a few
plants bear cleistogamous flowers. Hog-peanut, common blue
violet, fringed winter-
green, and dalibarda
are the best subjects
in the northern states.
Fig. 235 shows a cleis-
togamous flower of the
hog-peanut at a. Above
the true roots, slender
rhizomes bear these flowers, which are provided with a
calyx and a curving corolla that does not open. Inside are
the stamens and pistils. The
pupil must not confound
the nodules on the roots of
the hog-peanut with the
cleistogamous flowers: these
nodules are concerned in the
appropriation of food. Late
in summer the cleistogamous
flowers may be found just
underneath the mold. They
never rise above the ground.
The following summer one
may find a seedling plant
with the remains of the old
cleistogamous flower still
adhering to the root. The
hog-peanut is a common low
3. Common blue violet. The familiar twiner in WOOds. It also
flowers are shown, natural size. The Upnr<5 r„ppmp„ nf email r>Pfl_
corolla is spurred. Later in the season, Dears racemes 01 Small pea-
cleistogamous flowers are often borne Jj^g flowers. CleistOgamOUS
on the surface of the ground. A small
one is shown at o. A nearly mature flowers USUally appear after
pod is shown at b. Both a and b are , , , a ■
one-third natural size. the showy flowers have
POLLINATION
141
passed. They seem to insure a crop of seed by a met]
that expends
(Fig. 236.)
287. There
i s a special
and peculiar
structure in
the peanut or
goober. The
flowers are of
two kinds.
One is showy and staminate (shown uppermost
in Fig. 237) ; and one is small and pistillate, and
after fertilization is thrust downward into the
earth by the elongation of the torus and flower-
stem, and the pods ripen underground. (Fig. 238.)
288. Flowers may be cross-pollinated by hand.
One may carry the pollen of a given flower to the pistils
of another flower, for the purpose of securing seeds that
may combine some of the characteristics of the two parents.
238. Peanut pods ripening undergr
In this case, the stamens are early removed from the flower
to be pollinated so that all possibility of self-fertilization is
averted; and after the other pollen is applied, the flower is
142
FERTILIZATION AND POLLINATION
protected by being securely covered with a paper bag. (Fig.
239.) In monoecious plants, if the staminate flowers are
removed or covered close-fertilization is prevented.
Review. — What is fertilization? Pollination?
|t iljjm I l/Jmm\ Pollen germination? What is a receptive stigma?
§ff,l How is pollen discharged? How is cross-pollina-
tion secured? Are plants benefited by cross-pol-
lination? What is meant by impotent pollen?
What do you understand by dichogamy? Its office?
Is it frequent? What is the character of insect-
pollinated flowers? Why is the bee an effective
insect in distributing pollen? What is the sig-
nificance of irregularity in flowers? Where is the
nectar borne? What are monoecious and dioecious
flowers? Cleistogamous flowers? Why may flowers
be hand-pollinated?
Note. — The means by which cross-pollination
is insured are absorbing subjects of study. It is
easy to give so much time and emphasis to the
subject, however, that an inexperienced observer
comes to feel that perfect mechanical adaptation
of means to end is universal in plants, whereas
it is not. One is likely to lose or to overlook the
sense of proportions and to form wrong judgments.
In studying cross-pollination, one is likely to look first for devices
that prohibit the stigma from receiving pollen from its own flower, but
the better endeavor is to determine whether there is any means to insure
the application of foreign pollen; for the stigma may receive both but
utilize only the foreign pollen. Bear in mind that irregular and odd
forms in flowers, strong perfume, bright colors, nectar, suggest insect
visitors; that inconspicuous flowers with large, protruding stigmas
and much dry powdery pollen suggest wind-transfer; that regular and
simple flowers depend largely on dichogamy, whether wind- or insect-
pollinated. Most flowers are dichogamous.
239. A bag covering a
pollinated flower.
CHAPTER XXII
PARTICULAR FORMS OF FLOWERS
289. General Forms. — Flowers vary wonderfully in
size, form, color, and in shapes of the different parts. These
variations are characteristic of the species or kind of plant.
The most variable part is the corolla. In many cases, the
disguises of the parts are so great as to puzzle botanists.
Some of the special forms, notably in the orchids, seem
to have arisen as a means of adapting
the flower to pollination by particular
kinds of insects. A few well-marked
forms are discussed below in order to
illustrate how they may differ among
themselves.
290. When in doubt as to the parts
of any flower, look first for the pistils
and stamens. Pistils may be distin-
guished by the ovary or young seed-
case. Stamens may be distinguished
by the pollen. If there is but one
series in the floral envelope, the flower is assumed to lack the
corolla: it is apetalous (273). The calyx, however,
in such cases, may look like a corolla, e.g., buck-
wheat, elm, sassafras, smartweed, knotweed.
(Fig. 210.)
291. The parts of a flower usually have a
numerical relation to each other, — they are
oftenest in 3's or 5's or in multiples of these
numbers. The pistil is often an exception to this
order, however, although its compartments or
(143)
240. Funnel form flower of
morning-glory.
144
PARTICULAR FORMS OF FLOWERS
carpels may follow the rule. Flowers on
the plan of 5 are said to be pentamerous;
those on the plan of 3 are trimerous
(merous is from Greek, signifying "mem-
ber"). In descriptive botanies
these words are often written
5-merous and 3-merous.
292. The corolla often as-
sumes very definite or distinct
forms when gamopetalous. It
may have a long tube with a
wide-flaring limb, when it is
said to be funnelform, as in
morning-glory (Fig. 240) and pumpkin. If the tube is
very narrow and the limb stands at right angles to it, the
242. Rotate flowers oi potato.
corolla is saberform, as in phlox. (Fig. 241.)
very short and the limb wide-spreading and
nearly circular in outline, the corolla is rotate
or wheel-shaped, as in potato. (Fig. 242.)
293. A gamopetalous corolla or gamo-
sepalous calyx is often cleft in such way as to
make two prominent parts. Such parts are
said to be lipped or labiate. Each of the lips
or lobes may be notched or toothed. In 5-
merous flowers, the lower lip is usually 3-lobed
and the upper one 2-lobed. Labiate flowers
are characteristic of the mint family (Fig.
213), and the family therefore is called the
Labiatse. (Properly, labiate means merely
lipped, without specifying the number of lips
or lobes; but it is commonly used to designate
2-lipped flowers.) Strongly 2-parted poly-
petalous flowers may be said to be labiate;
but the term is oftenest used for gamopeta-
lous corollas.
If the tube is
243.
Personate flowers
of snapdragon.
LABIATE AND LILY FLOWERS
145
244. Flower of trillium.
294. Labiate gamopetalous
flowers which are closed in
the throat (or entrance to the
tube) are said to be grinning
or personate (personate means
masked, or person-like). Snap-
dragon is a typical example
(Fig. 243); also toad-flax or
butter and eggs (Fig. 227), and
many related plants. Personate
flowers usually have definite
relations to insect pollination.
Observe how a bee forces his
head into the closed throat of the toad-flax.
295. Lily Flowers. — In
plants of the lily family (Lili-
acese) the flowers are typically
3-merous, having three sepals,
three petals, six stamens and
a 3-carpelled pistil. The
parts in the different series
are distinct from each other
(excepting the carpels), and
mostly free from other series.
The sepals and petals are so
much alike that they are dis-
tinguished chiefly by position,
and for this reason the words
calyx and corolla are not
used, but the floral envelope is
called the 'perianth and the
parts are segments. Flowers of
lilies and trilliums (Fig. 244)
answer these details. Not all
flowers in the lily family
245. Papilionaceous flowers. —
Sweet pea.
146
PARTICULAR FORMS OF FLOWERS
246. Flowers of alfalfa,
enlarged.
247.
Cassia flower,
showing the
separate
keel petals.
answer in all ways to this description. The term perianth
is used in other plants than the Liliacese.
296. Papilionaceous Flowers. — In the pea and bean
tribes the flower has a special form
(Figs. 245, 246). The calyx is a shal-
low 5-toothed tube. The corolla is
composed of four pieces, — the large
expanded part at the back,
known as the standard or
banner; the two hooded side
pieces, known as the wings;
the single boat-shaped part
beneath the wings, known as
the keel. The keel is sup-
posed to represent two united
petals, since the calyx and stamens are in 5's or multiples
of 5; moreover, it is of two distinct parts in cassia (Fig.
247) and some other plants of the pea family. Flowers of
the pea shape are papilionaceous
(Latin papilio, a butterfly).
297. Flowers of the pea and its
kind have a peculiar arrangement
of stamens. The stamens are 10,
of which 9 are united into a tube
which incloses the pistil. The tenth
stamen lies on the upper edge of the
pistil. The remains of these sta-
mens are seen in Fig. 206. The sta-
mens are said to be diadelphous ("in
two brotherhoods") when united into
two groups as in this case. Stamens
in one group would be called mona-
delphous, and this arrangement 24S- Common mallow, a trailing
CT plant to which the circle of
occurs in some members of the fruits, a, gives the names
T . » ., "cheeses" and "shirt button
LeguminosaB or pea family. plant."
THE MALLOWS
147
249. Flower of cotton. Not<
the stamens; also the in
volucre or "square"
the bud.
mi
that separate
from the torus when the fruit is
ripe. Do all of the ovaries de
velop, or are some crowded out
in the struggle for exis-
tence?
299. The calyx in
such flowers is often
reinforced by bracts,
which look like an extra
calyx. These bracts form
an involucre. An invo-
lucre is a circle or whorl
of bracts standing just
below a flower or a
flower-cluster. The umbel
of -wild carrot (Fig. 194)
has an involucre below
it. A large family of
plants known as the
298. Mallow Flowers.— The
flowers of the mallow family are
well represented in single holly-
hocks (Figs. 222, 223) and in the
little plant (Fig. 248) known as
"cheeses." A peculiar structure
is the part formed by the united
filaments, the inclosed styles and
the ring of ovaries at the bottom
of the style-tube. The flower is
5-merous. Count the ovaries.
They sit on the torus, but are
united in the center by the base
of the style-tube, which forms
cone-shaped body s^P a
■/$.
250. A lady's-slipper, to illustrate the
orchid family.
148
PARTICULAR FORMS OF FLOWERS
Malvaceae, or Mallow family, has flowers similar to those of
the hollyhock. To this family belong marsh mallow, althea,
okra, cotton (Fig. 249). Observe that even though the
hollyhock is a great tall-growing
showy plant and the "cheeses" is a
weak- trailing inconspicuous plant,
they belong to the same family,
shown by the structure of the flowers.
251. Jack-in-the-pulpit. 252. Wild aster, with
"Jack" is the spadix; six heads, each con-
the "pulpit" is the taining several
spathe. florets.
253. Head of pasture
thistle, showing the
high prickly involucre.
300. Orchid Flowers. — The flowers of orchids vary
wonderfully in shape, size and color. Most of them are
specially adapted to insect pollination. The distinguish-
ing feature of the orchid flower, however, is the union of
stamens and pistil in one body, known as the column. In
Fig. 250 the stemless lady's-slipper is shown. The flower
is 3-merous. One of the petals is developed into a great
sac or "slipper," known as the lip. Over the opening of
this sac the column hangs. The column is shown in detail:
a is the stigma; d is an anther, and there is another similar
one on the opposite side, but not shown in the picture; b
mowrrvoF
ElMCOirFKniBRARY
ORCHID FLOWERS
149
is a petal-like stamen, which does not produce pollen. In
most other orchids there is one good anther.
301. In orchids the pollen is usually borne in adherent
masses, one or two masses occupying each sporangium of
the anther, whereas, in most plants the pollen is in separate
grains. These pollen-masses are known technically as pollinia.
Orchids from the tropics are much grown in choice green-
houses. Several species are common \\
in woods and swamps in the northern
states and Canada.
254. Longitudinal sec-
tion of thistle head.
255. Floret of
thistle.
256. Cornflower or bachelor's button,
in which the outer florets are large
and showy.
302. Spathe Flowers. — In many plants, very simple
(often naked) flowers are borne in dense, more or less fleshy
spikes, and the spike is inclosed in or attended by a leaf,
sometimes corolla-like, known as a spathe. The spike of
flowers is technically known as a spadix. This type of flower
is characteristic of the great Arum family, which is chiefly
tropical. The commonest wild representatives in the North
are Jack-in-the-pulpit or Indian turnip (Fig. 251) and skunk
cabbage. In the former the flowers are all diclinous and
naked. The pistillate flowers (comprising only a 1-loculed
150
PARTICULAR FORMS OF FLOWERS
ovary) are borne at the base of the spadix, and the staminate
flowers (each of a few anthers) are above them. The ovaries
ripen into red berries. In the skunk cabbage all the flowers
are perfect and have four sepals. The common calla of
greenhouses is a good example of this type of inflorescence.
303. Compositous Flowers. — The head (anthodium) or
so-called "flower" of sunflower and whiteweed and daisy
(Figs. 188, 189, 200), thistle, aster (Fig. 252), dandelion,
daisy, chrysanthemum, goldenrod, is composed of several
or many little flowers, or florets. These florets are inclosed
in a more or less dense and usually
green involucre. In the thistle (Fig.
253) this involucre is prickly. A longi-
tudinal section (Fig. 254) discloses the
florets, all attached at
bottom to a common
torus, and densely
packed in the involucre.
The pink tips of these
florets constitute the
showy part of the head.
304. Each floret of
the thistle (Fig. 255) is a
complete flower. At a is the ovary. At b is a much-divided
plumy calyx, known as the pappus. The corolla is long-
tubed, rising above the pappus, and is enlarged and
5-lobed at the top, c. The style projects at e. The five
anthers are united about the style in a ring at d. Such
anthers are said to be syngenesious.
305. These are the various parts of the florets of the Com-
positae, sometimes known as the Sunflower family. In some
cases the pappus is in the form of barbs, bristles or scales,
and sometimes it is wanting. The pappus, as we shall see
later, assists in distributing the seed. Often the florets are
not all alike. The corolla of those in the outer circles may be
257. 258. Double dahlias. In one, the florets
have developed flat rays. In the other, the
florets appear as inrolled tubes.
COMPOSITOUS AND GRASS FLOWERS
151
developed into a long, strap-like
or tubular part and the corolla of
those at the center may be but a
short tube. The head then has
the appearance of being one flower
with a border of petals. Of such
is the sunflower (Fig. 188), aster
(Fig. 252), bachelor's button or
cornflower (Fig. 256). These long
corolla-limbs are called rays. In
some cultivated composites, all
the florets may develop rays, as in
the dahlia (Figs. 257, 258) and
chrysanthemum. In some species,
as dandelion, all the florets natu-
rally have rays. Syngenesious
arrangement of anthers is the
most characteristic single feature
of the composites.
306. Grass Flow-
ers.— The flowers
of grasses are too
difficult for the be-
ginner, but if the
pupil wishes to un-
derstand them he
may begin with
wheat or rye or barley, which are members
of the Grass family. The "head" or spike of
wheat is made up of flowers and bracts. The
flowers are in little clusters or spikelets (often
called "breasts" by farmers). One of the
260. Flower of rye/ gpikelets is shown at b, in Fig. 259. Each
stamens; c, pai'et- spikelet contains from 1 to 4 flowers or florets.
giume.°En1argecL The structure of the flower is similar to that
259. Spikes and flowers of wheat,
o. beardless wheat; d, bearded
wheat; 6, spikelet in bloom; c,
grain; e, single spikelet on a
mature head. The bean Is in d
are awns on the Dowering
glumes.
152
PARTICULAR FORMS OF FLOWERS
of rye (Fig. 260) and other grasses. The pistil
has 2 feathery protruded stigmas (wind-polli-
nated) shown at a, Fig. 260. There are 3 sta-
mens, b, b, b. There are minute scales in the
base of the flower (not shown in the cut) that
probably represent true floral envelopes. These
are lodicules. The larger parts, c, d, are bracts.
The larger one, d, is the flowering glume, and
the smaller, c, is a palet. The entire spikelet is
also subtended by two bracts or
glumes; these are the two lower-
most parts in b, Fig. 259. The
glumes of the spikelet, and flower-
ing glumes and palets of the flow-
ers, constitute the chaff when wheat
is threshed. Compare barley, Fig.
261. There are many grass plants Barley flower,
with large florets that are adap- narge "
table to elementary class work, as millet (Fig.
262), sorghums (Figs. 232 to 234), rice, oats
(Fig. 191), and a number of big lawn grasses
Maize is one of the Grass family.
307. Attachment of the Flower Parts.— The
parts of the flower may all be borne directly
on the torus, or one part may be borne on
another. With reference to the pistil or ovary,
the stamens and envelopes may be attached in
three ways: hypogynous, all free and attached
under the ovary, when it is said to be superior,
as in Fig. 202; perigynous, or attached to a
more or less evident cup surrounding the ovary,
as in Fig. 209; epigynous, some or all of them
apparently borne on the ovary, when it is said
to be inferior, as in Fig. 205.
262nSiertman 308. Double Flowers.— Under the stimulus
DOUBLE FLOWERS
153
263. Petals arising from the staminal column of holly
hock; and accessory petals in the corolla-whorl.
of cultivation and increased food-supply, flowers tend to
become double. True doubling arises in two ways, morpho-
logically: (1) Petals
may appear in place
of stamens and pis-
tils; (2) adventitious
or accessory petals
may arise in the
circle of petals. Both
of these categories
may be present in
the same flower, as
in Fig. 263. In the
full-double holly-
hock, the petals de-
rived from the stam-
inal column are shorter and make a rosette in the center
of the flower.
309. Other modifications of flowers are sometimes known
as doubling. For example, double dahlias (Fig. 257), chry-
santhemums and sunflowers are forms in which the disk
flowers have developed rays. The snowball is another case.
In the wild plant
(Fig. 264) the ex-
ternal flowers of
the cluster are large
and sterile. In the
cultivated plant
(Fig. 265) all the
flowers have be-
come large and
sterile. Hydrangea
is a similar example.
Double flowers are
■ •I | , i , .. 264. The wild or orininal form of the snowball,
likely tO be Sterile. Outer flowers larger.
154 PARTICULAR FORMS OF FLOWERS
Review. — How do flowers vary in form? How are the various
parts determined in disguised flowers? What are 5-merous and 3-merous
flowers? What are some of the common forms of gamopetalous corollas?
Describe a labiate flower. Personate. Lily flower. Papilionaceous
flower. What are monadelphous and diadelphous stamens? Describe
a mallow flower. Orchid flower. Spathaceous flower. Compositoue
flower. If grass flowers are studied in class, describe one of them.
What do you understand by the terms hypogynous, perigynous, epi-
gynous? How do flowers become double? What is meant by doubling
in compositous flowers? In snowball and hydrangea?
265. Cultivated snowball, in which all the
flowers in the cluster have become
large and showy.
CHAPTER XXIII
FRUITS
310. The ripened ovary, with its attachments, is known
as the fruit. It contains the seeds. If the pistil is simple,
or of one carpel, the fruit also will have one compartment.
If the pistil is compound, or of more than one carpel, the
fruit usually has an equal number of compartments, although
one or more of the compartments may be suppressed as the
parts grow. The compartments in pistil and fruit are known
as locules (from Latin locus, meaning "a place"), or cells.
311. The simplest kind of
fruit is a ripened 1-loculed
ovary. The first stage in com-
plexity is a ripened 2- or many-
loculed ovary. Very complex
forms may arise by the attach-
ment of other parts to the
ovary. Sometimes the style
persists and becomes a beak
(mustard pods, dentaria, Fig.
266), or a tail as in clematis;
or the calyx may be attached
to the ovary; or the ovary
may be imbedded in the re-
ceptacle, and ovary and recep-
tacle together constitute the
fruit; or an involucre may be-
come a part of the fruit, as
possibly in the walnut and hickory, and cup of the acorn.
The chestnut (Fig. 267) and the beech bear a prickly invo-
(155)
266. Dentaria, or tOOthwort, in fruit.
156
FRUITS
lucre, but the nuts, or true fruits, are not grown faso to it,
and the involucre can scarcely be called a part of the fruit.
A ripened ovary is a pericarp. A pericarp to which other
parts adhere has
been called an ac-
'• cessory or reinforced
fruit.
312. Some fruits
are dehiscent, or
split open at ma-
turity (279) and
liberate the seeds;
others are indehis-
cent, or do not open.
A dehiscent peri-
carp is called a pod.
The parts into
which such a pod
breaks or splits are known as valves. In indehiscent fruits
the seed is liberated by the decay of the envelope, or by
the rupturing of the envelope by the germinating seed.
Indehiscent winged pericarps are known as samaras or key-
fruits (consult Chapter XXIV). Maple, elm (Fig. 97), and
ash (Fig. 141) are examples.
313. Pericarps. — The simplest pericarp is a dry, one-
seeded, indehiscent body. It is known as an
achene. A head of achenes is shown
in Fig. 268, and the structure is
explained in Fig. 207.
Achenes may be seen
in buttercup, hepatica,
anemone, smartweed,
buckwheat.
314. A l-l0CUled 268. Achenes 269.
.,.,,. of butter- Follicle of
pericarp that dehisces cup. larkspur.
267. Chestnuts are ripened ovaries. They are borne in :
prickly involucre. The remains of the catkin of stam-
inate flowers is seen in the picture.
270. Young follicles of
larkspur. Normally,
the flower has 5 pis-
tils, but some are
lost in the struggle
for existence.
FOLLICLES AND LEGUMES
157
271. Follicles of
swamp milk-
weed, not yet
dehisced.
along the front edge (that is, the inner
edge, next the center of the flower) is a
follicle. The fruit of the larkspur (Fig.
269) is a follicle. There are usually five
of these fruits (sometimes three or four)
in each larkspur
flower, each pistil
ripening into a fol-
licle. (Fig. 270.) If
these pistils were
united, a single com-
pound pistil would
be formed. Colum-
bine, peony, nine-
bark and milkweed
(Fig. 271) also have
Legumes of perennial follicles,
or everlasting pea. gjg A ^Q^led
pericarp that dehisces on both edges is a legume. Peas and beans
are typical examples (Figs.
272, 273, 274): in fact, this
character gives name to the
pea-family, — Leguminosae.
Often the valves of the legume
twist forcibly and expel the
seeds, throwing them some
distance. Sometimes (as in
peanut) the legume does not
dehisce of itself, even though
it has all the essential struc-
ture of a true pod. The word
pod is sometimes restricted
to legumes, but it is better to
use it generically (as in 312)
for all dehiscent pericarps.
276. Capsules of
evening prim- 278. 279.
rose. Loculic- St. John's-wort. Loculicidal pod.
idal. Septieidal, of day-lily,
(158)
280. Pyxis of
portulaca or
rose-moss.
DEHISCENCE OF FRUITS
159
283.
Basal dehiscence of
campanula capsule.
316. A compound pod — dehiscing pericarp of two or
more carpels — is a capsule. (Pigs. 275, 276.) There are
some capsules of one locule, but they may have been com-
pound when young (in the ovary stage)
and the partitions may have vanished.
Sometimes one or more of the carpels are
uniformly crowded out by the exclusive
growth of other carpels. (Fig. 277.) The
seeds or parts that are crowded out are said
to be aborted.
317. There are several ways in which
capsules dehisce or open. When they break
along the partitions (or
septa), the mode is known as septicidal
dehiscence; Fig. 278 shows it. In septi-
cidal dehiscence, the fruit sepa-
rates into parts representing the
original carpels. These carpels
may still be entire, and they then
dehisce individually, usually
along the inner edge as if they
were follicles. When the com-
partments split in the middle,
between the partitions, the mode is lo-
cidicidal dehiscence. (Fig. 279.) In some
cases the dehiscence is at the top, when
it is said to be apical (although several
modes of dehiscence are here included).
When the whole top comes off, as in
purslane and garden portulaca (Fig. 280),
the pod is known as a pyxis. In some
cases apical dehiscence is by means of
a hole or clefts. (Fig. 281.) In pinks and
their allies the dehiscence does not
extend much below the apex. (Fig. 282.) ' ' 0f cataip».
;
160
FRUITS
h^
Dehiscence may be basal. (Fig. 283.) Two-loculed capsules
that resemble legumes in external appearance are those of
catalpa and trumpet-creeper.' (Figs. 284, 285.)
318. The peculiar capsule of the mustard
family, or Cruciferae, is known as a silique when
it is distinctly longer than broad (Fig. 266), and
a silicle when its breadth nearly equals or exceeds
its length. (Fig. 286.) A cruciferous cap-
sule is 2-carpelled, usually with a thin
partition, each locule containing seeds in
one or two rows. The two valves detach
from below upwards. Cabbage, mustard,
cress, shepherd's purse, sweet alyssum,
wallflower, honesty, are examples.
319. The pericarp may be fleshy and
indehiscent. A pulpy
pericarp with several or
_, many seeds is a berry.
^ (Fig. 287.) To the hor-
ticulturist a berry is a 285- Lai-ge 2-vaived
pods or capsules of
Small, SOlt, edible IrUlt, tecoma or trumpet-
without particular reference to its struc- creePer-
ture. The botanical and horticultural conceptions of a
berry are, therefore,
unlike. In the botan-
ical sense, gooseber-
ries, currants, grapes,
tomatoes, potato-
balls and even egg-
plant fruits (Fig. 288)
are berries; strawber-
ries, raspberries,
blackberries are not.
320. A fleshy peri-
carp containing one
286. Shepherd's purse.
Silicle.
COMBINED FRUITS
161
%it*
Eggplant fruits. Ej
large berries.
relatively large seed or stone is a drupe. Examples are plum
(Fig. 289), peach, cherry, apricot, olive. The walls of the
pit in the plum, peach and
cherry are formed from the inner
coats of the ovary, and the flesh
from the outer coats. Drupes are
also known as stone-fruits.
321. Fruits that are formed by
the subsequent union of separate
pistils are aggregate fruits. The
carpels in aggregate fruits are
usually more or less fleshy. In
the raspberry and blackberry flower, the pistils are essenti-
ally distinct, but as the pistils ripen they cohere and form
one body. (Fig. 290.) Each of the
carpels or pistils in the raspberry and
blackberry is a little drupe, or drupelet.
In the raspberry the entire fruit sep-
arates from the torus, leaving the torus
on the plant. In the blackberry and
dewberry the fruit adheres to the torus,
and the two are removed together
when the fruit is picked.
322. Accessory Fruits. — When the pericarp and some
other part grow together, the fruit is said to be accessory or
reinforced (311). An example is
the strawberry. (Fig. 291.) The
edible part is a greatly enlarged
torus, and the pericarps are
achenes imbedded in it. These
achenes are commonly called
„ gg/Jg 29°- Aggregate fruits of raspberry.
323. Various kinds of reinforced fruits have received
special names. One of these is the hip, characteristic of roses.
(Fig. 292.) In this case, the torus is deep and hollow, like an
289. Plum. Example of a
drupe.
162
FRUITS
urn, and the separate achenes are borne inside it. The mouth
of the receptacle may close, and the walls sometimes become
fleshy: the fruit may then be mistaken for a berry.
324. The reinforced
fruit of the pear, apple,
and quince is known as a
pome. In this case the
five united carpels are
completely buried in the
hollow torus, and the torus
makes most of the edible
part of the ripe fruit, while
the pistils are represented
291. Strawberries. The edible part is torus. Uv |V>p OOrP ( Fiff 293 )
Fig. 294 shows the apple in bloom; Fig. 295 shows young
fruits, only one having formed in each cluster. In the lower
left-hand flower of Fig. 294, note that the sepals do not fall.
Observe the sepals on the top of the torus (apex of the
fruit) in Fig. 295. In the plum flower (Fig. 209), note that
the pistil sits free in the hollow torus: imagine the pistil
and torus grown together, and something like a pome
might result.
325. The reinforced fruit of pumpkin, squash
(Fig. 296), melon and cucumber is a pepo. The
outer wall is torus, but the sepals do not persist,
and the fruit is normally 3-loculed (although the
partitions may disappear as the
fruit ripens). The maypop, one of
the passion flowers growing wild in
the southern states, has a similar
structure.
326. Gymnospermous Fruits.— 292- mP of rose
In pines, spruces and their kin, there is no fruit in the
sense in which the word is used in the preceding pages,
because there is no ovary. The ovules are naked or uncov-
293. Diagram of
a pear. The
receptacle is
o, and the
pericarp 6.
294. Apple flowers.
295. Young apple fruits.
(163)
164
FRUITS
296. Pepo or squash.
ered, in the axils of the scales of the young cone, and they
have neither style nor stigma. The pollen falls directly tm
the mouth of the ovule. The ovule
ripens into a seed (Fig. 297) which is
usually winged. Because the
ovule is not borne in a sac
or ovary, these plants are
called gymnosperms (Greek for
"naked seeds"). AH the true
cone-bearing plants are of this
class; also certain other
plants as red cedar, juniper,
yew. The plants a*re monoecious or sometimes dioecious.
The staminate flowers are mere naked stamens borne
beneath scales, in small yellow catkins which
soon fall. The pistillate flowers are naked
ovules beneath scales on cones which persist.
(Figs. 298, 299.)
Review. — What is a fruit, as understood by the
botanist? What is a locule? What are simple, com-
pound and accessory or reinforced fruits? Define
pericarp. Pod. What are dehiscent and indehiscent
fruits? What is a samara or key-fruit?
Define achene. Follicle. Legume. Cap-
sule. Explain septicidal and loculicidal
dehiscence. Apical dehiscenc. Basal
dehiscence. What is a pyxis? Silique?
Silicle? Berry? Drupe? Drupelet?
Explain an aggregate fruit. Explain
the fruit of strawberry, rose, apple,
squash. What is the fruit of pines
and spruces?
Note. — Fully mature fruits are best for study,
particularly if it is desired to see dehiscence. For
comparison, pistils and partially grown fruits should
299. Pistillate be had at the game timei jf the fruits are not ripe
cone of white , , . , , , , . xl ,
pine. enough to dehisce, they may be placed in the sun to dry.
298. Pistillate cone
of Norway spruce.
This tree is one of
the commonest of
planted ever-
greens.
TABLE OF FRUITS
165
In the school it is well to have a collection of fruits for study. The
specimens may be kept in glass jars.
The following diagram will aid the pupil to remember some of the
fruits to which particular names have been given. He must be warned,
however, that the diagram does not express the order of evolution of
the various kinds. He should also remember that there are many
common fruits that answer to no definition, and these should be studied
and compared with the forms that have received definite names:
Dry -pericarps .
Simple
(achene (indehiscent).
follicle (dehiscent),
legume (dehiscent).
septicidal dehiscence.
Pericarps , Compound - loculicidal dehiscence,
(capsule) (^apical dehiscence.
f [Pyxis.
berry.
drupe,
drupelet.
A ggregate pericarps
Accessory Fruits
(strawberry.
hip.
pome,
pepo.
Gymnospermous or Cone Fruits.
CHAPTER XXIV
DISPERSAL OF SEEDS
327. It is to the advantage of the plant to have its seeds
distributed as widely as possible. It has a better chance of
surviving in the struggle for existence.
It gets away from competition. Many
seeds and fruits are of such
character as to increase
their chances of wide dis-
persal. The commonest
means of dissemination may
be classed under four heads:
explosive fruits ; transporta-
tion by wind; transporta-
tion by birds; transportation
as burs.
328. Explosive Fruits. —
Some pods open with explosive force and scatter
the seeds. Even beans and everlasting peas
(Fig. 272) do this. More
marked examples are the
locust, witch hazel, gar-
den balsam, wild jewel-
weed or impatiens
(known also as "touch-
me-not"), violet, and the oxalis. (Fig.
300.) The oxalis is common in several
species in the wild and in cultivation.
One of them is known as wood sorrel.
Fig. 300 shows the common yellow
(166)
300. Explosive fruits of
oxalis. An exploding
pod is shown at c. The
dehiscence is shown at
b. The structure of the
pod is seen at a.
302.
Wind-blown fruits
of dandelion.
WIND-TRAVELERS
167
303. The expanding balloons of the milkweed.
oxalis. The pod opens loculicidally. The elastic tissue sud-
denly contracts when dehiscence takes place, and the seeds
are thrown violently. The fruit of the squirting cucumber
discharges the seeds with great force, throwing them many
168
DISPERSAL OF SEEDS
feet. This plant is easily grown in a gar-
den (procure seeds of seedsmen).
329 . Wind - travelers. — Wind- trans-
ported seeds are of two general kinds —
those that are provided with wings, as the
flat seeds of catalpa (Fig. 301) and cone-
bearing trees (Fig. 297) and the samaras
of ash, elm, tulip-tree, ailanthus and
maple; those that have feathery buoys or
parachutes to enable them to float in the
air. Of the latter kind are the fruits of
many composites, in which the pappus is
copious and soft. Dandelion (Fig. 302)
and thistle (Fig. 256) are examples. The
silk of the
304. Head of cat-tail in
late fall. The fruits
are carried in the late
autumn winds.
Drupes of the black haw, loved
of robins in winter.
milkweed (Fig,
303) has a similar office, and also
the wool of the cat-tail. (Fig.
304.) Recall the cottony seeds
of the willow and poplar.
330. Dispersal by Birds —
Seeds of berries and of other
small fleshy fruits are carried far
and wide by birds. The pulp is
digested, but the seeds are not
injured. Note how the cherries,
raspberries, blackberries and
Juneberries spring up in the
fence-rows, where the birds rest.
Some berries and drupes persist
far into winter, when they supply
food to cedar-birds, robins and
the winter birds. (Fig. 305.)
Red cedar is distributed by birds.
Many of the pulpy fruits are
BUR-TRAVELERS
169
306. The cow is carrying
burdocks.
agreeable as human food, and some of them have been greatly-
enlarged or "improved" by the arts of the cultivator.
331. Burs. — Many seeds and fruits bear spines, hooks,
and hairs that adhere to the coats of
animals (Fig. 306) and to clothing.
The burdock has an involucre with
hooked scales, containing the fruits
inside. The clotbur is also an in-
volucre. Both are compositous plants,
allied to thistles, but the whole head,
rather than the separate fruits, is
transported. In some compositous
fruits the pappus takes the form of
hooks and spines, as in the "Spanish
bayonets" and "pitchforks." Fruits
of various kinds are known as "stick-
tights," as of the agrimony and
hound's tongue. Those who walk in the woods in late
summer and fall are aware that plants have means of
disseminating themselves. (Fig. 307.) If it is impossible
to identify the burs which one finds on clothing, the seed
may be planted and specimens of the plant may then be
mA />, jA, groAvn.
Review. — What advantage is it to the plant to
have its seeds widely dispersed? What are the leading
ways in which fruits and seeds are dispersed? Name
some explosive fruits. Describe wind-travelers, What
seeds are carried by birds? Describe any bur with
t'hich you are familiar.
Note. — This lesson will suggest other
;ways in which seeds are transported. Nuts
are buried by squirrels for food, but if they
307. Stealing a ride. &re nQt eaten 1h(iy may gn)w Th(l S(,(.,,s ,,,-
many plants are blown on the snow. The old stalks of weeds, standing
through the winter, may serve to disseminate the plant. Seeds are
carried by water down the streams and along shores. About woollen
wmw
170 DISPERSAL OF SEEDS
mills strange plants often spring up from seeds brought in the fleeces.
Sometimes the entire plant is rolled for miles before the winds. Such
plants are "tumble-weeds." Examples are Russian thistle (Fig. 113),
hair-grass or tumblegrass (Panicum capillare), cyclone plant (Cyclo-
loma platyphyllum), and white amaranth. About seaports strange
plants are often found, having been introduced with the earth that
is used in ships for ballast. These plants are usually known as "bal-
last plants." Most of them do not persist long.
In some way, the seeds of every plant are dispersed, some far
and some near: discover these ways for any plant that you know.
CHAPTER XXV
GERMINATION
332. The Seed. — We have found (276) that as a result
of fertilization a seed is formed. The seed contains a minia-
ture plant or embryo. The embryo usually has three parts
that have received names: the little stemlet or caulicle;
the seed-leaf or cotyledon (usually 1 or 2); the bud or plumule
lying between or above the cotyledons. These parts are well
seen in the common bean (Fig. 308), particularly when the
seed has been soaked for a few hours.
One of the large cotyledons — comprising half
of the bean — is shown at r. The caulicle is
at c. The plumule is at a. The cotyledons are 308 Part9 of°the
attached to the caulicle at /: this point is the bean- r< cotyie-
first node, and the plumule is at the second a, plumule; /,
node. firstnode-
333. Every seed is provided with food, to support the
germinating plant. Commonly this food is starch. The
food may be stored in the cotyledons, as in bean, pea, squash ;
or outside the cotyledons, as in castor bean, pine, Indian
corn. When the food is around the embryo, it is usually
called endosperm.
334. The embryo and endosperm are inclosed within a
covering made of two or more layers and known as the seed-
coats. Over the point of the caulicle is a minute hole or a
thin place in the coats known as the micropyle. This is
the point at which the pollen-tube entered the forming
ovule and through which the caulicle breaks in germination.
The micropyle is shown at m in Fig. 309. The scar where
the seed broke from its funiculus or stalk is the hilum. It
(171)
172 GERMINATION
occupies a third of the length of the bean in Fig. 309. The
hilum and micropyle are always present in seeds, but they
are not always close together. In many cases it is difficult
to identify the micropyle in the dormant seed, but its location
^ is at once shown by the protruding caulicle
as germination begins. Opposite the micropyle
in the bean (at the other end of the hilum) is
External parts of an elevation known as the raphe. This is
bean. formed by a union of the funiculus or seed-
stalk with the seed-coats, and through it food was transferred
for the development of the seed, but it is now functionless.
335. Seeds differ wonderfully in size, shape, color and
other characteristics. They also vary in longevity. These
characteristics are peculiar to the species or kind. Some
seeds maintain life only a few weeks or even days, whereas
others will "keep" for ten or twenty years. In special cases,
seeds have retained vitality longer than this limit, but the
stories that living seeds, several thousand years old, have
been taken from mummies are unfounded. Oats do not
retain their vitality for more than a year or two. Seed of
alfalfa may retain its vitality for eight years or more. The
condition of storage of the seed is an important factor in
the retention of seed vitality. Moisture is especially dele-
terious; a dry atmosphere of the storage room is necessary
for maintaining the vigor of the seed.
336. Germination. — The embryo is not dead; it is only
dormant. When supplied with moisture, warmth, and oxy-
gen (air), it awakes and grows: this growth is germination.
The embryo lives for a time on the stored food, but grad-
ually the plantlet secures a foothold in the soil. The roots
absorb and the leaves elaborate food and the seedling is inde-
pendent with respect to its food supply. When the plantlet
is finally able to shift for itself, germination is complete.
337. The germinating seed first absorbs water, and
swells. The starch and other stored foods are transformed
THE PROCESS OF GERMINATION
173
310. The young roots are not able to
gain a foothold.
into soluble products. They are digested, so to speak, and
made available for assimilation by the protoplasm. Germi-
nate barley. Note how sweet
it is to the taste. Compare it
with the ungerminated barley.
Do likewise with corn and
wheat. What is the source of
the sugar? The seed-coats are
ruptured, the caulicle and
plumule emerge. In this pro-
cess, the seed respires freely,
giving off carbon dioxid (C02).
Fill a tin box or large-necked
bottle with dry beans or peas, then add water; note how
much they swell. Secure two fruit-jars. Fill one of them
a third full of beans and keep them
moist. Allow the other to remain empty.
In a day or two insert a lighted splinter
or taper into each. In the empty jar
the taper burns: it contains oxygen.
In the seed-jar the taper goes out: the
air has been replaced by carbon
dioxid. Usually there is a percepti-
ble rise in temperature in a mass
of germinating seeds.
338. The caulicle usually elon-
gates, and from its lower end roots
are produced. The elongating
caulicle is known as the hypocotyl
("below the cotyledons"). That
is, the hypocotyl is that part of the
stem of the plant let lying between
the roots and the cotyledon. The
general direction of the young hypocotyl or emerging
caulicle is downwards. As soon as roots form, it becomes
311. Cotyledons of germi-
nating bean spread apart
to show elongating cauli-
cle and plumule.
312. Germination of bear
174
GERMINATION
fixed, and its subsequent growth tends to raise the cotyle-
dons above the ground, as in the bean.
339. When cotyledons rise into the air, germination is
said to be epigeal ("above the earth"). Bean
and pumpkin are examples. When the hypo-
cotyl does not elongate greatly and the coty- 313. Sprouting of
ledons remain under castorbean-
ground, the germination is hypogeal ("be-
neath the earth"). Pea and scarlet run-
ner bean are examples. When the ger-
minating seed lies on a hard surface, as
on closely compacted soil, the hypocotyl
and rootlets may not be able to secure a
<nK~^S^" foothold and they assume grotesque
— ' * forms. (Fig. 310.) Try this with peas
314. Germination of cas- . ,
tor bean. Endosperm ailQ DeanS.
ata- 340. The first inter-
node above the cotyledons — between the
cotyledons and the plumule — is the epi-
cotyl. It elevates the plumule into the air,
and the plumule-leaves expand into the
first true leaves of the plant. These first
true leaves, however, may be very unlike
the later leaves.
341. Germination of Bean. — The
common bean, as we have seen (Fig.
308), has cotyledons that occupy all
the space inside the seed-coats. When
the hypocotyl or elongating caulicle
emerges, the plumule-leaves have begun
to enlarge and to unfold. (Fig. 311.) The
hypocotyl elongates rapidly. One end
of it is held by the roots. The other is
held by the seed-coats in the soil. It,
Germination complete ,. . . , ■; c , ,
in castor bean. therefore, takes the form 01 a loop, and
315. Castor bean. En-
dosperm at a, a; co-
tyledons at 6.
GERMINATION IN PARTICULAR SEEDS
175
317. Sprout-
ing Indian
corn. Hi-
lum at h;
micropyle
at d.
318. Kernel of
Indian corn.
Caulicle at
6; cotyledon
a ; plumule
P-
its central part "comes up" first, (a, Fig. 312.) Presently
it draws the cotyledons out of the seed-coats, and then it
straightens and the cotyledons expand. These coty-
fflT/j ledons, or "halves of the bean," persist for some
Br! time. (6, Fig. 312.) They often become green and
probably perform some function of
foliage. Because of its large size, Lima
bean shows all these parts well.
342. Germination of Castor Bean.
— In the castor bean the hilum and
micropyle are at the smaller end. (Fig.
313.) The bean "comes up" with a
loop, which indicates that the hypocotyl
greatly elongates. On exam-
ining a germinating seed, however, it will be
found that the cotyledons are contained inside
fleshy body or sac. (a, Fig. 314.) This
sac is the endosperm. To its inner sur-
face the thin, veiny cotyledons are
very closely appressed, absorbing its
substance. (Fig. 315.) The cotyledons
increase in size as they reach the air (Fig. 316), and become
functional leaves.
J 343. Germination of Indian Corn. — Soak kernels of
I corn. Note that the micropyle and hilum are at the
(I ~ smaller end. (Fig. 317.) Make a longi-
A [ tudinal section through the narrow
^^^Jp^^:^ diameter; Fig. 318 shows it, The
Pi l^ptf?w single cotyledon is at a,
the caulicle at b, the
plumule at p. The
cotyledon remains in
the seed. The food is
stored both in the cotyledon and as endosperm, chiefly the
latter. The emerging shoo,t is the plumule, with a sheathing
319. Indian corn. Cau-
licle at c; roots emerg-
ing at m; plumule at p.
Indian corn. o. plumule;
n to p, epicotyl.
176
GERMINATION
leaf, (p, Fig. 319.) The root is produced from the tip of the
caulicle, c. The caulicle is held in a sheath (formed mostly
from the seed-coats), and some of the roots escape through
the upper end of this sheath, (m, Fig. 319.) The epicotyl
elongates, particularly if the
seed is planted deep or if it is
kept for some time confined.
In Fig. 320 the epicotyl has elon-
gated from n to p. The true
plumule-leaf is at o, but other
leaves grow from its sheath.
In Fig. 321 the roots are seen
emerging from the two ends of
the caulicle-sheath, c, m; the
epicotyl has grown to p; the
first plumule-leaf is at o.
Review. — What does a seed con-
tain? What do you understand by
the embryo? What are its parts?
Where is the food in the seed? What
are the seed-coats? What is the mi-
cropyle? Hilum? How may the
position of the micropyle be deter-
mined? How do seeds differ? With
what are these differences associated?
What is germination? Under what
conditions does a seed germinate?
What is meant by seed vitality?
What are the best conditions for
storage of seed? When is germination
complete? What is the first phenom-
enon of germination? Explain the relation to O and CO2. Define
hypocotyl. Epicotyl. Hypogeal and epigeal germination. What be-
comes of the plumule? Explain germination in a seed which you
have studied.
Note.— Few subjects connected with the study of plant-life are so
useful in schoolroom demonstrations as germination. The pupil
should prepare the soil, plant the seeds, water them and care for the
321. Germination is complete, p, top
of epicotyl; o, plumule-leaf; m,
roots; c, lower roots.
328
Casting
the seed-
323. Natural planting of the fruits of Norway maple. coats.
, -
327. The wing cast off; the 329. Free from the
seed -coats still adhering. seed-coats.
(177)
178 GERMINATION
plants. Plant in pots or shallow boxes. Cigar-boxes are excellent.
The depth of planting should be two to three times the diameter of
the seeds. It is well to begin the planting of seeds at least ten days
in advance of the lesson, and to make four or five different plantings
at intervals. A day or two before the study is taken
up, put seeds to soak in moss or cloth. The pupil
then has a series from swollen seeds to complete ger-
mination, and all the steps can be made out. Dry
seeds should be had for comparison.
Good seeds for study are those detailed in the les-
son,— bean, castor bean, corn. Pea is a good plant to
contrast with bean. (Fig. 322.) Make drawings and
notes of all the events in the germination. Note the
effects of unusual conditions, as planting too deep and
too shallow and different sides up. For hypogeal ger-
mination, use the garden pea, scarlet runner or Dutch
case-knife bean, acorn, horse-chestnut. Squash seeds
are excellent for germination studies, because the coty-
ledons become green and leafy and germination is rapid.
Its germination, as also that of the scarlet runner bean,
is explained in "Lessons with Plants." Onion is ex-
cellent, except that it germinates too slowly. In order
to study the root development of germinating plantlets, it is well
to provide a deep box with a glass side against which the seeds are
planted.
Observe the germination of any seed that is common about the
premises. Where elms and maples are abundant, the germination of
their seeds may be studied in lawns and along fences. Figs. 323 to
330 suggest observations on the Norway maple, which is a common
ornamental tree.
CHAPTER XXVI
PHENOGAMS AND CRYPTOGAMS
344. The plants thus far studied produce flowers; and
the flowers produce seeds by means of which the plant is
propagated. There are other plants, however, that pro-
duce no seeds, and these plants are probably more numerous
than the seed-bearing plants. These plants propagate by
means of spores, which are generative cells, usually simple,
containing no embryo. These spores are very small, and
sometimes are not visible to the naked eye.
345. Prominent amongst the spore-propagated plants
are ferns. The common Christinas fern (so called because
it remains green during winter) is shown in Fig. 331. The
plant has no trunk. The leaves spring directly from the
underground stem. The leaves of ferns are called fronds.
They vary in shape, as other leaves
do. Compare Fig. 139 and the
pictures in this chapter. Some of
the fronds are seen to be narrower
at the top. If these are examined
more closely (Fig. 332) it will be
seen that the leaflets are contracted
and are densely covered beneath
with brown bodies. These bodies
are collections of sporangia or spore-
cases (singular, sporangium).
346. The sporangia are collected into little groups,
known as sort (singular, sorus) or fruit-dots. Each sorus is
covered with a thin scale or shield, known as an indusium.
This indusium separates from the frond at its edges, and the
(179)
331. Christmas fern. — Dryopteris
acrostichoides; known also aa
Aspidium.
180
PHENOGAMS AND CRYPTOGAMS
332. Fruiting frond of Christ-
mas fern. Sori at a. One
sorus with its indusium, at b.
sporangia are exposed. Not all ferns have indusia. The
polypode (Figs. 333, 334) does not: the sori are naked. In
the brake (Fig. 335) and maiden-
hair (Fig. 336) the edge of the frond
turns over and forms an indusium.
In some ferns (Fig. 337) an entire
frond becomes contracted to cover
the sporangia. In other cases the
indusium is a sac-like covering,
which splits. (Fig. 338.)
347. The sporangium or spore-
case of a fern is a more or less globu-
lar body and usually with a stalk.
(Fig. 334.) It contains the spores.
When ripe, it bursts and the spores
are set free. Lay a mature fruiting
frond of any fern on white paper, top side up, and allow it
to remain in a dry, warm place. The spores will discharge
on the paper.
348. In a moist, warm place the spores germinate. They
produce a small, flat, thin, green, more or less heart-shaped
membrane. (Fig. 339.) This is the prothallus. Sometimes
the prothallus is an inch or
more across, but oftener it
is less than one-fourth this
size. It is com-
/ monly un-
known except
to botanists.
Prothalli may
often be found
334. Sori and sporan- in greenhouses
gium of polypode. where ferng ^
grown. Look on the moist stone or brick walls, or on the
firm soil of undisturbed pots and beds.
333. Common polypode fern.
Polypodium vulgare.
PROTHALLUS 181
349. On the under side of the prothallus two kinds of
organs are borne. These are the archegonium and the anthe-
ridium. These organs are minute specialized parts of the
prothallus. Their positions on a particular prothallus are
shown at a and b in Fig. 339, but in some
ferns they are on separate prothalli (plant
dioecious). The sperm-cells escape from
the antheridium and in the water which
335. The brake fruits ,, , ,, .in • i ^
underneath the revo- collects on the prothallus are carried to
lute edges of the leaf. the archegonium; where fertilization takes
place. From a fertilized archegonium a plant grows, and
this plant becomes the "fern." In most cases the prothallus
dies soon after the fern plant begins to grow.
350. The fern plant, arising from the fertilized egg in the
archegonium, becomes a perennial plant, each year pro-
ducing spores from its fronds, as we have seen; but these
spores — which are merely detached special kinds of cells —
produce the prothallic phase of the fern plant, from which
new individuals arise. A fern is fertilized but once in its
life-time. The prothallium here is the gametophyte; the "fern"
is the sporophyte (phyton is Greek for "plant").
351. This succession
of generations runs all
through the vegetable
kingdom, although there
are some groups of plants
in which it is very ob-
scure or apparently want-
ing. It is very marked
in ferns and mosses. In
1~„. /•„„!, .J: j.U« „ 336. Reflexed margins of a maidenhair frond.
algce (including the sea-
weeds) the gametophyte constitutes the "plant," as the non-
botanist knows it. There is a general tendency, in the evo-
lution of the vegetable kingdom, for the gametophyte to lose
its relative importance and for the sporophyte to become
182
PHENOGAMS AND CRYPTOGAMS
337. Fertile and sterile fronds
of the sensitive fern.
larger and more highly developed. In the seed-bearing
plants the sporophyte generation is the only one seen by the
non-botanist. The gametophyte
stage is of short duration and the
parts are small: it is confined to the
time of fertilization.
352. The sporophyte of the seed-
plants, or the plant, as we know it,
produces spores which, however, are
not visible to the naked eye. The
spores are of two kinds: microspores
borne in tissues called sporangia
which forms part of the anther; and
macrospores which
are present in the
pistil. The microspore developes into the
pollen-grain. The macrospore develops
in the ovule into an embryo-sac, which
contains the egg nucleus. The germi-
nated pollen-grain constitutes the com-
pletely developed sterile gametophyte.
The fully developed embryo-sac constitutes the fertile gam-
etophyte. Fertilization occurs, and the sporophyte is again
produced. This new sporophyte
develops farther and we have the
embryo plant formed in the seed.
This may remain dormant for a
time, and when germination
occurs the visible sporophyte plant
is produced. This in turn produces
microspores and macrospores, and
the cycle is again complete. The
alternation of these phases in the
plant's life history is known technically as alternation of
generations.
338. A sac-like indusium.
339. Prothallus of a fern. Enlarged.
Archegonia at a; antheridia at b.
THE TWO GREAT CLASSES OF PLANTS 183
353. It happens that the spores of seed-bearing plants
are borne amongst a mass of specially developed leaves
known as flowers: therefore, these plants have been known
as the flowering plants. Some of the leaves are developed as
envelopes (calyx, corolla), and others as spore-bearing
parts, or sporophylls (stamens, pistils). But the spores of
the lower plants, as of ferns and mosses, may also be borne
in specially developed foliage, so that the line of demar-
cation between flowering plants and flowerless plants is not
so definite as was once supposed. The one definite dis-
tinction between these two classes of plants is the fact that
one class produces seeds and the other does not. The seed-
plants are now often called spermaphytes, but there is no
single coordinate term to set off those which do not bear
seeds. It is quite as well, for popular purposes, to use the old
terms, phenogams for the seed-bearing plants and cryptogams
for the others. These terms have been objected to in recent
years because their etymology does not express literal facts
(phenogam refers to the fact that the flowers are showy, and
cryptogam to the fact that the parts are hidden), but the
terms represent distinct ideas in classification. Nearly
every word in the language has grown away from its ety-
mology. The cryptogams include three great series of
plants — the Thallophytes or algae, lichens and fungi; the
Bryophytes or moss-like plants; the Pteridophytes or fern-
like plants. In each of these series there are many families.
See the following Chapter.
Review. — What is a spore? Describe the appearance of some
fern plant that you have studied. What are the spores and sporangia?
What is a sorus? Indusium? What grows from the spore? How does
the new "fern" plant arise? What is meant by the ph ase "alternation
of generations?" Define gametophyte and sporophyte. Describe
the alternation in flowering plants. Explain the flower from this point
of view. What is the significance of the word spermaphyte? Contrast
phenogam and cryptogam.
Note. — All the details of fertilization and of the development of
184 PHENOGAMS AND CRYPTOGAMS
the generations are omitted from this book, because they are subjects
for specialists and demand more training in research methods than
the high-school pupil can properly give to plant-study. Cryptogams
are as widespread as phenogams, and for this reason it has been
urged that they are most proper subjects for study in the school. This
position is untenable, however, for the best plant subjects for youth
are those which mean most to his life. It is said, also, that cryptogams
are best for the beginner because their life-processes are relatively
simple in many cases; but the initial study of plants should be under-
taken for the purpose of quickening the pupil's perception of common
and familiar forms and problems, rather than for the purpose of de-
veloping a technical knowledge of a given science.
CHAPTER XXVII
STUDIES IN CRYPTOGAMS
The special advanced pupil who has acquired skill in
the use of the compound microscope may desire to make
more extended excursions into the cryptogamous orders.
The following plants, selected as examples in various groups,
will serve as a beginning.
AIXLE
The algae comprise most of the green floating "scum" which covers
the surface of ponds and other quiet waters. The masses of plants
are often called "frog spittle." Others are attached to stones, pieces
of wood and other objects submerged in streams and lakes, and many-
are found on moist ground and on dripping rocks. Aside
from these, all the plants commonly known as seaweeds
belong to this category. They are inhabitants of salt water.
The simplest forms of alga; consist of a single spherical
cell, which multiplies by repeated division or fission.
Specimens of these may be found growing on damp rock
and the shady side of trees. Most of the forms found in
fresh water are filamentous, i.e., the plant-body consists
of long threads, either simple or branched. Such a plant-
body is termed a thnlhis. This term applies to the vege-
tative body of all plants which are not differentiated into
stem and leaves. Such plants are known as thallophytes
(353). All alga? contain chlorophyll, and are able to as-
similate carbon dioxid from the air. This distinguishes
them from the fungi.
Spirogyra. — One of the most common forms of the
green algse is spirogyra. (Fig. 340.) This plant frequently
forms the greater part of the floating green mass on ponds.
The filamentous character of the thallus can be seen with
the naked eye or with a hand lens, but to study it carefully
^a
340. Strund of
spirogyra,
showing
the chloro-
phyll bands.
There is a
nucleus at o.
a microscope magnifying two
hundred
ri85)
diameters or more should
186
STUDIES IN CRYPTOGAMS
be used. The thread is divided into long cells by cross-walls which,
according to the species, are either straight or curiously folded. (Fig.
341.) The chlorophyll is arranged in beautiful spiral bands near the
wall of each cell. From the character of these bands the plant takes
its name. Each cell is provided with a nucleus and other
protoplasm. The nucleus is suspended near the center
of the cell, a, Fig. 340, by delicate strands of proto-
plasm radiating toward the wall and terminating at
certain points in the chlorophyll band. The remainder
of the protoplasm forms a thin layer lining the wall.
The interior of the cell is filled with cell-sap. The pro-
toplasm and nucleus cannot be easily seen, but if the
plant is stained with a dilute alcoholic solution of eosin
(153) they become clear.
Spirogyra is propagated vegetatively by the break-
ing off of parts of the threads, which continue to grow
as new plants. Resting-spores, which may remain dor-
mant for a time, are formed by a process known as con-
jugation. Two threads lying side by side send out
short projections, usually from all the cells of a long
series. (Fig. 341.) The projections or processes from
opposite cells grow toward each other, meet and fuse,
forming a connecting tube between the cells. The
protoplasm, nucleus and chlorophyll band of one cell
now pass through this tube, and unite with the con-
tents of the other cell. The entire mass then becomes surrounded by
a thick cellulose wall, thus completing the resting-spore, or zygospore.
(Fig. 341, z.)
Vaucheria is another alga common in shallow water and on damp
soil. The thallus is much branched, but the threads are not divided
by cross-walls as in spirogyra. The plants are attached by means of
colorless root-like organs which are much like the root-hairs of the
higher plants: these are rhizoids. The chlorophyll is in the form of
grains scattered through the thread.
Vaucheria has a special mode of vegetative reproduction by means
of swimming spores or swarm-spores. These are formed singly in a
6hort, enlarged lateral branch known as the sporangium. When the
sporangium bursts the entire contents escape, forming a single large
swarm-spore, which swims about by means of numerous lashes or cilia
on its surface. The swarm-spores are so large that they can be seen with
the naked eye. After swimming about for some time they come to
rest and germinate, producing a new plant,
341. Conjugation
of spirogyra.
Ripe zygo-
spores on the
left ; connect-
ing a, tubes.
ALG^-FUNGI
187
The formation of resting-spores of vaucheria is accomplished
by means of special organs, oogonia Fig. 342. o, and antheridia. (Fig.
342, a.) Both of these are specially developed branches from the thallus.
The antheridia are nearly cylin-
drical, and curved toward the
oogonia. The upper part of an
antheridium is cut off by a
cross-wall, and within it nu-
merous ciliated sperm-cells are
formed. These escape by the
ruptured apex of the antherid-
iiun. The oogonia are more enlarged than the antheridia and have
a beak-like projection turned a little to one side of the
apex. They are separated from the thallus-thread by a
cross-wall, and contain a single large green cell, the egg-
cell. The apex of the oogonium is dissolved, and through
the opening the sperm-cells enter. Fertilization is thus
accomplished. After fertilization, the egg-cell becomes
invested with a thick wall and is thus converted into a
of "vaucheria! resting-spore, the oospore. (Fig. 343.)
342. Thread of vaucheria with oogonia
and antheridia.
FUNGI
Some forms of fungi are familiar to every one. Mushrooms and
toadstools, with their varied forms and colors, are common in fields,
woods and pastures. In every household the common moulds are
familiar intruders, appearing on old bread, vegetables and even within
tightly sealed fruit jars, where they form a felt-like layer dusted over
with blue, yellow or black powder (192). The
strange occurrence of these plants long mystified
people, who thought they were productions of the
dead matter upon which they grew, but now we
know that a mould, like any other plant, cannot
originate spontaneously; it must start from some-
thing which is analogous to a seed. The "seed"
in this case is a spore. The term spore is applied
to the minute reproductive bodies of all flower-
less plants. A spore is a very simple structure,
usually of only one plant-cell, whose special
function is to reproduce the plant. A spore may
be produced by a vegetative process (growing out from the ordinary
plant tissues), or it may be the result of a fertilization process (.'if f I.
344. Mucor muredc
showing habit.
188
STUDIES IN CRYPTOGAMS
345. Spores of mucor;
some germinating.
Mould. — One of these moulds, Mucor mucedo, which is very com-
mon on all decaying fruits and vegetables, is shown in Fig. 344, some-
what magnified. When fruiting, this mould appears as a dense mass
of long white hairs, often over an inch high, standing erect from the
fruit or vegetable upon which it is growing.
The life of this mucor begins with a minute
rounded spore (a, Fig. 345), which lodges on the
decaying material. When the spore germinates, it
sends out a delicate thread which grows rapidly in
length and forms very many branches which soon
permeate every part of the substance on which the
plant grows, (b, Fig. 345.) One of these threads is termed a hypha. All
the threads together from the mycelium of the fungus (194). The
mycelium disorganizes the material in which it grows, and thus nour-
ishes the mucor plant. (Fig. 344.) It corresponds physiologically to the
roots and stems of other plants.
When the mycelium is about two days old, it begins to form the
long fruiting stalks which we first noticed. To study them, use a
compound microscope magnifying about two hundred diameters. One
of the stalks, magnified, is shown in Fig. 346, a. It consists of a rounded
head, the sporangium, sp, supported on a long, delicate stalk, the
sporangiophore, st. The stalk is separated from the sporangium by
a wall which is formed at the base of the sporangium. This wall, how-
ever, does not extend straight across the
thread, but it arches up into the sporangium
like an inverted pear. It is known as the
columella, c. When the sporangium is placed
in water, the wall immediately ruptures and
allows hundred of spores, which were formed
in the cavity within the sporangium, to
escape, b. All that is left of the fruit is
the stalk, with the pear-shaped columella
at its summit, c. The spores which have been
set free by the breaking of the sporangium
wall are now scattered by the wind and
other agents. . Those which lodge in favor-
able places begin to grow immediately and
reproduce the fungus. The others soon perish .
The mucor may continue to reproduce itself in this way indefi-
nitely, but these spores are very delicate and usually die if they do not
fall on favorable ground, so that the fungus is provided with another
means of carrying itself over unfavorable seasons, as winter. This is
ucor. a, sporangium;
b, sporangium bursting;
s, columella.
FUNGI
189
t°
accomplished by means of curious thick-walled resting-spores or zygo-
spores. The zygospores are formed on the mycelium buried within
the substance on which the plant, grows. They originate as follows
The threads of two sexually different plants that
lie near together send out short branches, which
grow toward each other and finally meet. (Fig. 347.)
The walls at the ends, a, then disappear, allowing
the contents to flow together. At the same time,
however, two other walls are formed at points
farther back, b, b, separating the short section, c,
from the remainder of the thread. This section now
increases in size and becomes covered with a thick,
dark brown wall ornamented with thickened tu-
bercles. The zygospore is now mature and, after
a period of rest, it germinates, either producing a
sporangium directly or growing out as mycelium.
The zygospores of the mucors form one of the
most interesting and instructive objects among the
lower plants. They are, however, very difficult to
obtain. One of the mucors, Sporodinia grandis,
may be frequently found in summer growing on
toadstools. This plant usually produces zygospores,
which are formed on the aerial mycelium. The
zygospores are large enough to be recognized with a hand lens. The
material may be dried and kept for winter study, or the zygospores may
be prepared for permanent microscopic mounts in the ordinary way.
Willow mildew. — Most of the molds are saprophytes (192). There
are many other fungi which are parasitic on living plants and animals.
Some of them have interesting and complicated life-histories, under-
going many changes before the original spore is again produced. The
willow mildew and the
common rust of wheat
will serve to illustrate the
habits of parasitic fungi.
The willow mildew
(Uncinula salicis) forms
white downy patches on
the leaves of willows. (Fig. 348.) These patches consist of numer-
ous interwoven threads which may be recognized as the mycelium
of the fungus. The mycelium in this case lives on the surface of the
leaf and nourishes itself by sending short branches into the cells of the
leaf to absorb food-materials from them.
347. Muoor showing
formation of zygo-
spore on the right;
germinating zygo-
spore on the left.
348. Colonies of willow mildew.
190
STUDIES IN CRYPTOGAMS
349. Summer-spores of willow
mildew.
Numerous summer-spores are formed on short erect branches all
over the white surface. One of these branches is shown in Fig. 349.
When it has grown to a certain length, the upper part begins to segment
or divide into spores which fall and are scattered by the wind. Those
falling on other willows reproduce the
fungus there.
This process continues all summer,
but in the later part of the season pro-
vision is made to maintain the mildew
through the winter. If some of the white
patches are closely examined in July or
August, a number of little black bodies
will be seen among the threads. These
little bodies, called perithecia, are shown in
Fig. 350. To the naked eye they appear
as minute specks, but when seen under a magnification of 200 diameters
they present a very interesting appearance. They are hollow spheri-
cal bodies decorated around the outside with a fringe of crook-like
hairs. The resting-spores of the
willow mildew are produced in
sacs or asci inclosed within the
leathery perithecia. Fig. 351
shows a cross-section of a peri-
thecium with the asci arising
from the bottom. The spores
remain securely packed in the
perithecia. They do not ripen in
the autumn but fall to the
ground with the leaf and there
remain securely protected among
the dead foliage. The following
spring they mature and are lib-
erated by the decay of the peri-
thecia. They are then ready to attack the unfolding leaves of the
willow and repeat the work of the summer before.
Wheat rust. — The development of some of the
rusts, like the common wheat rust (Puccinia gram-
inis), is even more interesting and complicated
than that of the mildews. Wheat rust is also a true
parasite, affecting wheat and a few other grasses.
351. Section through The myceliUm here cannot be seen by the unaided
penthecium of wil- „ ., ., „,. , ,.,
low mildew, eye, for it consists of threads which are present
350. Perithecium of willow mildew.
FUNGI
191
352.,
Sori containing teleu-
tospores of wheat
rust.
within the host -plant, mostly in the intercellular spaces. These
threads also send short branches, or haustoria (194), into the neighbor-
ing cells to absorb nutriment.
The resting-spores of wheat rust are
produced in late summer, when they may
be found in black lines breaking through the
epidermis of the wheat-stalk. They are
formed in masses, called sori (Fig. 3.52),
from the ends of numerous crowded mycelial
strands just beneath the epidermis of the
host. The individual spores are very small
and can be well studied only with high
powers of the microscope (x about 400).
They are brown two-celled bodies with a
thick wall. (Fig. 353.) Since they are the
resting- or winter-spores, they are termed
telcutospores ("completed spores")- They
usually do not fall, but remain in the sori
during winter. The following spring each
cell of the teleutospore puts forth a rather stout thread, which does
not grow more than several times the length of the spore and termi-
nates in a blunt extremity. (Fig. 354.) This germ-tube, promycelium,
now becomes divided into four cells by cross-walls, which are formed
from the top downwards. Each cell gives rise to a short,
pointed branch which, in the course of a few hours, forms a
single small spore at its summit. In Fig. 354 a germinating
spore is drawn to show the basidium, b, divided into four
cells, each producing a short branch with a little sporidium, s.
A most remarkable circumstance in the life-history of
the wheat rust is the fact that the mycelium produced by
the teleutospore can live only in barberry
leaves, and it follows that if no barberry
bushes are in the neighborhood the sporidia
finally perish. Those which happen to lodge on
a barberry bush germinate immediately, pro-
ducing a mycelium which enters the barberry
leaf and grows within its tissues. Wry soon
the fungus produces a new kind of spores on
the barberry leaves. These are called ;ici<li<>-
spores. They are formed in long chains in little fringed cups, or xcidia,
which appear in groups on the lower side of the leaf. (Fig. 355.) These
orange or yellow aecidia are termed cluster-cups. In Fig. 356 is shown
354. Germi-
nating te-
353. leutospore
Teuleutospore of wheat
of wheat rust. rust.
192
STUDIES IN CRYPTOGAMS
355. Leaf of barberry with
cluster-cups.
a cross-section of one of the cups, outlining the long chains of spores,
and the mycelium in the tissues.
The aecidiospores are formed in the spring, and after they have been
set free some of them lodge on wheat or other grasses, where they germi-
nate immediately. The germ-tube
enters the leaf through a stomate,
whence it spreads among the cells of
the wheat plant. The aecidiospores
are not able to infect the barberry
leaf. During summer one-celled
uredospores ("blight spores") are
produced in a manner similar to the
teleutospores. The sori bearing them are red, due to the color of the
spores of the mass. These are capable of germinating immediately
and serve to disseminate the fungus during the summer on other wheat
plants or grasses. (Fig. 357.) Late in the season, teleutospores are again
produced, completing the life cycle of the plant.
Many rusts besides Puccinia graminis produce different spore-forms
on different plants. The phenom-
enon is called heteroecism, and
was first shown to exist in the
wheat rust. Curiously enough, the
peasants of Europe had observed
and asserted that barberry bushes
cause wheat to blight long before
science explained the relation be-
tween the cluster-cups on barberry
and the rust on wheat. The true
relation was actually demonstrated,
as has since been done for many
other rusts on their respective
hosts, by sowing the aecidiospores
on healthy wheat
plants and thus pro-
ducing the rust. The
cedar apple is another
rust, the fungus producing the curious swellings often
found on the branches of red cedar trees. In the spring
the teleutospores ooze out from the "apple" in brownish yellow masses.
It has been found that these attack various pomaceous fruit trees pro-
ducing fficidia on their leaves. Cedar t/ees about orchards may be a
menace unless carefully watched.
356. Section through a cluster-cup on
barberry leaf.
LICHENS AND HEPATICS 193
LICHENS
Lichens are so common everywhere that the attention of the student
is sure to be drawn to them. They grow on rocks (Fig. 373), trunks
of trees, old fences and on the earth. They are too difficult for begin-
ners, but a few words of explanation may be useful.
Lichens were formerly supposed to be a distinct or separate divi-
sion of plants. They are now known to be organisms, each species of
which is a constant association of a fungus and an alga. The thallus
is ordinarily made up of fungous mycelium or tissue, within which the
imprisoned alga is definitely distributed. This association of alga and
fungus is usually spoken of as symbiosis, or mutually helpful growth,
both together being able to accomplish work which neither could do
independently. By others this union is considered to be a mild form
of parasitism, in which the fungus profits at the expense of the alga.
Each component may be able to grow independently, and under such
conditions the algal cells seem to thrive better than when imprisoned
by the fungus.
Lichens propagate by means of soredia, which are tiny parts sepa-
rated from the body of the thallus, and consisting of one or more algal
cells overgrown with fungous threads. These are readily observed
in many lichens. They also produce spores, usually ascospores, which
are always the product of the fungous element, and which reproduce the
lichen by germinating in the presence of algal cells, to which the hypha>
immediately cling.
Lichens are found in the most inhospitable places and, by means
of acids 'which they secrete, they attack and slowly disintegrate even
the hardest rocks. By making thin sections of the thallus with a sharp
razor and examining under the compound microscope, it is easy to
distinguish the two components in many lichens.
LIVERWORTS
The liverworts are peculiar, flat, green plants usually found grow-
ing on wet cliffs and in other moist, shady places. They frequently
occur in greenhouses where the soil is kept constantly wet. One of
the commonest liverworts is Marchantia polymorpha, two plants of
which are shown in Figs. 358, 359. The plant consists of a flat ribbon-
like thallus which spreads over the soil, becoming repeatedly forked
as it grows. The end of each branch is always conspicuously notched.
There is a prominent midrib extending along the center of each branch
194
STUDIES IN CRYPTOGAMS
of the thallus. On the under side of the thallus, especially along the
midrib, there are numerous rhizoids which serve the purpose of roots,
absorbing nourishment from the earth and holding the plant in its
place. The upper surface of the thallus is divided into minute rhombic
areas which can be seen with the naked eye. Each of these areas is
perforated by a small breathing pore or stomate which leads into a
358.
Plants of marchantia
cavity just beneath the epidermis. This space is surrounded by chloro-
phyll-bearing cells, some of which stand in rows from the bottom of
the cavity. (Fig. 360.) The delicate assimilating tissue is thus brought
in close communication with the outer air through the pore in the
thick protecting epidermis.
At various points on the midrib are little cups which contain small
green bodies. These bodies are buds or gemmae which are outgrowths
from the cells at the bottom of the cup. They become loosened and
are then dispersed by the rain to other places where they take root and
grow into new plants.
The most striking organs on the
thallus of marchantia are the pecu-
liar stalked bodies shown in Figs. 358,
359. These are termed archegonio-
phore and antheridiophores or re-
ceptacles, each produced on separate
plants. Their structure and' function
are very interesting, but their parts
are so minute that they can be
studied only with the aid of a micro-
scope magnifying from 100 to 400 times. Enlarged drawings will
guide the pupil.
The antheridiophores are fleshy lobed disks borne on short stalks.
360. Section of thallus of marchantia.
Stomate at a.
LIVERWORTS
195
(Fig. 358.) The upper surface of the disk shows openings scarcely-
visible to the naked eye. However, a section of the disk, such as is
drawn in Fig. 361, shows that the pores lead into oblong cavities in
the receptacle. From the base of each cavity there arises a thick
club-shaped body, the antheridium. Within the antheridium are
361. Section through antheridiophore of marehantia, showing antheridia.
One antheridium more magnified.
formed many sperm-cells which are capable of swimming about in
water by means of long lashes or cilia attached to them. When the
antheridium is mature, its wall ruptures and allows the ciliated sperm-
cells to escape.
The archegoniophores are also elevated on stalks. (Fig. 359.) In-
stead of a simple disk, the receptacle consists of nine or more finger-
like rays. Along the under side of the rays, between delicately fringed
curtains, peculiar flask-like bodies, or archegonia, are situated. The
archegonia are not visible to the naked eye. They can be studied only
with the microscope (x about 400). One of them much magnified is
represented in Fig. 362. Its principal parts are the long neck, a, and
the rounded center, b, inclosing a large free cell — the egg-cell.
We have seen that the antheridium at maturity discharges its
sperm-cells. These swim about in the water provided
by the dew and rain. Some of them finally find their
way to the archegonia and egg-cells, which are thus
fertilized, as pollen fertilizes the ovules of higher plants.
After fertilization the egg-cell
develops into the spore-capsule or
sporogonium. The mature spore-
capsules may be seen in Fig. 363.
They consist of an oval spore-case
on a short stalk, the base of which
is imbedded in the tissue of the re-
ceptacle from which it derives the
necessary nourishment for the de- 363. Archegoniophore
. .. W1,h sP'Togoma of
veloprnent of the sporogonium. At marehantia.
196
STUDIES IN CRYPTOGAMS
364. Spores and elaters of marchantia.
maturity the sporogonium is ruptured at the apex, setting free the
spherical spores together with numerous filaments having spirally
thickened walls. (Fig. 364.) These filaments are called elaters. When
drying, they exhibit rapid movements by means of which the spores
are scattered. The spores germinate and again produce the thallus of
marchantia.
MOSSES
If we have followed carefully the development of marchantia, the
study of one of the mosses will be comparatively easy. The mosses
are more familiar plants than the liverworts. They grow on trees,
stones, and on the soil both in wet and dry places. One of the com-
mon larger mosses, known as Polytrichum commune, may serve as an
example. This plant grows on rather dry knolls, mostly in the borders
of open woods, where it forms large beds. In dry weather these beds
have a reddish brown appearance, but when moist they form beautiful
green cushions. This color is due, in the first instance, to the color of
the old stems and leaves and, in the second instance, to the peculiar
365. Section of leaf of Polytrichum commune.
action of the green living leaves under the influence of changing mois-
ture-conditions. The inner surface of the leaf is covered with thin,
longitudinal ridges of delicate cells which contain chlorophyll. These
are shown in cross-section in Fig. 365. All the other tissue of the
leaf consists of thick-walled, corky cells which do not allow moisture
to penetrate. When the air is moist the green leaves spread out,
MOSSES
197
366. Section through a receptacle of
Polytrichum commune, showing
paraphyses and antheridia.
exposing the chlorophyll cells to the air, but in dry weather the mar-
gins of the leaves roll inward, and the leaves fold closely against the
stem, thus protecting the delicate assimilating tissue.
The antheridia and archegonia of polytrichum are borne in groups
at the ends of the branches on different
plants (many mosses bear both organs
on the same branch). They are sur-
rounded by involucres of characteristic
leaves termed perichsetia or perichaial
leaves. Multicellular hairs known as
paraphyses are scattered among the
archegonia and antheridia. The invo-
lucres with the organs borne within them are called receptacles or, less
appropriately, "moss flowers." As in marchantia, the organs are very
minute and must be highly magnified to be studied.
The antheridia are borne in broad cup-like receptacles on the
antheridial plants. (Fig. 366.) They are much like
the antheridia of marchantia, but they stand free
among the paraphyses and are not sunk in cavities.
At maturity they burst and allow the sperm-cells
or spermatozoids to escape.
In polytrichum when the re-
ceptacles have fulfilled their
function the stem continues
to grow from the center of the
cup. (Fig. 367, m.) The arch-
egonia are borne in other re-
ceptacles on different plants.
They are like the archegonia
of marchantia except that they
stand erect on the end of the
branch.
The sporogonium which de-
velops from the fertilized egg
is shown in Fig. 367, a, b. It
consists of a long, brown stalk
bearing the spore-case at its
summit. The base of the stalk
is embedded in the end of the
moss stem by which it is nour-
ished. The capsule is entirely inclosed by a hairy cap, the calyptra, b.
The calyptra is really the remnant of the archegonium, which for a time
307. Polytrichum commune;/, /, fertile plants,
one on the left in fruit; m, antheridial plant.
198
STUDIES IN CRYPTOGAMS
increases in size to accommodate and protect the young growing cap-
sule. It is finally torn loose and carried up on the spore-case. The
mouth of the capsule is closed by a circular fid, the operculum, having
a conical projection at the center. The operculum soon drops, or it
may be removed, displaying a fringe of sixty-four teeth guarding the
mouth of the capsule.
This ring of teeth is known as the peristome. In most mosses the
teeth exhibit peculiar hygroscopic movements, i.e., when moist they
bend outwards and upon drying curve in toward the mouth of the
capsule. This motion, it will be seen, serves to disperse the spores
gradually over a long period of time.
Not the entire capsule is filled with spores. There are no elaters,
but the center of the capsule is occupied by a columnar strand of tis-
sue, the columella, which expands at the mouth into a
thin, membranous disk, closing the entire mouth of the
capsule except the narrow annular chink guarded by the
teeth. In this moss the points of the teeth are attached
to the margin of the membrane, allowing the spores to sift
out through the spaces between them.
When the spores germinate, they form a green,
branched thread, the protonema. This gives rise directly
to moss plants, which appear as little buds on the thread.
When the moss plants have sent their little rhizoids into
the earth, the protonema dies, for it is no longer necessary
for the support of the little plants.
FERNS
The adder's tongue fern, Ophioglossum vulgatum,
shown in Fig. 368, is one of a peculiar type of ferns be-
longing to the family Ophioglossaceae. This plant has a
short, subterranean stem from which a single frond unfolds
each year. The roots arise near the bases of the leaves.
The leaves are curiously divided into a sterile and a
fertile part, the latter being a sporophyll. The sterile part
has a tongue-shaped blade which is narrowed to a petiole.
The young leaves are inclosed by the sheathing base of the petiole.
The growth is very slow, so that it takes several years for each leaf to
develop before it is ready to unfold. During its development each leaf
is sheathed by the one preceding it.
The sporophyll is elevated on a stalk arising near the base of the
sterile part of the frond. The upper part consists of a spike bearing
3tis.
vulgatum.
FERNS AND HORSETAILS 199
two rows of large spore-cases or sporangia sunk in the tissue. At
maturity the sporangia open by transverse slits and discharge the
inclosed spores.
When the spores germinate they produce subterranean tuberous
prothallia which, however, are rarely found, and of whose history little
is known. They develop archegonia and antheridia beneath the surface
of the ground, and the fertilized egg produces the young fern plant.
The generations of the true ferns are explained in Chapter XXVI.
EQUISETUMS, OR HORSETAILS
There are about twenty-five species of equisetum, constituting
the only genus of the unique family Equisetacese. Among these E.
arvense is common on clayey and sandy soils.
In this species the work of nutrition and that of spore-production
are performed by separate shoots from an underground rhizome. The
fertile branches appear early in spring. The stem, which is 3 to 6
inches high, consists of a number of cylindrical furrowed internodes
each sheathed at the base by a circle of scale-leaves. The shoots are
of a pale yellow color. They contain no chlorophyll, and are nourished
by the food stored in the rhizome. (Fig. 369.)
The spores are formed on specially developed fertile leaves or
sporophylls which are collected into a spike or cone at the end of the
stalk (Fig. 369, a). A single sporophyll is shown at b. It consists
of a short stalk expanded into a broad, mushroom-like head. Several
large sporangia are borne on its under side.
The spores formed in the sporangia are very interesting and beau-
tiful objects when examined under the microscope (X about 200).
They are spherical, green bodies each surrounded by two spiral bands
attached to the spore at their intersection, s. These bands exhibit
hygroscopic movements by means of which the spores become entangled,
and are held together. This is of advantage to the plant, as we shall see.
All the spores are alike, but sonic of the prothallia are better nour-
ished and grow to a greater size than the others. The large prothallia
produce only archegonia while the smaller ones produce antheridia.
Both of these organs are much like those of the ferns, and fertilization
is accomplished in the same way. Since the prothallia are usually
dioecious, the special advantage of the spiral bands holding the Bporee
together, so that both kinds of prothallia may be in close proximity,
will be easily understood. As in the fern, the fertilized egg-cell develops
into an equisetum plant,
200
STUDIES IN CRYPTOGAMS
The sterile shoots, Fig. 369, st, appear much later in the season.
They give rise to repeated whorls of angular or furrowed branches.
The leaves are very much reduced scales, situated at the internodes.
The stems are provided with chlorophyll and act as assimilating tis-
sue, nourishing the rhizome and the fertile shoots. Nutriment is also
stored in special tubers developed on the rhizome.
369. Equisetum arvense; st, sterile shoot;/, fertile shoot showing the
spike at a; b, sporophyll, with sporangia; s, spore.
Other species of equisetum have only one kind of shoot — a tall,
hard, leafless, green shoot with the spike at its summit. Equisetum
stems are impregnated with silica and they are sometimes used for
scouring floors and utensils: hence the common name "scouring rush."
ISOETES
Isoetes or quillworts are usually found in water or damp soil on
the edges of ponds and lakes. The general habit of a plant is seen
in Fig. 370, a. It consists of a short, perennial stem bearing numer-
ous erect, quill-like leaves with broad sheathing bases. The plants
are commonly mistaken for young grasses.
Isoetes bears two kinds of spores, large roughened ones, the macro-
spores, and small ones or microspores. Both kinds are formed in spo-
ISOETES
201
rangia borne in aa excavation in the expanded base of the leaf. The ma-
crospores are formed on the outer, and the microspores on the inner leaves.
A sporangium in the base of a leaf is shown at b. It is partially covered
by a thin membrane, the relum. The minute triangular appendage at
the upper end of the sporangium is called the ligvle.
The spores are liberated by the decay of the spo-
rangia. They form rudimentary prothallia of two
kinds. The microspores produce prothallia with an-
theridia, while the macrospores produce prothallia with
archegonia. Fertilization takes place as in the mosses
or liverworts, and the fertilized egg-cell, by continued
growth, gives rise again to the isoetes plant.
ALTERNATION OF GENERATIONS
In Chapter XXVI, the alternations of generations
and the terms gametophtye and sporophyte were
explained. In many of the plants just studied,
this alternation is more clearly and beautifully
marked than in any other groups of plants.
In each generation, the reproductive body
(egg or spore) gives rise to a new plant-
form or generation different from the par-
ent generation. In the liverworts the
thallus produces the egg. The fertilized
egg-cell is the beginning of a new plant,
but this new plant is not like the thallus
which produced the egg, nor does it lead
an independent existence. It is the sporo-
gonium, which, although it is attached to
the thallus, is not a morphological part
thereof. The sporogonium produces spores. It is the sporophyte gen-
eration of the plant, and not until the spores germinate is the thallus
again produced. The same is true in the mosses. The "moss plant"
produces the egg-cells. It is the gametophyte. The fertilized egg-cell
develops into the sporophyte — the spore-case and its stem. We can
pull the stem of the capsule out of the moss plant and thus separate
the sporophyte from the gametophyte.
The fungi and algse are omitted from these remarks. In the former
there is nothing analogous to the sporophyte and the gametophyte.
In alga? like spirogyra, evidently the whole plant is a gametophyte,
370. Isoetes showing habit of
plant at a; b, base of leaf
showing sporangium, velum,
and ligule.
202 STUDIES IN CRYPTOGAMS
and, since the zygospore germinates directly into a new gametophyte,
there is probably no sporophyte. In some other alga* traces of a sporo-
phyte have been found, but the discussion of these would lead too far
for the present purpose.
In the ferns the egg-cells are developed on the prothallus. This
then is the gametophyte. It corresponds to the thallus of march antia
and to the "moss plant," but it has become much reduced. The plant
developing from the fertilized egg-cell is the large and beautiful "fern
plant" differentiated into stems and leaves. Since the fern plant
produces the spores directly, it is the sporophyte and corresponds
to the shaft and capsule of the mosses. Both sporophyte and gameto-
phyte lead an independent existence.
As we pass on to equisetum and oscetes, the sporophyte is still
more conspicuous in comparison with the gametophyte. In isoetes the
prothallus (gametophyte) is very rudimentary, consisting only of a
few cells remaining within the spore, which merely bursts to expose
the archegonia or to allow the sperm-cells to escape. Moreover, the
spores have become differentiated into micro- and macrospores corre-
sponding to the pollen and embryo-sac of higher plants.
This gradual increase of the sporophyte and reduction of the gameto-
phyte can be traced on through the flowering plants in which "the
plant" is the sporophyte, and the gametophyte is represented simply
by a few cells in the germinating pollen grain, and in the embryo-sac.
PART TI-
THE PLANT IN RELATION TO ITS
ENVIRONMENT AND TO MAN
CHAPTER XXVIII
WHERE PLANTS GROW
354. Environment. — The circumstances and surround-
ings in which an organism lives constitute its environment.
The environment comprises effects of soil, moisture, tempera-
ture, altitude, sunlight, competition with animals and other
plants, and the like. An organism is greatly influenced by
the environment or conditions in which it lives. Not only
must a plant live and grow and multiply its kind, but it
must be capable of withstanding diverse environments.
355. The particular place in which a plant grows is known
as its habitat (i.e., its "habitation"). The habitat of a given
plant may be a swamp, hill, rock, sand plain, forest, shore.
The plant inhabitants of any region are known collectively
as its flora. Thus we speak of the flora of a meadow or a
hill or a swamp, or of a country. The word is also used
for a book describing the plants of a region (as in Part IV).
356. Plants Grow Where They Must.— The plant is not
able to choose its environment. It has no volition. Its seeds
are scattered, and only a few of them fall in favorable places.
The seeds make an effort to grow even though the places are
not favorable ; and so it happens that plants are often found
in places that are little adapted to them. See the fern
growing on a brick in Fig. 74. Plants must grow in
unoccupied places.
357. Not only do the seeds fall in unfavorable places,
but most places are already occupied. So it comes that
plants grow where they must, not always where the conditions
are the most favorable. There are, of course, certain limits
beyond which plants cannot grow. Water-lilies can thrive
(205)
372. Plants seize the first opportunity to grow. Palisades of the Hudson.
(206)
WATER LIFE 207
only i-n water, and white oaks only on dry land, but it is
seldom that either the water-lily or the oak finds the most
congenial place in which to grow. Fine large plants of the lily
and strong giant trees of the oak are so infrequent, as com-
pared with the whole number, that we stop to admire them.
358. Originally, plants probably were aquatic, as animals
were. Much of the earth was sea. Many plants are now
aquatic, and the larger number of these — as algae and their
kin — belong to the lower or older forms of plant life. Many
plants of higher organization, however, as the water-lilies,
have taken to aquatic life. True aquatic plants are those
that always live in water, and that die when the water dries
up. They are to be distinguished from those that live on
shores or in swamps. Aquatic plants may be wholly im-
mersed or under water, or partly emersed or standing above the
water. Most flowering aquatic plants come to the surface
to expand their flowers or to ripen their fruits. Some aquatic
plants are free-swimming, or not attached to the bottom.
Of this kind are some utricularias or bladder-worts. In some
waters, particularly in the ocean, there are enormous quanti-
ties of free-swimming microscopic life, both animal and
vegetable, which is carried about by currents: this is known
under the general ^>v-
name of plankton ^^if^^^^^-^-^
(Greek for "wander- " \ ;'fy3ftfei*V*h
ing" or "roaming"). /^\ / ^V^fvLv?'-'"
359. The general --^'
tendency has been
for plants to become
terrestrial, or land-in-
habiting. Terrestrial
plants often grow in ^ v~. -_- "
wet places, but never 373" The ,ichen erows on the hard rock-
in water throughout their entire life; of such are swamp, bog
and marsh plants. Some plants have the ability to grow
208 WHERE PLANTS GROW
in standing water when young and to become terrestrial
as the water dries up. Such are amphibious. Some
buttercups are examples; mermaid-weed (Proserpinaca) is
another.
360. Some plants grow in very special soils or special
localities, and consequently are infrequent or are confined
to certain well-marked geographical regions. (Fig. 371.)
374. Sphagnum bog, green and living on top, but dead and dying underneath.
Sphagnum moss is used by nurserymen and florists as packing material for plants.
Common plants are those that are able to accommodate
themselves to widely different environments. Weeds are
examples. Many plants have become so specialized in habitat
as to be parasitic, saprophytic or epiphytic. (Chap. XV.)
361. Common plants often grow in most unusual and
difficult places. Note that some weeds grow not only in
fields, but often gain a foothold in chinks in logs, on rot-
ting posts, in crotches of trees, on old straw stacks, in clefts
and crannies of rocks. In moist climates, as in England,
plants often grow on thatched roofs.
362. Plants may be said to be seeking new places in
SOIL-FORMERS
209
which to grow. Whenever ground is cleared of vegetation,
plants again spring up. The farmer plows the meadow
or pasture, and immediately a horde of weeds appears.
375. The same landscape in winter and in s
Any breach or break in the earth's surface makes room
for a new group of plants. Note how the railway embank-
ments and the newly graded roadsides take on a covering
of vegetation. Observe the ragweed. Whenever soil is
formed at the base of a cliff, plants at once secure a foothold.
(Fig. 372.)
363. Plants Aid in the Formation of Soil.— This they
do in two ways: by breaking down the rock; by passing into
earth when they decay. Even on the hardest rocks, lichens
and mosses may grow. (Fig. 373.) The rhizoids eat away
the rock. A little soil is formed. Ferns and other plants gain
a foothold. The crevices are entered and widened. Slowly
the root acids corrode the stone. Leaves and stems collect
on the rock and decay. Water and frost lend their aid. As
the centuries pass, the rock is eaten away and pulverized.
Note the soil that collects on level rocks in woods where
wind and rain do not remove the accumulations.
364. In bogs and marshes and on prairies, the remains
of plants form a deep black soil, In bogs the vegetable
matter is partially preserved by the water, and it slowly
becomes solidified into a partially decayed mass known as
210
WHERE PLANTS GROW
peat. When dug out and dried, peat may be used as fuel.
Finally it may decay and make a vegetable soil known as
muck. When thoroughly decayed, plants become vege-
table mold or humus. New plants grow on peat or muck,
and the accumulations year by year tend to raise the level
of the bog, and the surface finally becomes so high as
to support plants of the high lands. An important agent
in the formation of peat bogs is sphagnum moss. New
moss grows on the old, and the bog becomes higher as
time goes on. (Fig. 374.)
376. A landscape devoid of vegetation. Western United States.
365. Plants Contribute to Scenery. — Aside from sky
and air, natural scenery depends chiefly on two things: the
physical contour of the earth; the character of the vegeta-
tion. Contrast the aspect of winter and summer scenes as
expressed in vegetation. (Fig. 375.) Imagine any land-
scape with which you are familiar to be devoid of plants.
Compare Figs. 376 and 377.
Review. — What is meant by environment? By habitat? Flora?
What determines where plants shall grow? What is an aquatic plant?
QUESTIONS ON WHERE PLANTS GROW
211
Explain immersed, emersed, free-swimming. What is plankton? Ex-
plain terrestrial. Amphibious. Why are some plants rare or local?
Why are some plants common? Name some unusual places in which
you have seen plants growing. Give examples of how plants occupy
the new places. How do plants aid in the formation of soil? Explain
what is meant by peat, muck, humus. How are peat bogs formed?
What relation have plants to scenery?
377. A landscape with vegetation. Holland.
CHAPTER XXIX
CONTENTION WITH PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
366. The Physical Environment. — We have seen (354)
that the environment in which a plant grows is made up
of two sets of factors — the physical environment of climate
and soil, and the organic environment of competing animals
and plants.
367. Modifications to Climate in General. — Every par-
ticular climate induces particular modifications in its plants.
There are two general ways, however, in which plants are
modified by climate: modification in the length of the
period of growth; modification in stature. Any modification
of the plant, visible or invisible, that enables it to grow in a
climate at first injurious to it, is acclimatization.
368. In short-season climates, plants hasten their growth.
They mature quickly. Indian corn may require five or six
months in which to mature in warm countries, but only
three months in very cold
countries. Garden vegetables
probably mature quicker
from the time of planting in
the North than in the South
378. Germination of corn grown in when they are raised from
New York (on the left) and in Alabama. -, ,1 • „
seeds grown m their respec-
tive localities. Some seedsmen think this to be true and
they like to raise seeds of early varieties in the North, for
such seeds usually give "early" plants. Many plants that
are perennials in warm countries become annuals or plur-
annuals in cold countries (14).
369. Plants are usually dwarf or smaller in stature in
(212)
MODIFICATION BY WIND
213
short-season climates. Indian corn is a conspicuous ex-
ample. As one ascends high mountains or travels in high
latitudes, he finds the trees becoming smaller and smaller,
until finally he passes beyond the regions in which the trees
can grow. Many of the Esquimaux doubt the statements
of travelers that there are plants as high as a man. In these
high altitudes and high latitudes, plants tend also to be-
come prostrate.
370. Plants
are Influenced
by Wind. — In
regions of strong
prevailing winds,
as on lake and
sea shores and
on hills and
mountains, tree-
tops develop un-
symmetrically
and are heaviest
on the leeward
side. (Figs. 379,
380.) Observe
this fact in or-
chards in windy
regions, and note
that the most unsymmetrical trees are those on the exposed
side of the plantation.
371. Trees often lean away from the prevailing winds.
The tips of the branches of exposed trees usually indicate
whether there are strong prevailing winds. (Fig. 381.)
Observe trees in pastures and along roadsides, particularly
in high places and within a few miles of exposed shores.
Note the tip-top spray of hemlock trees.
372. Plants are Profoundly Influenced by Soil. — The
379. Evergreen trees on wind-
Rocky Mountaii
214
PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
nutrient supply varies with the kind of soil ; and the supply
determines to a large extent the character of the individual
plant. On poor soils plants are small; on rich soils they are
large. The difference between poor and good yields of wheat,
or any other crop, is largely a question of soil-fertility.
The farmer reinforces his poor soils by the addition of ferti-
lizers, in order to make his plants vary into larger or more
productive individuals.
380. One-sided holly tree growing near the ocean. New Jersey.
373. The moisture-content of the soil exerts a marked
influence on plants. We have found (157) that a large
part of the plant-substance is water. The water is not only
itself food for plants, but it carries nutrients into the plant
and transports them from tissue to tissue. However rich
a soil may be in mineral nutrients, it is inert if it contains
no moisture. The character of the plant is often determined
more by the moisture in the soil than by all the other soil
MOISTURE AND EXPOSURE
215
materials. Note how rank the plants are in low places.
Observe how the weeds grow about the barn where the
soil is not only rich but where moisture is distributed from
the eaves. Contrast with these instances the puny plants
that grow in dry places. In dry countries irrigation is
employed to make plants grow vigorously; or the moisture
may be stored in the soil by means of deep preparation and
frequent surface
tillage and other
dry-farming meth-
ods. In moist and
rich soil plants
may grow so fast
and so tall as not
to be able to with-
stand the wind, as
in Fig. 382.
374. Plants are
Influenced by the
Exposure of the
Place In Which
They Grow.— The
particular site or
outlook is known
as the exposure or
aspect. The ex-
posure, for example,
may be southward,
eastward, bleak, warm, cold. A favorable exposure for
any plant is one that supplies the requisite warmth, room,
sunlight, moisture and nutrients, and immunity from severe
winds and other destructive agencies. Against the edge of
a forest (Fig. 383) or at the base of a cliff, certain plants
thrive unusually well. Note the plants of any kind grow-
ing in different exposures : observe that they vary in stature,
381. A tree that shows which way the wind blows.
Oklahoma.
382. "Lodged" oats. On rich ground the grain is often broken by wind and rain,
the plants having grown so heavy as to be unable to support themselves.
3. The flowering dogwood is seen at its best along the
margins of the wood and in partially open places.
(216)
DIFFERENCE IN PLANTS 217
time of maturity, color of foliage and flowers, productive-
ness, size of leaves and flowers, longevity.
Review. — Contrast physical and organic environments. How are
plants modified by climate? Define acclimatization. Explain how time
of maturity is influenced by climate. Explain how climate influences
stature. How do winds affect plants? How are plants influenced by
soil? By soil moisture? Exposure?
Observe two or three plants of any one kind on your way to school,
and note how they differ from each other in size, form, branching,
color, earliness or lateness, productiveness and other characters: are
you able to correlate these differences with the conditions in which
the plants grow?
CHAPTER XXX
COMPETITION WITH FELLOWS
375. The Fact of Struggle for Existence.— We have
seen (Chapter IX) that branches contend amongst them-
selves for opportunity to live and grow. Similarly, separate
plants contend with each other. We shall observe that this
is true; and we are compelled to believe it by considering
the efforts that all plants make to propagate themselves.
The earth is filled with plants. It is chiefly when plants
die or are killed that places are made for others. Every one
of these plants puts forth its utmost effort to prepetuate its
kind. It produces seeds by the score or even by the thousand.
In some cases it propagates also by means of vegetative
parts. If the earth is full and if every plant endeavors to
multiply its kind, there must be struggle for existence.
376. The effects of struggle for existence are of three
general categories: (1) the seed or spore may find no oppor-
tunity to grow; (2) sooner or later the plant may be killed;
(3) the plant may vary, or take on new characters, in response
to the conditions in which it grows. Consider the crop of
seeds that any plant produces: how many germinate?
How many of the young plants reach maturity? Note the
profusion of seedlings under the maples and elms, and then
consider how few maple and elm trees there are. Count the
seeds on any plant and imagine that each one makes a plant :
where will all these new plants find a place in which to grow?
377. What Struggle for Existence Is. — Struggle for
existence with fellows is competition for room or space,
for nutrients and moisture in the soil, for light. We may con-
sider examples in each of these three categories.
(218)
384. There is no opportunity for weeds in a good field of wheat.
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(219)
220
COMPETITION WITH FELLOWS
378. If the
earth is filled
with plants,
there must be
sharp competi-
tion for every
inch of its sur-
face. If any
good soil is not
populated with
plants, it is usu-
ally because it
has recently
been moved. If the farmer does not move or till his
soil frequently, various plants get a foothold, and these
plants he calls weeds. Determine how much room an apple
tree, or other plant, occupies: then calculate how much
space would be required for all the seedlings of that tree or
plant. The greater the population of any area, the less chance
The tree has appropriated the food and moisture
that a large area remains bare of vegetation.
387. Low shade-loving plants on the forest floor.
UNLIKE PLANTS GROW TOGETHER
221
have other plants to gain a foothold. When the wheat com-
pletely covers the ground, as in Fig. 384, there are no weeds
to be seen.
379. Plants of different form and habit may grow
together, and thereby the area may support more plants
than would be possible if only one kind were growing on
it. This principle has been called by Darwin the divergence
388. A primeval pine forest.
Along the roadway foreign vegetation has come in. Michigan.
of character. When an area is occupied by one kind of
plant, another kind may grow between or beneath. Only
rarely do plants of close botanical relationship grow to-
gether in compact communities. A field that is full of corn
may grow pumpkins between. (Fig. 385.) A full meadow
may grow white clover in the bottom. Herbs may grow
on the forest floor. When an orchard can support no more
trees, weeds may grow beneath.
222 COMPETITION WITH FELLOWS
380. We have learned that the plant may possess an ex-
tensive root-system (25, 26). The plant that is first estab-
lished appropriates the nutrients to itself, and newcomers
find difficulty in gaining a foothold. Note the bare area near
On the top of an evergreen forest.
the large tree in Fig. 386. Recall how difficult it is to make
plants grow when planted under trees. This is partly due
to the intercepting of the rain by the tree-top, partly to shade,
and partly to lack of available food and moisture in the soil,
and perhaps partly to unknown factors. The farmer knows
that he cannot hope to secure good crops near large trees,
CLIMBERS AND SHADE-LOVERS
223
even beyond the point at
which the trees intercept
the rain and light. It is
difficult to establish new
trees in the vacancies in an
old orchard.
381. In Chapter VIII we
studied the relation of the
plant and its parts to sun-
light. Plants also compete
with each other for light.
Plants climb to get to the
light (Chapter XVIII). (Fig.
77.) Some plants have be-
come so modified as to
grow in subdued or transmitted light, but no green
can grow in darkness. The low plants in forests are
lovers. (Fig. 387.) Note the plants that seem to be
lovers and those that prefer full sunlight. Some
390. The tell-tale pine
plants
shade-
shade-
plants
224
COMPETITION WITH FELLOWS
are so constituted as to
grow well in both sun and
shade. Most ferns are
shade-lovers.
382. In the midst of
dense plant populations,
each individual grows up-
wards for sunlight. Thus
are forests made: the com-
peting trees become long
slender boles with a mantle
of foliage at the top. The
side branches do not de-
velop or they die for lack of
light and food, and they fall
from decay or are broken
by storm; the wounds are
healed, and the bole becomes symmetrical and trim. Fig.
388 shows the interior of a primeval pine forest. Note the
392. The forest center. Looking from the
woods, with the forest rim shown in
Fig. 391 seen in the distance.
The foliage bank of a tangle.
COMPETITION IN THE FOREST
225
bare trunks and the sparse vegetation on the dim forest floor.
Fig. 389 is the top of a great forest. With these pictures
compare Figs. 79 and 80. Fig. 384 shows a deep wheat
forest. A lone survivor of a primeval forest is shown in
Fig. 390. In dense plantations, plants tend to grow to a
single stem. When these same plants are grown in open
or cultivated grounds, they often become bushy or develop
394. View just inside the tangle.
more than one trunk. In what places have you seen trees
with more than one trunk?
383. On the margins of dense populations, each indi-
vidual grows outwards for sunlight. Note the dense forest
rim: then plunge through it, and stand by the tall bare
trunks. Figs. 391, 392, show these two views of the same
forest. Note the kinds of trees and other plants that grow
in areas similar to those depicted in these illustrations.
Note the dense wall of foliage in Fig. 393, and the thin brushy
area just behind it in Fig. 394. Observe the denser and greener
foliage on the outside rows in thick orchards. Consider how
. A hydrophytic society. New York.
396. A mesophytic society. Michigan.
(226)
PLANTS REACT TO LIGHT 227
the plants extend over the borders in dense flower-beds. Note
where the best-foliaged plants are in the greenhouse. Notice
the foliage on the outer rows in a very thick cornfield. Ob-
serve how plants nearest to buildings reach outward for the
light and room.
Review. — Why is there struggle for existence? How does it affect
plants? Tell what it is. How do plants compete for space? What
is meant by the phrase "divergence of character?" Give examples.
How do plants compete for nutrients and water from the soil? In what
respects have plants become modified to the light relation? How do
plants grow in dense plantations? On the margins of these planta-
tions? You know some tree or other plant: describe how it is consti-
tuted to compete with its fellows.
CHAPTER XXXI
PLANT SOCIETIES
384. What Plant Societies Are. — In the long course
of evolution, in which plants have been accommodating
themselves to the varying conditions in which they are
obliged to grow, they have become modified to every
different environment. Certain plants, therefore, may live
together or near each other, all enjoying the same conditions
and surroundings. These aggregations of plants adapted
to similar conditions are known as plant societies.
385. Moisture and temperature are the leading factors
in determining plant societies. The great geographical
societies or aggregations of the plant world are for con-
venience associated chiefly with the moisture-supply. These
are: (1) hydrophytic or wet-region societies, comprising
aquatic and bog vegetation (Fig. 395); (2) xerophytic or
arid-region societies, comprising desert and much sand-region
vegetation (Fig. 371); (3) mesophytic or mid-region societies,
comprising the vegetation in intermediate conditions (Fig.
396). Mesophytic vegetation is characteristic of most regions
that are fitted for agriculture. The halophytic or salt-loving
societies are also distinguished, comprising the seashore and
salt-area vegetation. Much of the characteristic scenery of
any place is due to its plant societies (365). Xerophytic
plants usually have small and hard leaves, apparently to
prevent too rapid transpiration. Usually, also, they are
characterized by stiff growth, hairy covering, spines, or a
much-contracted plant-body, and often by large under-
ground parts for the storage of water. Halophytic plants
are often fleshy.
(228)
PLACE-VEGETATION
229
386. Plant societies may also be distinguished with refer-
ence to latitude and temperature. There are tropical socie-
ties, temperate-region societies, boreal or cold-region societies.
With reference to altitude, societies might be classified as
lowland (which are chiefly hydrophytic), intermediate (chiefly
mesophytic), svbalpine or mid-mountain (which are chiefly
boreal), alpine or high-mountain.
387. The above classifications have reference chiefly to
great geographical floras or societies. But there are societies
within societies. There are small societies coming within
the experience of every person who has ever seen plants
growing in natural conditions. There are roadside, fence-
row, lawn, thicket, pasture, dune ( Kig. 397), woods, cliff,
barn-yard, corn-field societies. Every different place has its
characteristic vegetation. Note the smaller societies in Figs.
395 and 390. In the former is a water-lily society and a
cat-tail society. In the latter there are grass and bush and
woods societies.
230 PLANT SOCIETIES
388. Some Details of Plant Societies. — Societies may be
composed of scattered and intermingled plants, or of dense
clumps or groups of plants. Dense clumps or groups are
usually made up of one kind of plant, and they are then called
colonies. Colonies of most plants are transient: after a short
time other plants gain a foothold amongst them, and an
intermingled society is the outcome. Marked exceptions to
this are grass colonies and forest colonies, in which one kind
of plant may hold its own for years and centuries.
The return to forest. Bushes and trees now begin to crowd.
389. In a large newly cleared area, plants usually first
establish themselves in dense colonies. Note the great patches
of nettles, jewel-weeds, smart-weeds, clot-burs, and others in
recently cleared but neglected swales, also the fire-weeds
in recently burned areas, the rank weeds in the neglected
garden, and the ragweeds and May-weeds along the recently
worked highway. The competition amongst themselves
and with their neighbors finally breaks up the colonies, and
a mixed and intermingled flora is generally the result.
390. In many parts of the world the general tendency
of neglected areas is to run into forest. A large number of
different plants begin growth in a cleared area. Here and
there bushes gain a foothold. Young trees come up: in time
THE RETURN TO FOREST
231
these shade the bushes and gain the mastery. Sometimes the
area grows to poplars or birches, and people wonder why the
original forest trees do not return; but these forest trees may
be growing unobserved here and there in the tangle, and in
the slow processes of time the poplars perish — for they are
short-lived — and the original forest may be replaced.
Whether one kind of forest or another returns will depend
largely on the kinds that are most seedful in that vicinity
and which therefore, have sown themselves most profusely.
Much depends, also, on the kind of undergrowth that first
springs up, for some young trees can endure more or less
shade than others. Fig. 398 shows an early stage in the
return to forest.
391. Pasturing and mowing tend to keep an area in grass.
This is because the grass will thrive when the tops are
repeatedly taken off, whereas trees will not. Note that the
wild herbs and bushes and trees persist along the fences and
about old buildings, where animals and mowing machines
do not take them off. A sod society means grazing or mowing.
Consider Figs. 110, 399, 400. The farmer keeps his wild
pastures "clean" by turning in sheep: the sheep are fond of
browsing.
392. Some plants
associate. They
grow together. This
is possible largely be-
cause they diverge
or differ in character
(379). Plants associ-
ate in two ways: by
growing side by side;
by growing above or
beneath. In sparsely
populated societies
\aS in r lg. 4 U 1 ) trees find refuge from the mowing machine.
232
PLANT SOCIETIES
plants may grow
along side each
other. In most
cases, however,
there is overgrowth
and undergrowth :
one k i n d grows
beneath another.
Plants that endure
shade (381) are
usually under-
growths. In a cat-
tail swamp, grasses
and other narrow-
leaved plants grow
in the bottom, but
they are usually un-
seen by the casual
observer. Search
the surface of the
400. The farmer mows part of his roadside. ground in any SWale
or meadow. Note the undergrowth in woods or under trees.
(Fig. 402.) Observe that in pine and spruce forests there
is almost no undergrowth,
because conditions are not
favorable. (Fig. 388.)
393. On the same area
the societies may differ at
different times of the year.
There are spring, summer
and fall societies. The
knoll that is cool with
grass and strawberries in
June may be aglow with
other plants in September.
401. An aquatic society in which several
kinds of plants grow side by side.
THE LANDSCAPE
233
402. Overgrowth and undergrowth in three serie;
— trees, bushes, grass.
If the bank is examined in May, look for the young plants
that are to cover it in July and October; if in September,
find the dead stalks of the flora of May. What succeeds
the skunk cabbage, hcpaticas, trilliums, phlox, violets, butter-
cups of spring?
What precedes the
w i 1 d sunflowers,
ragweed, asters,
and goldenrod in
fall?
394. In lands
that gradually rise
from wet to dry,
the societies may
take the form of
belts or zones. Start-
ing at a shore, walk
back into the high
land; note the changes in the flora. Three zones are shown
in Fig. 403.
395. To a large extent, the color of the landscape is
determined by the character of the plant societies. Ever-
green societies remain green, but the shade of green varies
from season to season ; it is bright and soft in spring, becomes
dull in midsummer and fall, and often assumes a dull yel-
low-green in winter. Deciduous societies vary remarkably
in color — from the dull browns and grays of winter to the
brown-greens and olive-greens of spring, the staid greens of
summer, and the brilliant colors of autumn.
396. The autumn colors are due to intermingled shades
of green, yellow and red. The coloration varies with the
kind of plant, the special location and the season. Even
in the same species or kind, individual plants differ in color;
and this individuality usually distinguishes the plant year
by year. That is, an oak that is maroon-red this autumn
234
PLANT SOCIETIES
is likely to exhibit that color every year. The autumn color
is associated with the natural maturity and death of the
leaf, but it is most brilliant in long and open falls — largely
because the foliage ripens more gradually and persists longer
in such seasons. It is probable that the autumn tints are
of no utility to the plant.
The yellows seem to be
due in part to the break-
ing down and disorganiza-
tion of the chlorophyll.
Some of the intermediate
shades are probably due
to the unmasking or liber-
ating of normal cell color-
bodies which are covered
with chlorophyll or ob-
scured by it in the grow-
ing season. The reds are
due to changes in the color
of the cell-sap, or to the
unmasking of the red by
the disintegration of the
chlorophyll. Autumn
colors are not caused by
frost. Because of the long,
dry falls and the great
variety of plants, the
autumnal color of the
American landscape is phenomenal.
397. Ecology. — The study of the relationships of plants
and animals to each other and to seasons and environ-
ments is known as ecology (still written cecology in some
dictionaries). All the discussions in Part II of this book
are really different phases of this subject. It considers
the habits, habitats and modes of life of living things—
403. Three society zones-
forest.
-bog, forest rim,
ECOLOGY 235
the places in which they grow, how they migrate or are
disseminated, means of collecting food, their times and sea-
sons of flowering, reproduction, and the like.
Review. — What is a plant society? Why do plants grow in
societies? Name societies that are determined chiefly by moisture.
What societies are most abundant where you live? Name those de-
termined by latitude and altitude. Name some small or local societies.
What are colonies? Where are they most marked? Why do they
tend finally to break up? How are societies composed when colonies
are not present? How do forests arise on cleared areas? What effect
have pasturing and mowing? How do plants associate? What is
undergrowth and overgrowth? Explain how societies may differ at
different times of the year. What are zonal or belt societies? Discuss
autumn colors. What is ecology?
Note. — One of the best of all subjects for school instruction in
botany is the study of plant societies. It adds definiteness and zest
to excursions. Let one excursion be confined to one or two societies.
Visit one day a swamp, another day a forest, another a pasture or
meadow, another a roadside, another a weedy field, another a cliff
or ravine. Visit shores whenever possible. Each pupil should be
assigned a bit of ground — say 10 or 20 feet square — for special study.
He should make a list showing (1) how many kinds of plants it con-
tains, (2) the relative abundance of each. The lists secured in different
regions should be compared. It does not matter if the pupil does not
know all the plants. He may count the kinds without knowing the
names. It is a good plan for the pupil to make a dried specimen of
each kind for reference. The pupil should endeavor to discover why the
plants grow as they do. Challenge every plant society.
CHAPTER XXXII
VARIATION AND ITS RESULTS
398. The Fact of Variation. — No two plants are alike
(16). In size, form, color, weight, vigor, productiveness,
season or other characters, they differ. The most usual form
of any plant is considered to be its type, that is, its repre-
sentative form. Any marked departure from this type is a
variation, that is, a difference.
399. The Kinds of Variations. — Variations are of many
degrees. The differences, in any case, may be so slight as to
pass unnoticed, or they may be so marked as to challenge
even the casual observer. If a red-flowered plant were to
produce flowers in different shades of red, the variation
might not attract attention; but if it were to produce
white flowers, the variation would be marked. When-
ever the variation is so marked and so constant as to
be worth naming and describ-
ing, it is called a variety in
descriptive botany. If the
variation is of such charac-
ter as to have value for cul-
tivation, it is called an agri-
cultural or horticultural va-
riety. There is no natural
line of demarcation between
those variations that chance
to be named and described
as varieties and those that do
not. Varieties are only named
404. An arborvitse tree, from which seeds J
were taken one day. Variations.
(236)
SEED- AND BUD-VARIETIES 237
400. Variations may arise in three ways: (1) directly
from seeds; (2) directly from buds; (3) by a slow change
or a lack of development in the entire plant after it has begun
to grow.
401. Variations arising from seeds are seed-variations;
those that chance to be named and described are seed-
varieties. Never does a seed exactly reproduce its parent;
if it did, there would be two plants alike. Neither do any
two seeds, even from the same fruit, ever produce plants
exactly alike. Even though the seedlings resemble each
other so closely that people say they are the same, never-
405. The progeny of the
seeds of the tree shown in Fig. 404. —
No two plants alike.
theless they will be found to vary in size, number of leaves,
shape, or other features. Study Figs. 404 and 405.
402. Variations arising directly from buds, rather than
from seeds, are bud-variations, and the most marked of
them may be described and named as bud-varieties. We
have learned in Chapter V how the horticulturist propagates
plants by means of buds : not one of these buds will repro-
duce exactly the plant from which it was taken. We have
already discovered (17, 119) that no two branches are alike,
and every branch springs from a bud. Bud-variation is
usually less marked than seed-variation, however; yet now
and then one branch on a plant may be so unlike every other
branch that the horticulturist selects buds from it and
endeavors to propagate it. "Weeping" or pendent branches
sometimes appear on upright trees; nectarines sometimes
are borne on one or more branches of a peach tree, and
238
VARIATION AND ITS RESULTS
peaches may be borne on nectarine trees; russet apples
are sometimes borne on Greening apple trees; white roses
are sometimes found on red-flowered plants.
403. Frequently a plant begins a new kind of varia-
tion long after germination, even after it has become well
established. It is on
this fact that success-
ful agriculture de-
pends, for the farmer
makes his plants
better by giving them
better nutrition and
care: and betterment
(like deterioration) is
only a variation as
compared with the
average plant. Plants
that start to all
appearances equal
may end unequal:
some may be tail and
vigorous, others may be weak, others may be dwarf: some
will be worth harvesting and some will not.
404. The Causes of Variations. — Variations are induced
by several, and perhaps many, causes. One class of origin
lies in the environment, and another lies in the tendencies
derived from parents. Of the environmental causes of vari-
ation, the chief is probably food-supply. Good agriculture
consists largely in increasing the food-supply for plants — by
giving each plant abundant room, keeping out competing
plants, tilling the soil, adding fertilizers. (Fig. 406.) Another
strong environmental factor is climate (Chapter XXIX).
It is very difficult to determine the exact reasons for any
variation. There is much difference of opinion respecting
the causes of variation in general, The extent of variation
406. Variation. — Big and little redroot pigweeds
of the same kind.
THE CASE OF THE PIGWEEDS 239
apparently due to food-supply is illustrated in Fig. 406. The
two weeds grew five feet apart, one in hard soil by a Avalk,
the other near a compost pile. They were of similar age.
One weighed \ oz.; the other 4j lbs., or 136 times as much.
405. Heredity. — Marked variations tend to be perpet-
uated. That is, immediate offspring are likely to retain
some of the peculiarities of their parents. This passing over
of characteristics from parent to offspring is heredity.
By "selecting the best" for seed the farmer maintains and
improves his crops. It is said that "like produces like."
This is true of the general or average features, but we have
seen that the reproduction is not exact. It is truer to say that
similar produces similar. Fig. 407 represents a marked
407. The progeny of little and big plants.
case of heredity of special characters. The plants on the
right grew from a parent 24 in. high and 30 in. broad. Those
on the left grew from one 12 in. high and 9 in. broad. (For
a history of these parents see "Survival of the Unlike,"
p. 261.)
406. Selection. — There is intense struggle for existence:
there is universal variation: those variations or kinds live
that are best fitted to live under the particular conditions.
240 VARIATION AND ITS RESULTS
This persistence of the best-fitted and loss of the least-
fitted is the process designated by Darwin's phrase "natural
selection" and by Spencer's "survival of the fittest." Natural
selection is also known as Darwinism.
407. By a similar process, the cultivator modifies his
plants. He chooses the variations that please him, and from
their offspring constantly selects for seed-bearing those
that he considers to be the best. In time he has a new
variety. Plant-breeding consists chiefly of two factors
or processes; producing a variation in the desired direction;
selecting, until the desired variety is secured.
408. Evolution. — Variation, heredity, natural selection
and other agencies bring about a gradual change in the
plant kingdom; this change is evolution. The hypothesis
that one form may give rise to another is now universally
accepted amongst investigators; but whether the vegetable
kingdom has all arisen from one starting point is unknown.
Only a few of the general lines of the unfolding of the vege-
table kingdom, with numberless details here and there, have
been worked out. Not every form or kind of plant can be
expected ever to vary into another kind. Some kinds have
nearly run their course, and are undergoing the age-long
process of extinction. It is thought, however, that every
kind of plant now living has been derived from some other
kind. Evolution is still in progress. Variation and heredity
are two of the most important facts in organic nature.
Review. — What is a variation? A variety? Agricultural vari-
ety? How many variations arise? Explain each of the three categories.
What are some of the apparent causes of variation? What is heredity?
Selection? What are essentials in plant-breeding? What is evolution?
CHAPTER XXXIII
WEEDS
409. Plants compete with each other. It happens that
some of the competitors are specially useful to man, and
he endeavors to protect them; and in protecting them he
destroys the plants that tend to crowd them out. Certain
plants have the habit of occupying places that are desired
for other uses. A weed is a plant that is not wanted.
410. Weeds, therefore, are of two general classes: those
that interfere with plants that man ctdtivates; those that
inhabit unoccupied and waste places. Cer-
tain kinds of plants are specially adapted
to hold their own in such competition or to
invade open places; and these plants are
particularly known as weeds. But any plant
may be a weed, if it is out of place or is
not wanted. June-grass is a weed in a corn-
field, but not in a pasture or lawn. Dan- Sy
delion and purslane are commonly regarded §
as real weeds, yet they are sometimes culti-
vated for "greens," and they then become
a crop. When any crop is too thick, the
weaker and useless plants interfere with the
others and become weeds. Thus some of
the corn plants may be weeds in a cornfield.
If one were growing a forest of maples,
other trees might be weed trees.
411. The plants commonly known as
weeds have the power to distribute them-
selves and to persist, otherwise they
P (241)
40S. Common white
pigweed. —C li eno«
podium lilbt
242
WEEDS
would not be successful competitors or vagrants. Usually
they are (1) suited to a wide range of conditions; (2) strongly
tenacious of life; (3) have effective means of dissemination;
(4) and they often have a life-cycle similar to that of some
cultivated plant, and they therefore take the fortunes of that
plant. As examples of these categories, we may recall the
wide range of such plants as pigweeds (Fig. 408) and docks;
the tenacity and endurance of Canada thistles (Fig. 409)
and quack-grass (Fig. 27); the way in which the burdock
spreads its seeds;
the fact that cockle
(Fig. 181) ripens
with the wheat, and
the seeds pass f / ^S
through the separa- >r^H/ /*$
tor with the grain.
Camilla thistle.
410. Wild carrot.
411. Redroot pigweed.
— Amarantus.
412. Certain kinds of weeds follow certain crops or
certain systems of farming. Dandelion (Figs. 8, 302), wild
carrot (Figs. 194, 410) and whiteweed or daisy (Fig. 189)
are essentially weeds of grass lands; purslane, pigweed,
chickweed, redroot (Figs. 406, 407, 411), shepherd's purse,
are pests of gardens and tilled grounds; cockle, chess (Fig.
KINDS OF WEEDS
243
412), kinghead (an ambrosia), mustard or charlock (Fig. 413)
are weeds of grain crops; dock, plantain, hound's-tongue,
burdock and catnip (Fig. 414) are weeds of back yards and
by-ways; sorrel, mullein, evening prim-
rose (Figs. 276, 415) are denizens of old
fields; ragweed (Fig. 416), mayweed
(417), stick-tight (Fig. 418), prickly
lettuce (Fig. 86), sweet clover (Fig.
184) and Russian thistle (Fig. 113) are
suited to roadsides and waste places.
412. Chess or cheat.
413. Charlock, a weed of
grain fields and open 414. Catnip, often a weed
places. about old places.
413. Some weeds come and go year by year; these are
mostly weeds of tilled and raw ground, and usually annuals,
as pigweeds of several kinds, pepper-grass, purslane, rag-
weed, pigeon-grass, jimson weed (Fig. 275). Such weeds are
avoided by the use of clean seed, preventing the weeds from
ripening seeds, and taking care not to spread them in manure.
414. Some weeds have a two-year cycle, making a tuft
or getting a foothold one year and ripening seed the follow-
ing year. These are biennials, as mullein, burdock, bull
thistle (Fig. 254), evening primrose, wild carrot, creeping
244
WEEDS
mallow or "cheeses" (Figs. 153, 149), teasel. These weeds
may be mown when coming into bloom, or the plant may be
spudded or cut off below the crown in fall,
and care should be taken not to spread the
seeds.
415. Some weeds persist for a longer
period, sometimes for many years. These
are perennials, as docks and daisy. Many
of them propagate by underground parts as
well as by seeds, such as quack-grass, toad-
flax (Fig. 227), Canada thistle, Johnson-
grass, nut-grass or coco-grass, bindweed,
hawkweed or paint-brush. In lawns and
gardens, the roots may be dug out, or the
plant cut below the ground with a spud; small
patches or clumps may be smothered out by
covering deeply with leaves or straw, or
sometimes crowded out by securing a dense 415. Evening prim-
sod on the area. Thorough and clean cultiva- rose in frmt'
I tion will destroy most
kinds, but care should be
taken not to carry the
rootstocks to fresh ground
on the plow or cultivator.
Meadow and pasture seeds
are liable to be carried with
grass seed and with grain.
416. The best treat-
ment for weeds is to pre-
vent or change the condi-
tions under which they
thrive. A good rotation of
crops, cleaning up of waste
places and putting them
into crops or sod or tim-
i Mi
419. Poisonous mushroom.
420. Poisonous mushroom
(245)
246
WEEDS
ber, clean tillage, are essential to a clean, weedless farm. To
these efforts should be added care to secure clean seed, and
manure that is not weed-in-
fested; and the farmer or gar-
dener should be alert to recog-
nize new weeds as soon as they
invade the neighborhood and
be prepared to meet them.
417. On lawns, weeds may
be lessened by the use of the
cleanest grass seed, and of chem-
ical fertilizers or only well-
rotted or other clean manure.
The grass Seed Should be SOWn 421. Poison ivy.-Rhus Toxicodendron.
very thick (3 to 5 bus. of blue grass to the acre) both to
secure a soft dense lawn and to crowd out. weeds. Frequent
mowing will destroy most an-
nual weeds, and these weeds
are usually most troublesome
when the lawn is newly made.
Dandelions and other peren-
nials may be taken out with a
spud or long, strong knife. In
badly infested places, the area
may need to be dug over, and a
new seeding made with clean
seed and chemical fertilizer.
418. Some weeds may be
killed by poisons or herbicides.
Sulfuric acid is sometimes
poured on the crowns of plants
in lawns. Salt is often used to
kill grass and weeds in gutters
and walks; carbolic acid and arsenical poisons are some-
times used for the same purpose. Recipes are to be found
422. Poison sumac, poison elder, a
bush of swamps and low places.
— Rhus venenata or R. Vernix.
POISONOUS PLANTS
247
423. Poison oak, a trailing or climbing
plant of the Pacific Coast. — Rhus
diversiloba.
in books and government publications, and periodicals.
Sprays of copper sulfate or iron sulfate are sometimes used
for mustard and other field
weeds. A 3 per cent solution
of copper sulfate (about 10 lb.
to 40 gal. water) at the rate of
40 to 50 gallons an acre de-
stroys wild mustard without
injuring peas or cereals with
which the weed may be grow-
ing. There are special herbi-
cides about which information
can be secured from the ex-
periment stations. These her-
bicides are poisonous, and
must be used with caution and
only by those who are reliable and who understand them.
419. Poisonous Plants. — Many plants produce ill effects
on live stock and human beings
when eaten; and some are in-
jurious to the touch. Some
plants produce such marked
results, leading even to death,
that they are known as poison-
ous plants. Some of the mush-
rooms are examples, two of which
are shown in the illustrations
(Figs. 419, 420), (wild mush-
rooms should never be eaten ex-
cept on the advice of someone
who knows the different species).
Many plants of the parsley
family (Umbellifcrae) are poison-
ous; the poison hemlock and the water hemlock or mus-
quash-root are deadly when eaten. The poison ivy is shown
424. Solanum Dulcamara.
248
in Fig. 421, poison sumac in Fig. 422, and poison oak of the
Pacific coast in Fig. 423; these are poisonous to the touch.
The handsome red berries of the bittersweet
(Solanum Dulcamara, Fig. 424) are poisonous
if eaten; and it has poisonous relatives.
Review. — Explain your understanding of a weed.
How may we classify weeds? What are the com-
monest kinds of weeds in your locality? What enables a plant to be an
habitual weed? Name some of the weed groups or associations. Name
the ways in which weeds may be controlled or eradicated on farms. On
lawns. What would you recommend to be done with weedy roadsides?
Are there laws in your state for the control of weeds? Are there
village or city ordinances on the subject where you live? What is
an herbicide? Name the poisonous plants that you know, or of which
you have heard.
Note. — Every class studying plants should learn the usual weeds
of the neighborhood, and should make herbarium specimens of them.
Discussions should be had of the weeds infesting the local crops, and
the reasons for them. The school should have a collection of weed
seeds in bottles, and it should study commercial samples of grain and
grass seeds. The U. S. Department of Agriculture and perhaps the
State Experiment Station may have bulletins to aid in such examina-
tion. If the school is to indentify weed seeds in such samples, it should
also have a collection in bottles of the leading grains, grass seeds and
field seeds. A small lens or magnifier is needed for this examination, as
shown in Fig. 425, or in Figs. 214, 216.
Many plants are poisonous to a greater or less degree. No one should
eat of any plant or fruit or root that he does not know to be safe.
Some plant families are known for poisonous qualities: as Solanacese, of
which the common black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) and others are
examples; Umbelliferse, with the hemlock herbs, water parsnip, and
others; Ranunculacea?, with the aconites or monkshoods; and other
families. Fatalities are frequently reported from eating the thick roots
of certain Umbelliferse. There are useful government publications on
poisonous plants.
CHAPTER XXXIV
CROPS
420. Plants that arc grown by man for his uses constitute
a crop. The term is commonly used for the product of a
field, but is just as applicable to the product of a planted or
managed forest or of a garden or a greenhouse. Thus we may
speak of a crop of wheat, of rye, of hemp, of pine timber, of
celery, of roses
or violets, of
mushrooms.
421. Crops
may be distin-
guished into four
groups: (1) those
grown for hum an
food or medicine
or condiments,
as rice, potatoes,
strawberries; (2)
those grown to
provide materials
for .shelter and
clothing, and for
use in the manu-
facturing arts, as
timber Ontton 4^6' Two crops growing together — outs and peas for forage.
flax, rubber; (3) those grown to satisfy the artistic impulses,
as roses; (4) those grown for food of domestic animals, as grass
and clover. Another division, and one followed in a general
way in colleges of agriculture, is into field crops and horti-
(249)
wXSKi
250
CROPS
cultural crops; and the horticultural crops include fruit crops
(pomology), vegetable-gardening crops (vegetable-gardening
or olericulture) , flower- and ornament-crops (floriculture) .
422. We may group crops also as follows into more par-
ticular divisions: forage and fodder crops; cereal grains;
root-crops; fiber-crops; sugar plants; oil plants; dye-stuff
plants; bever-
age-producing
plants ; s t i m u -
lants; aromatic
and medicinal
plants; perfum-
ery plants; fruit
crops; vegetable-
garden crops;
timber crops;
manuring crops.
Some crops fall
under more than
one division, de-
pending on the
purposes for
which they are
grown, as oats,
beets, peas, sor-
ghum, maize or Indian corn, flax: explain why. Sometimes
two plants are grown together purposely, as shown in Fig.
426, and also in Fig. 427.
423. Many of the crops may be assembled, on the basis
of their botanical affinities, into the families to which they
belong: Grass-family crops, all cereal grains as well as the
meadow and pasture grasses, as wheat (Fig. 384), rye, barley,
oats (Fig. 382), rice, maize (Fig. 427), sorghum (Fig. 20), kafir,
broom-corn (Fig. 429), millets of several kinds, sugar-cane
(Fig. 428); leguminous or pulse crops, beans and peas of all
427. A crop of Indian Corn.
THE MANY KINDS OF CROPS
251
kinds, cowpea, peanut or goober, alfalfa, clovers, sweet
clover, lespedeza, vetch; cruciferous or mustard-family crops,
mustard, cabbage, kale, rape, turnip, rutabaga, kohlrabi ; rose-
family crops, rose, apple, pear, plum, peach, almond, apricot,
cherry, quince, strawberry, blackberry, raspberry medlar,
loquat; cucurbitous
crops, pumpkin,
squash, melon, water-
melon, cucumber,
gherkin, gourds;
solanaceous crops,
potato, tomato, to-
bacco. Some of the
important crops be-
long to families that
do not yield other
leading cultivated
species, as buck-
wheat to the knot-
weed family, cotton
to the mallow family,
flax to the flax family,
hemp and hops to
the nettle family,
sugar-beet and other
beets to the goose-
foot family.
424. How to Study a Crop. — Every botany class should
know the leading crops of its vicinity and region, including
the grasses, the grains, the most important fruits and vege-
tables, and any special crops that may be grown in the locality.
This knowledge may be derived from the experience of the
members of the class, from inquiries made of farmers and
from census figures. Having learned the kinds of crops and
their relative importance in the region, the class should
428. A crop of sugar-ca
252 crops
try to determine why they are important there, and should
then gather information as to their importance in other
regions and where they are grown with the greatest success.
Then may follow such details as the rotation or farm-plan
in which these crops find a place, the times and methods of
sowing, the fertilizers used, the methods of tilling, harvest-
ing and marketing; and then inquire as to any special
difficulties in the way of insects or plant diseases. The cost
%,ia.
¥
MW'-;^
j
il
..-If v/%'"
li-'iil-r/'^. f"
A) ■':■ \ -
M
*'§
-§>$&
'\Y
ft
WW
f
429. A crop of broom-corn.
of growing the crop, the usual prices and the yields should
always be determined as nearly as possible.
425. How to Study a Crop Plant. — We have been directed
in this book to some of the important things to look for in a
plant, from root to fruit; and our attention has been called
to some of the relations of plants when they live together.
These observations may be made on cultivated plants
with as much interest as on wild plants. The cultivator of
plants should develop the habit of careful observation on
individual plants that he cultivates; this observation should
aid him in discovering the reasons for failure or success in
the growing of plants. The student should go directly to the
THE FLANT THAT MAKES THE CROP
253
plant. Examine the plant where it stands, — height, spread,
color, mode of branching and any special peculiarities: make
$
430. Harvesting a peanut crop.
a sketch. Collect the plant, root and all,- — character of root
as to depth and spread, mode of branching, nodules (if a
legume), and other features: make sketch. The specimen
may now be taken to the schoolroom or other laboratory,
and studied as to direction and size of stem, features of
nodes, character of bark or rind, position of branches and
leaves and flowers, characters of leaves and flowers and fruits,
how pollinated, yield, whether it bears any evidence of dis-
ease or insect injury or lack of normal vigor, whether it
has suffered in contest with its fellows or with other plants:
make notes and sketches.
426. Plants or plant products are sometimes judged by
comparing them
with an assumed
or ideal standard
of perfection.
These standards
may be printed in
form for ready
use, and they are
then known as ji. A crop* of winery trees. Yew-old peach trees.
254
CROPS
score-cards. A few useful score-cards of common cultivated
plants are as follows:
Plum.
Form.
Size..
Color.
Points
.. 10
.. 25
.. 15
Uniformity of fruits 25
Freedom from blemish 25
100
Apple.
Size 10
Color 20
Good shape or form 10
Uniformity 15
Freedom from blemish 20
Texture and flavor 25
100
Sweet Pea.
Length of stem 25
Color 20
Size 25
Substance 15
Number of flowers on stem . 15
100
Wheat (grain).
Trueness to variety 10
Uniformity in size and shape
of kernel 10
Color of grain 10
Freedom from mixture 15
Size of kernel 10
Percentage and nature of im-
purities (weed seed, dirt). 15
Percentage of damaged,
smutty or musty kernels . 5
Weight of grain per bus .... 10
Germination test 15
Potato. Points
Uniformity of sample 20
Symmetry of tubers 15
Trueness to type 20
Freedom from disease and
insects 15
Commercial value 30
100
Corn.
Adaptability to purpose .... 25
Seed condition, as to whether
fresh, well kept, etc 15
Shape of kernel 15
Uniformity and trueness to
type 15
Weight of ear 10
Length and proportion of
ear 10
Color of grain and cob 5
Butts and tips covered 5
100
Determine in advance what
weight and proportion of ear is to
be assumed for the variety under
examination.
Carnation.
Color. . .
Size
Calyx. . .
Stem . . .
25
20
5
20
Substance or texture of
flower 10
Form 15
Fragrance 5
100
100
FESTIVALS AND EXCURSION^ 255
The "points" in the score-card represent the mark of
perfection: if the size of the carnation flower is normal for
the variety under examination, the particular specimen will
be marked 20; if it should receive a rating of onlyt75 per
cent perfect, it receives 15 points. In any large bunch of
carnations, one plant may be taken to represent perfection
in one feature and another plant for another feature; or,
better, if an expert carnation-grower is available he may set
the ideal of perfection. The pupil may make up his own
ideal as to what the perfect plant or product should be.
427. The Vegetation Environment. — The botany class
should take part in a harvest festival, in which the plant
products of the community are exhibited, together with the
wild plants in the form of leaves, flowers, nuts and other
interesting parts. Members of the class should explain
what the products and the plants mean.
428. The class should also know the most important
vegetation of the vicinity, and should arrange excursions for
the school or classroom to close-by places in order to ex-
plain the vegetation setting of the school; and if possible a
crop excursion for the entire school should be undertaken.
Review. — What is a crop? Name the six most important crops
of your neighborhood. How may crops be classified or grouped? Give
two examples in each group. What natural families contribute very
important crops in temperate regions? Outline a study blank for the
general study of the most important crop in the locality. Make a
similar outline for a study of the plant itself. What is a score-card
and how it is used? What may an exhibition teach? An excursion?
Note. — Various texts and bulletins now set forth the standards
of perfection in many of the leading crop products, and give the student
definite statements of what is considered to be the product that should
score 100.
CHAPTER XXXV
THE FOREST
429. An area of trees growing close together and having
its own features and its own life is a forest. An avenue of
trees, or a grove of shade trees, is not a forest. The science
and the practice of growing and utilizing forests is forestry.
A forest is a great plant society.
430. Forest trees constitute a crop. The chief product
is timber; other products are stove-wood,
bark, resin, tur-
pentine, rubber,
paper pulp. The
crop is regularly
harvested, in
some cases by
removing the
entire forest and
planting anew,
but often, in
planted and
I
Wr/K' T^l*~i managed forests,
HV^yfcLU'.'/Y'vi by removing
432. A stand of younj
g
the mature or
ripe trees and allowing the forest to continue.
431. The value of the forest crop depends on the kinds
of trees, how they are mixed or associated in the forest, and
the distance at which they stand apart, as well as on location
and soil and climate, freedom from insects and timber dis-
eases, and other factors. A natural forest may not be the
most productive forest, any more than a natural or wild
meadow may be a perfect meadow. There are likely to be
(256)
SILVICULTURE AND ARBORICULTURE
257
open and poor spots, and many of the trees may be weed
trees of no value in themselves and interfering with the
growth of useful trees. Some natural forests (as that shown
in Fig. 388) present a uniform and continuous stand of
timber of one kind; others (as in Fig. 387) are mixed forests.
Both kinds may be useful and desirable.
432. Trees standing alone or on the edge of a forest do not
produce good timber because they branch too low and are
likely to be too much exposed to wind. They produce
short and knotty
forest be thickly
and continu-
ously planted.
433. Forests
may be planted
anew; or nat-
ural forests may
be perpetuated
by removal of
ripe and unde-
sirable trees and
the in-planting
or saving of
other trees. The
logs. (Fig. 400.) It is essential that the
433. A stand of young timber after moderate thinning.
planting and rearing of trees in forests is silviculture. The
planting and rearing of trees in general is arboriculture,
and this may have no direct relation to forestry, because the
planting may be of lawn trees, park trees, roadside trees or
fruit trees. Silviculture is one part of forestry; other parts
or divisions are forest management, harvesting, marketing,
timber technology. The safeguarding and utilization of the
forests, both on public and private lands, is one of the great
public questions, and demands the attention of persons of
special training and skill.
434. Forestry is an important farming question, for the
258
THE FOREST
forest crop may be as important as other crops on the farm.
In hilly regions, practically all farms have forests, yielding
timber, posts, firewood and other supplies, and protect-
ing lands from washing, affording windbreaks, and providing
good use for lands that cannot be profitably devoted to
other crops.
There are many
planted wood-
lots in the West.
The manage-
ment of these
small forests is
called farm for-
estry. Every
good general
farmer should
be skillful in
the growing of
forest crops as
in the growing
of grain crops
or fruit crops.
The principles
of good plant-
growing may be
applied to the
forest, the trees
being planted,
cared for, the forest thinned if too thick (Figs. 432, 433)
or rilled if too thin, fire kept out, and the trees properly
harvested.
435. What small forests contribute to the farm, the larger
public forests contribute to the nation or to all the people:
profitable utilization of remote, rocky and less fertile areas; the
holding back of the rainfall so that floods and serious erosions
434. Absolute forest land, — unadaptable to other uses.
WHERE FORESTS MAY BE GROWN
259
435. Absolute forest land, — a cypress swamp.
are prevented and the flow of navigable streams regulated;
protection of wild life; tempering of physical conditions
by regulation
of water -flow in
streams and lakes
and elsewhere
and by checking
the sweep of
winds; providing
an attractive
cover for large
areas of the sur-
face of the earth,
in which the
people may find
recreation and
help. Areas that
can be utilized for no other crop than forest are said to be
absolute forest land (Figs. 434, 435) ; and much land that is
available to some extent for pasture or other croppage
may still be most profitable in forests. (Fig. 436.) Very
special forests
(Fig. 437) may
be grown on
arable lands.
In the general
scheme or plan
of a farm, a
forest or wood-
lot may be an
essential part;
and likewise, in
a national
domain large
forest areas are
_'■*&* ~2*t
436. Land that may be profitably used for forestry purposes.
260
THE FOREST
essential. Even with the greater use of cement, the demand
for timber will increase.
Review. — What is a forest? Forestry? In what sense is a forest
a crop? On what general factors does the value of a forest crop depend?
Name some of the forest products. How may man produce a more
profitable forest than nature often does? What do you say about the
timber value of trees standing alone? What is aboriculture? Silvi-
culture? Farm forestry? What are some of the large values or benefits
of forests? What is the nature of the forests in your neighborhood?
What kinds of trees dominate them?
IT — r7"7|~y ' ry\^MlMj
MkM
W;m
I i » \1 HiW i i! \\m
437. A forest of paper bamboo.
PART III
HISTOLOGY, OR THE MINUTE
STRUCTURE OF PLANTS
CHAPTER XXXVI
THE CELL
436. Plants Composed of Cells. — All the higher plants
arc made up of a large number of small structures termed
cells. They are so minute that, in most cases, they are
invisible to the naked eye. These cells are box-like structures.
They are of many forms. Many of the lower forms of plants,
as bacteria, yeasts, spores of fungi, and many of the algae,
are composed of but a single cell.
437. Cells are of Many Forms. — In general, plant cells
may be assigned to some one of the following forms:
Spherical, as in protococcus (a minute alga to be found
on damp walls and rocks), and apple flesh;
polyhedral, or many-sided, as in pith of elder;
tabular, or flat, as in epidermis of leaves;
cylindrical, as in vaucheria, spirogyra (fresh water algae) ;
fibrous, as cotton fibers;
vascular, as the ducts of wood;
stellate, as in the interior of leaves of lathyrus (sweet
pea) and other plants.
438. Parts of a Cell. — The typical cell is composed of
living and dead matter. The living matter of the cell is the
protoplasm. The protoplasm is differentiated into a nucleus,
cytoplasm and plastids.
439. The nucleus is usually a round or elliptical body,
denser than the remainder of the protoplasm, in which it may
be imbedded or from which it may be suspended by strands
of protoplasm called cytoplasm. The cytoplasm lines the wall
of every living cell, and commonly in old cells the nucleus
is in this layer of cytoplasm. In the cell may be aggregates
(263)
264
THE CELL
of protoplasm forming definite structures, usually scattered
in the layer of cytoplasm. They are the plastids. The ones
most familiar are the chloroplasts, in which the green pig-
ment chlorophyll is imbedded. They are found in cells of
leaves and stems exposed to the light. Plastids are not found
in all cells. The dead part of the cell is the cell-wall, the cell-
sap stored in chambers or pockets in the protoplasm called
vacuoles (Fig. 438), and various inclusions. The cell-sap
contains mineral nutrients in solution or suspension, as well
as organic foods, as sugar and other sub-
stances. Imbedded in the cytoplasm or in
the plastids may be starch grains, oil
droplets and other substances. In the
nucleus is a densely granular body called
the nucleolus.
440. Study of Cell. — Examine with the
aid of the microscope the cells in the sta-
men hair of tradescantia or spider-wort.
(Fig. 438.) If the flowers of this plant are
not available, use the young bristle hairs
of squash plants; a plant a few weeks old
will supply sufficient hairs. Note the shape
of the cell and the contents. The nucleus
will probably be located near the middle
of the cell, and to it run the strands of
cytoplasm. The protoplasm is not entirely
homogeneous. It is composed of a viscous,
colorless fluid in which are imbedded many
minute granules. In a young cell the pro-
toplasm fills almost the entire cell. In an
old cell the vacuoles are of increased size.
. Compare old and young cells in the stamen
topiasm in a cell of a hairs of tradescantia or in squash hairs for
stamen hair of trade- . . . ,
scantia or spider- their protoplasmic content. Examine the
^Magnified eoo cells of the epidermis of the onion. Note
PROTOPLASM 265
the large volume of the cell occupied by the vacuoles. The
protoplasm in this case will consist probably only of the
lining layer of cytoplasm in which the nucleus is imbedded.
Examine the leaf of the water plant elodea or the thin
leaves of some of the mosses. Note the character of chloro-
plasts in the cells (Fig. 439). These chloroplasts may
be observed in the cells of the leaf of higher plants if a
cross-section of the leaf is cut and a microscopical examina-
tion made. Study should be made of cells of the soft pulp of
a celery stem; of hairs scraped from the surface of a begonia
leaf; of threads of spirogyra; soft, white cells of apple; the
a^ <gg> -g <a § <s: te ga^^s;
7
439. Rotation of protoplasm in Elodea canadensis (often known as
Anacharis). Common in ponds.
cells of the potato tuber (observe the starch grains). Ex-
amine the lower epidermal cells of cyclamen, irises, or coleus
and note that the cell-sap is colored by a red pigment.
The beet also has cells with red pigmented cell-sap.
441. Nature of Protoplasm. — The living substance is
protoplasm. It is proteid. Its chemical composition is not
known. It is semi-liquid, of hyaline color, and colloidal in
nature. It may be killed by heating to a high temperature
or by various chemical reagents. The whole principle of
antiseptics is based on these facts and processes.
442. Within the cell-wall, at times the protoplasm
shows a tendency to move from place to place. This move-
ment is chiefly of two kinds: (1) Circulation, or movement
not only along the walls but also across the cell-body, as seen
in the long, thin-walled cells of celandine; in the staminal
hairs of tradescantia (Fig. 438); in the bristles of squash
vines; in the stinging hairs of nettle; in stellate hairs of holly-
hock. (2) Rotation, or movement along the walls only, well
266 THE CELL
seen in the cells of many water plants, as elodea (Fig. 439),
chara, and nitella.
443. Besides these and other movements of protoplasm
within the cell-wall, there are also movements of naked
protoplasm, of two main types: (1) Amoeboid or creeping
movements, such as may be seen in a plasmodium of myxomy-
cetes, or in an amoeba. (2) Swimming by means of cilia or
flagella, illustrated in the swarm-spores of water fungi, and
of some algse. By the latter type of movement the unicellular
bodies (swarm-spores) are often moved very rapidly. To
see movement in protoplasm, carefully mount in water a
few hairs from the stamens of tradescantia (spider-wort).
The water should not be too cold. Examine with a power
high enough to see the granules of protoplasm. Make a
sketch of several cells and their contents. It may be neces-
sary to make several trials before success is attained in
this experiment. If the microscope is cold, heat the stage
gently with an alcohol lamp, or by other means; or warm
the room. See Fig. 438.
444. Nature of Cell-wall. — The cell-wall of very young
cells is a delicate film or membrane. As a cell grows in
size the wall remains thin and does not begin to thicken
until the cell has ceased to enlarge. The fundamental sub-
stance of cell-walls is a carbohydrate known as cellulose.
The cellulose usually stains blue with
I hematoxylin. Often by incrustations or de-
posits of one kind or another, the cellulose
reaction is lost or obscured. Two of the
most common additions are lignin, forming
440. Bordered pits in wood, and suberin, forming cork. The walls
pine wood. then are gaid tQ be lignified or suberized.
445. In all the cells studied in the above experiments,
the walls are thin and soft. In general, those cells that
have thin walls are called parenchymatous cells. Some
cells, as those of nuts and the grit of pear fruit, have very
CELL-WALLS
267
an
SO
s
c 5
s
^
I
^
55
^
s
3
^
^
- „M
441. Markings in cell-
walls, sp, spiral; an,
annular; sc, scalari-
form.
thick walls, and are called sclerenchymatous cells. In many
cases the cell-walls are intermediate between these extremes.
446. Cell-walls often thicken by additions to their
inner surface. This increase in thickness seldom takes
place uniformly in all parts. Many times the wall remains
thin at certain places, while the most of the wall becomes
very thick. Again the walls may thicken
very much in angles or along certain
lines, while most of the wall remains
thin. As a result of this uneven thicken-
ing, the walls of cells take on certain
definite markings. Some of the names
applied to these markings are:
Pitted, with little holes or depres-
sions, forming very thin places, as
seen in seeds of sunflower, and in the large vessels in
the stem of the cucumber.
Bordered pits, when the pits are inclosed in the cell-wall,
as in wood of pines and other conifers. (Fig. 440.)
Spiral, with the thickening in a spiral band, as in the
primary wood of most woody plants and in the veins of
leaves. (Fig. 441.)
Annular, with thickening in the form of rings; seen
in the small vessels
of the bundles in
stem of Indian corn.
(Fig. 441.)
Scalariform, with
elongated thin
places in the wall,
alternating with the
thick ridges which
appear like the rounds of a ladder. (Fig. 441.) These
are well shown in a longitudinal section of the root of
the brake fern (Pteris).
442. Four steps in process of cell-*li
cell at left, fai advanced in div
cells at right.
268
THE CELL
447. While a true cell must have cytoplasm and a nucleus,
the word cell is applied to the unit structures that make up
the plant body. Many of these cells are dead. The wood of
trees consists largely of dead wood. The pith of stems also
may consist largely of dead cells. The cells of bark are largely
dead cells.
448. Multiplication of Cells. — Every cell owes its origin
to some previous cell, and all go back eventually to the germ-
443. Nuclear and cell division in the root of corn: cell with prominent resting nucleus
(a): prophases of nuclear division, spirem (6) and chromosome (c) stages; bipolar
spindle (d) ; early (e) and late (/) anaphases; telophases ig) and first evidence
of cell-plate; location of cell-wall clearly defined (h). (After Curtis.)
cells. The method whereby cells are produced is complex.
The process is at first internal, and consists in the formation
of definite aggregates of protoplasm derived from the nucleus,
called chromosomes. In the course of the formation of these
chromosomes, intricate changes occur in the cell nucleus
CELL DIVISION 269
and cytoplasm. In the division of the cell, equal numbers
of these chromosomes are found at its equator. Half of these
chromosomes then go to the opposite poles of the cell and
unite again to form at each pole a nucleus. A cell-wall is
then laid down at the equator, and we have two cells in the
place of one. Enlargement and further changes may go on
in these two cells. The method of cell division by this complex
means is known as mitosis or karyokinesis. It is exceedingly
complex and too difficult for the beginner to follow or to
comprehend. Some of the stages are given in Fig. 442. A
more detailed representation of these changes is shown in
Fig. 443.
Review. — Of what is the plant composed? What is the general
nature of cells? Forms of cells? What part of the cell is dead matter?
Living matter? Compare different cells studied. State your conception
of protoplasm. State the divisions in the protoplasm. Name two kinds
of movement of protoplasm. What is the nature of the cell- wall? Its
modifications? How do cells multiply?
CHAPTER XXXVII
CONTENTS AND PRODUCTS OF CELLS
449. The Living Cell is a Laboratory. — In nearly all
cells are found one or more non-protoplasmic substances
produced by the plant. Some of these are very useful to
the plant, and others seem to be waste or by-products. There
is considerable division of labor among the cells of higher
plants, one cell or group of cells producing one product, and
another group of cells producing another product and func-
tioning in a different way. We know that there is also
division of labor among the different organs of a plant.
450. Chlorophyll. — Cells may contain chlorophyll bodies
if they are exposed to the sunlight. Chlorophyll is a green
substance infiltrated in a protoplasmic ground-mass. It
imparts color to all the green parts of the plant. Its pres-
ence is absolutely necessary in all plants that secure their
nourishment wholly or in part from the air and from mineral
matter of soil. Review Chapter XIV. Most parasites and
saprophytes do not bear chlorophyll, but live on organic
matter (Chapter XV). The oval bodies in the cell of Figs.
468, 470, 471, are chloroplasts.
451. The Cell Contents. — The products formed in plants
are of varied character and exceedingly large in number.
Of the more common and most abundant products are the
following:
Grape (glucose or dextrose, with the chem-
ical formula C6Hi206).
Sugars \ Fruit (fructose or levulose CeH^Oe).
Cane (saccharose C12H22O11).
Malt (Maltose C^H^Ou).
(270)
CHEMICAL CONTENTS
271
Amyloses
CeHioOs
starch, found in most plants.
dextrin in various seeds.
cellulose in date seed.
I inulin in dahlia tubers.
Fats and oils, as in flax seed, castor bean, cotton seed,
corn and other seeds.
Muscus and mucilage, as in orchid roots, onions, quince
seed, and other plants.
Tannins, as in oak and hemlock bark, persimmon, and,
in general, in all plants that are astringent to the taste.
Glucosides. Complex products which on digestion yield
glucose sugar as one of the products. Amygdalin of
almond and peach nut, and indican of the indigo plant,
which yields the indigo dye, are examples.
452. Some of the cell contents are alkaloids, complex nitro-
genous products, of which the following may be mentioned:
atropin, in belladonna.
nicotin, in tobacco.
emetin, in ipecac root.
caffein, in coffee.
strychnin, in nux vomica.
morphin, in Papaver somniferum (opium
poppy).
quinin, in cinchona or Peruvian bark
tree.
Resins, as in Coniferae.
Gum-resins, Caoutchouc, as in India-rubber plant.
formic, as in stinging nettles.
acetic, as in fermented cider.
oxalic, mostly in form of calcium
oxalate.
malic, as in apple.
citric, as in lemon.
And many others.
Alkaloids
Vegetable acids
272 CONTENTS AND PRODUCTS OF CELLS
453. Other cell contents are the proteids. There is a large
number of different proteids. They are very complex organic
products composed of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen,
and in addition sometimes phosphorus and sulfur. The
white of egg is a proteid. The protoplasm itself is a proteid.
454. Of the various sugars in the cell, glucose or grape-
sugar, so named because it is so abundant in grapes, is
perhaps the most common in plants (179). It is probably
the first carbohydrate formed in the plant, and the one
from which all others are derived. It is also a product of
the digestion of maltose, which in turn is derived from the
conversion of starch in the plant. It is also one of the sugars
formed from the digestion of cane sugar. It is very soluble
and therefore is in a convenient form for transportation
from one part of the plant to another. Corn syrup is glucose
derived from starch of the corn kernel.
455. To test for glucose: Make a thick section of a bit of
the edible part of a pear and place it in a bath of Fehling's
solution. After a few moments, boil the liquid containing
the section for one or two minutes. It will turn to an orange
color, showing a deposit of an oxid of copper and perhaps
a little copper in the metallic form. A thin section treated
in like manner may be examined under the microscope,
and the fine particles, precipitated from the solution by the
sugar of the pear, may be clearly seen. Fructose and maltose,
as well as other organic substances, give a similar reaction
with Fehling's solution. In the case of fruits and other com-
mon products, it may be assumed that precipitation of the
oxid of copper is due to glucose or fructose. With barley
malt, the precipitation of the copper oxid is due to maltose.
Test various fruits by boiling them in water in a test-tube,
and then determine whether sugar is present by adding
Fehling's solution to the extract and again heating. — Feh-
ling's solution is made by taking one part each of these three
solutions and two parts of water: (1) Copper sulfate, 9
*»*8BBi,.
SUGARS, OILS AND RESINS 273
grams in 250 c.c. water; (2) sodium hydroxid, 30 grams in
250 c.c. water; (3) Rochelle salts (sodium potassium tartrate),
43 grams in 250 c.c.
456. Cane-sugar is stored as a reserve food in many
plants. In the maple tree, sugar-beet, sorghum, and sugar-
cane, cane-sugar is abundant. Test the sugar-beet for glu-
cose with Fehling's solution. None is found. Boil a piece
of sugar-beet in a little water in a test-tube. To the water
first add a drop of hydrochloric acid. When cool add a
pinch of sodium carbonate and Fehling's solution, and again
heat. A precipitate of oxid of copper is obtained. Cane-
sugar heated in the presence of hydrochloric acid is con-
verted into glucose and fructose. This is one test for cane-
sugar. Another test is as follows: (1) Make a thin section
of sugar-beet and let it stand a few minutes in a strong
solution of copper sulfate. Then carefully rinse off all the
salt. (2) Heat in a very strong solution of potassium hy-
droxid. There will be seen a blue coloration in the section,
gradually washing out into the liquid.
457. To test for the oil content of the cell: Mount a thin
section of the endosperm of castor-bean seed in water and
examine with high power. Small drops of oil will be abun-
dant. Treat the mount with alcanin (henna root in alcohol).
Half an hour or more may be required. The drops of oil
will stain red. This is a standard test for fats and oils.
458. To examine gum-resin: Mount a little of the milky
juice of the leaf-stem of the garden poinsettia (Euphorbia
pulcherrima). It is of a creamy consistency. Examination
under the microscope shows that it is not white, as it seems
to the naked eye. The particles are yellowish or colorless
and insoluble. These particles are gum-resin. They have
been emulsified by the plant, making the juice appear white.
459. Starch is the most abundant of the solid products
of the cell. Starch grains have a definite form for each group
of plants; and these groups can be determined by the form
274 CONTENTS AND PRODUCTS OF CELLS
of their starch grains. Detection of adulteration of various
products containing starch is accomplished by the aid of
the microscope. This method is now particularly important
in determining adulteration of stock foods. In potato starch
the grains are ovate, with a "nucleus" near one end, as
shown in Fig. 444. In poinsettia they are dumb-bell shaped,
with two nuclei. (Fig. 444.) In corn they have equal diame-
ters, with radial fissures. In Egyptian lotus they are forked
or branched. So far as known, all starch grains are marked
with rings, giving a striated appearance, due to the differ-
ence in density of the layers.- When all
water is driven out of the starch, the rings
disappear. The layers are more or less
concentric, and are formed about a starch
nucleus.
460. Starch grains may be simple, as
found in potato, wheat, arrow-root, corn,
444. Starch grains. .
a, potato; b, poinsettia; and many others; or they may be m
c' nce" groups called compound grains, as in
oats, rice (Fig. 444), and many of the grasses.
461. Starch may be found in all parts of the plant. It
is first formed in presence of chlorophyll in daytime, mostly
in the leaves, and at night it is converted into sugar and
then it is carried to some other part of the plant, as to
the roots or tubers, to be stored or to be used. When
found in the presence of chlorophyll, it is called transitory
starch, because it is soon converted into sugar to be trans-
ported to other parts of the plant. When deposited for future
use, as in twigs and tubers, it is stored starch.
462. The composition of starch is represented by
C6H10O5. The grains are insoluble in cold water, but by
saliva they are changed to sugars, which are soluble. Great
heat converts them into dextrine, which is soluble in water.
Starch turns blue with iodin (76). The color may be de-
stroyed by heat, but will return as the temperature lowers.
STARCH AND PROTEIDS 275
463. To test for starch: Make pastes with wheat flour,
potato starch, and corn starch. Treat a little of each with
a solution of rather dilute iodin. Try grains from crushed
rice with the same solution. Are they the same color? Cut
a thin section from a potato, treat with iodin and examine
under the microscope. To study starch grains: Mount in
cold water a few grains of starch from each of the following:
potato, wheat, arrow-root (buy at drug store), rice, oats,
corn, euphorbia. Study the sizes, forms, layers, fissures,
and location of nuclei, and make a drawing of a few grains
of each.
464. Amylo-dextrine is a solid product of the cell much
resembling starch in structure, appearance, and use. With
the iodin-test the grains change to a wine-red color. Seeds
of rice, sorghum, wild rice, and other plants contain amylo-
dextrine. Amylo-dextrine is a half-way stage in the con-
version of starch into maltose and dextrine. These latter
substances do not react with iodin.
465. Proteid or nitrogenous matter is stored largely in
the form of aleurone grains, and is most abundant in seeds
of various kinds. It is present also in solution or in amorphous
compounds. The grains are very small, colorless or yellow-
ish in most plants, rarely red or green. In the common
cereals they occupy the outer layer of cells of the endosperm.
(Fig. 445.) In many other cases they are distributed through-
out the seed. The grains vary in size and :!SB=S^SES_ -.
form in different species, but are rather ig| ^--al
constant within each group. They are en- ^^^p^^fe]
tirely soluble in water unless certain hard «/"£, --,\
parts or bodies, known as inclusions, are
present, and these may remain undissolved. \an in kernel'1'^
The inclusions may be (a) crystaloids, as wheat'
in potato, castor-oil seed; (b) globoids, as in peach, mustard;
(c) calcium oxalate crystals, as in grape seed.
466. To study aleurone grains and their inclusions: Cut
276 CONTENTS AND PRODUCTS OF CELLS
a thin cross-section of the peripheral cells of a grain of wheat
and mount in alcohol. Stain with an alcoholic solution of
iodin to color the grains yellow, and examine with the high-
est power. Make a sketch of a few layers of cells, just be-
neath the epidermis. Make a sketch of a few of the grains
removed from the cells. While looking at the mount, run a
little water under the cover-glass and watch the result.
Make a similar mount and study of the endo-
sperm of castor-oil seed, or of grape seed. In
the castor-oil seed, look for inclusions of large
crystaloids and small globoids. In the grape
seed, globoids should be found with crystals of
calcium oxalate within tHem. This experi- 446 Raphideg of
ment will require the power of one-sixth or rhizome of skunk
one-fifth inch objective.
467. Cells may contain crystals. Besides the crystals
found as inclusions of aleurone grains, many others occur.
In onion skin they are prisms; in nightshade they are in
the form of crystal flour; in the petioles of the peach they
are roundish, with many projecting angles; in the root-stock
of skunk cabbage, in the bulbs of hyacinth, and leaves of
tradescantia they are needle-shaped and are called raphides.
(Fig. 446.) In the leaf of the India-rubber plant (common
in greenhouses) are found compound clusters resembling
bunches of grapes, which are called cysto-
liths. (Fig. 447.) These are concretions and
not true crystals. In saxifrage, mineral
matter appears as incrustations on the sur-
face of the plant. Toward autumn, crystals
of calcium oxalate become very abundant in
447. Cystoiith in leaf the leaves of many deciduous trees; examine
of rubber plant.— cr0ss-sections of peach petiole in June and
Ficus elastica. c r
again in October.
468. To study crystals and cystoliths: Section the root-
stock of skunk cabbage or Jack-in-the-pulpit, the leaf
CRYSTALS 277
of Ficus elastica, the leaf of ivy (Hedera helix); make a
separate mount of each in water, and examine with the
high power. When the crystals are found, draw them, with
a view of the adjacent cells. Make a similar study of a
bit of thin onion skin.
Review. — Name ten classes of contents or products of the cell.
Where found? Of what use? What is chlorophyll? What is its use?
What is assimilation (185)? Give outline of the products of cells
found dissolved in cell-sap. What are the uses of sugar to plants?
Name some kinds of sugar found in plants. Describe an experiment
to test for glucose. Same for cane-sugar. How may we find the oil
in plants? Describe an experiment for the study of gum-resin. Why
does the juice containing it appear white? Describe starch grains of
potato. Tell how starch grains of other plants studied differ from
those of potato. What are the uses of starch to the plant? Where
is the plant's starch factory? Describe an experiment to test for starch.
Name some plants in which one may find amylo-dextrine. How does
its test differ from that for starch? What are aleurone grains? In
what cells are they found in kernels of wheat? Name some of the forms
in which we find true crystals in plant cells.
Note. — The digestion of starch is produced by means of enzyms
(183) or unorganized ferments (i.e., ferments that are not bacterial
or fungal, but are chemical substances). These ferments, as diastase,
are present in seeds and other living tissues containing starch. During
dormant periods the enzyms either are not present, or their action is
prohibited by the presence of other substances. There are various
specific enzyms, each producing definite chemical changes.
Grape-sugar and its associate, fruit-sugar, appear to be the forms
most generally useful to plants. Cane-sugar is readily inverted into
these sugars.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
TISSUES
469. The lowest plants are unicellular or composed
of only one cell. Of such are bacteria. (Fig. 136.) All the
higher plants are composed of collections or aggregations
of innumerable cells: they are multicellular. If we ex-
amine the cells of the stem, the leaves, and the roots of any
common garden plant we find that they differ very widely
from each other in shape, size, and texture.
470. Any group of similar cells is called a tissue. Each
of the different tissues of a plant has its own type of cells,
although the cells in a tissue may differ from each other
in various minor ways.
471. Parenchymatous Tissue. — Thin-walled cells are
known as parenchyma cells. When they unite they form
parenchymatous tissue. These may or may not be elon-
gated in form, and they usually contain protoplasm. Paren-
chymatous tissue is found at the growing point of a shoot
or root (Fig. 448); in the mesophyll (soft pulpy part) of
the leaves (Fig. 468) ; around the vascular bundles of stems
and roots (Fig. 455/), and in a few other places, as pith,
medullary rays, etc. The cells of this tissue may be meriste-
matic — in a state of active division and growth; or they may
be permanent, no longer able to divide.
472. One important use of this tissue is to form other
tissues, as in growing points. Near the end of any young
root or shoot the cells are found to differ from each other
more or less, according to the distance from the ponit.
This differentiation takes place in the region just back of
the growing point. In the mesophyll (or middle soft part) of
(278)
THE GROWING POINT
279
leaves the elaboration of plant-food takes place. Intercellular
spaces filled with air and other gases are common in this
tissue of leaves, as well as in parenchyma of other parts of
the plant.
473. To study growing points use the hypocotyl of Indian
corn. Prepared slides may be secured having stained longi-
tudinal sections of the hypocotyl. The median section should
be studied with the high power. Note these points (Fig.
448) : (a) Root-cap beyond the grow-
ing point, (b) The shape of the end
of the root proper and the shape of
the cells found there, (c) The group
of cells in the middle of the first
layers beenath the root-cap. This
group is the growing point, (d) Study
the slight differences in the tissues a
short distance back of the growing
point. There are four regions: the
plerome, several rows of cells in the
center; the endodermis, composed of
a single layer on each side; the peri-
blem, of several layers outside the
endodermis; the dermatogen, on the 448 Growing point of root of
a ' Indian corn: a, cl, dermatO-
outer edges. Make a drawing of the ^n-, P, Pl peribiem; e, e, en-
,■ Tr • e ii dodermis; pl, p.croni"; i, in-
section. It a series ot the cross-sec- itiai group of ceils, or growing
tions of the hypocotyl should be made point proper; c' root-cap-
and studied, beginning near the growing point and running
back some distance, it would be found that these four tissues
become more distinctly marked. The central cylinder of
plerome will contain the ducts and vessels; the endodermis
remains as endodermis; peribiem becomes the cortex of
parenchyma; the dermatogen becomes the epidermis of the
root.
474. Epidermal Tissue is a special modification of
parenchyma, comprising the thin layers on the exterior ot
280 TISSUES
leaves and stems. The cells are often tabular or plate-like in
form, as in the epidermis of leaves (Fig. 137) ; and their
outer surface bears a layer of cuticle, a protective sub-
stance which is insoluble even in sulfuric acid. They do not
bear chloroplasts and often contain only cell-sap, with a
little protoplasm. Their walls are much thickened in some
cases, as in Figs. 447 and 471. Hairs and bristles are con-
sidered to be modified epidermal tissue.
475. Collenchymatous Tissue. — Tissue composed of cells
thickened at the angles, not much elongated and not lapping
at the ends, is known as collenchyma. (Fig.
449.) It is strengthening tissue. Good
examples are found in such vines as
pumpkin, cucumber and gourd. The tis-
sue is slightly elastic and allows of some
stretching. Cut a few thin cross-sections
,, of large stems of iewel-weed, and mount
449. Collenchyma in wild ° 0 '
jewel-weed or touch- in water. Study with high power.
me-not (impatiens). ^ ^ g^ of g.^ Tissue#_In the
higher plants is a tissue known as soft bast or sieve tissue (this
also forms part of the bundle; 476). It is composed of two
types of cells which almost always accompany each other.
These are sieve tubes and companion cells. (Fig. 450.) Both
are elongated, thin-walled and blunt at the ends. The sieve
tubes are so called because of the sieve-like areas that they
bear in various parts. These areas, called sieve plates, are
commonly at the ends (as partitions) but may be in the
lateral walls. (Fig. 450.) They serve to connect the cell-
cavities with each other, and through them the proto-
plasm strands extend, as shown in the figure.
477. Prosenchymatous Tissue. — Several elongated and
strong tissues, that greatly strengthen the stems in which they
are found, are collectively known as prosenchyma. The cells
of these tissues become much thickened by the addition of
layers to the inner surface, and finally lose their protoplasm.
FROSENCHYMA
281
At times they may serve as store-rooms for starch and
other products, and take an important part in the transfer
of the plant juices.
478. There are four main varieties of tissues that may be
included under prosen-
chyma. (1) Fibrous tissue,
composed of very thick-
walled cells with very
small central cavities. (F,
Fig. 454.) They are very
long and tapering at the
ends, which lap. Such
tissue is found in many
plants where it often
wholly or in part surrounds
the fibro-vascular bundles.
It is more often but not
always found near the soft
bast: hence the cells are
sometimes called bast
fibers or hard bast. (2)
Wood tissue, or wood fibers.
This is composed of cells
much like the preceding
in structure, but with
thinner walls and the cen-
tral cavity not so nearly
closed. In some cases
such fibers have transverse walls. Wood cells constitute
a large part of the wood of some plants and in other
cases are scattered only among the other prosenehyina.
(3) Tracheids. Cells of this tissue differ from ordinary
cells in being supplied with numerous bordered pits or
other characteristic markings. They constitute almost all
of the wood of the pines and other gymnosperms. (Fig.
450. Bast-tissue.
panion cell; p, shows a top view of a sieve
plate, with a companion cell, c, at the side
o, shows sieve plates in the side of the eeh
In s, s, the protoplasm is shrunken from the
walls by reagents.
282
TISSUES
451.) (4) Vascular tissue, composed of large cells which
become confluent end to end, forming long tubes or ducts.
(TT', Fig. 454.) From the thickened markings which these
cells bear they are named spiral, annular, pitted, scalariform,
etc. (Fig. 441.) These vessels are often of considerable
length, but are never continuous through the entire plant.
Cut a grape-vine stem 2 or 3 feet long. Place one cut end
in a glass of water and with the other end in the mouth,
try to force air
through the stem.
If not successful,
shorten the stem
a little.
479. Scleren-
chymatous or
Sclerotic Tissue.
— Sclerenchyma
cells are hard, not
elongated, often
somewhat spheri-
cal, and their
thickened walls
are provided with
simple or branch-
ing canals. The
cells of this tissue
are illustrated by the common grit cells of the pear and some
other fruits. They are also found in the coats of many
seeds, in nut shells, in the pith of some plants. Hold a large
gritty part of a pear between two pieces of smooth elder
pith or cork and make free-hand sections. Mount in water.
Make a drawing of a single cell showing thickness of wall,
size of central cavity, wall markings. Note the general shape
of the cells.
480. Laticiferous Tissue, — That tissue found in many
451. Longitudinal tangential section of Scotch pine wood,
highly magnified. It shows tracheids with bordered
pits. The dark cells are cut ends of medullary rays.
THE TISSUE SYSTEMS 283
plants which contain a milky liquid is called laticiferous
tissue. There is no fixed type for the vessels that carry
this fluid, as they vary greatly in different plants, being
simple in the asclepias (milk-weed), and complex in the
dandelion.
481. Tissue Systems. — The parts of complex plants
may be conveniently grouped into three tissue systems:
(1) Fibro-vascular tissue system. This is composed of
fibro-vascular bundles. The fibrous framework of roots,
stems, and leaves is made of fibro-vascular bundles. ("Fibro-
vascular" means fibrous or long and slender, and having long
openings or channels.) Each bundle is composed of two
fundamental parts: phloem and xylem. The bast fibers
may or may not be present. Phloem is another name for
the soft bast or sieve tissue, while xylem is the name of the
lignified or woody part, and is composed chiefly of the wood
cells, tracheids, and ducts. In stems of dicotyledons (exogens),
these two parts of the bundle are separated by cambium,
a meristematic layer giving rise to xylem on one side and to
phloem on the other. For types of bundles, see next chapter.
(2) Fundamental tissue system. This is composed of the
parenchymatous tissue already described. The fibrovas-
cular system may be said to be imbedded in the funda-
mental tissue. (3) Epidermal tissue system. This is the
covering of the other systems, and is composed of epidermal
tissue, already described. It should be borne in mind that
the types of cells and tissues as defined in this chapter
are not all that may be found in plants. There are many
intermediate forms, e.g., tracheids and ducts blend the one
into the other ; and the same is true of wood cells and tracheids.
482. Summary of tissues studied:
1. Parenchymatous tissue.
a. meristematic.
b. permanent.
2. Epidermal tissue.
284 tissues
3. Collenchymatous tissue.
4. Soft bast or phloem (sieve tissue).
5. Prosenchymatous tissue.
a. Fibrous tissue or bast fibers.
b. Wood tissue or wood fibers.
c. Tracheids.
d. Vascular tissue or ducts.
6. Sclerenchymatous or sclerotic tissue.
7. Laticiferous tissue.
8. Tissue systems.
Review. — What is a tissue? How may two tissues differ? What
is parenchymatous tissue? Name three places where this is found.
Distinguish between meristematic and permanent tissue. Name two
uses of parenchymatous tissue. Of what utility are the intercellular
spaces of leaves? Describe the parts studied in the section of root
tip. What part, of this tip will become vascular? Describe epidermal
tissue. Collenchyma. Sieve tissue. Of what use are the sieve areas?
What are the chief uses of prosenchyma? Describe fibrous tissue,
wood cells or wood fibers; tracheids; ducts. What does your experi-
ment in blowing air through a grape-vine stem indicate? Describe
cells of sclerotic tissue. Laticiferous tissue. Name three tissue systems.
What are fibro-vascular bundles? What two classes of tissue are found
in each bundle? Of what is phloem composed? Xylem?
CHAPTER XXXIX
STRUCTURE OF STEMS AND ROOTS
483. There are two main types of stem structure in
flowering plants, which have their differences based upon
the arrangement of the fibro-vascular bundles. These types
are endogenous and exogenous.
484. Endogenous Stems. — In endogenous stems, the
vascular bundles are irregularly scattered through the funda-
mental tissue of the stem (Fig. 452), and are not arranged
in circles about a common center. These plants are mono-
cotyledons. The bundles are not -parallel with each
other, and are not of the same size throughout their length.
Fig. 453 shows the direction often taken by the bundles
in the stem. On the exterior there is either an epidermis
or a false rind. The only trees that have this kind of stem
are natives of the tropics or of warm countries. The palm
is one of them, and these
stems are sometimes called
the palm type. In our
climate are many ex-
amples, such as greenbrier,
Indian corn, asparagus,
grasses, orchids, iris, and
cat-tail.
485. To study arrange-
ment of bundles in corn:
( Jut thin sections of a small
corn stem that has been
preserved in alcohol. Stain with hematoxylin'; or the sections
may be examined first without staining. Examine with the
(285)
452. Cross-section of oom-etalk, showing
the scattered fibro-vascular bundles.
Slightly enlarged.
286
STRUCTURE OF STEMS AND ROOTS
low power, and make a sketch showing the
arrangement of the bundles. The sections, if
mounted in a permanent way, as in balsam,
may be kept for further study of the bundles.
Compare with Fig. 454.
486. Exogenous Stems. — The fibro-vascular
bundles in exogenous (or dicotyledonous) stems
are arranged in a circle around the center,
which is usually filled with pith. Outside the
ring of bundles is a cortex of fundamental
tissue. Around this is either a layer of cork
or an epidermis. Layers of parenchyma cells,
called medullary rays, are found between the 453. Diagram
bundles
show the course
of fibro-vascular
bundles in mono-
cotyledons.
454. Fibro-vascular bundles of Indian corn, much
magnified, a, annular vessel; a', annular
or spiral vessel; tt', thick-walled vessels;
w, tracheids or woody tissue; f, sheath of
fibrous tissue surrounding the bundle; ft,
fundamental tissue or pith; s, sieve tissue;
p, sieve plate; c, companion cell; i, inter-
cellular space, formed by tearing down of
adjacent cells; w', wood parenchyma.
and often
extending
from the central pith to
the outer cortex. These
usually are prominent in
young stems of woody
plants and in vines. (Fig.
457.) All trees and nearly
all other woody plants
of the temperate regions,
as well as many herba-
ceous plants, show this
plan of stem. The me-
dullary rays are very
prominent in oak wood.
These rays are lignified
in the xylem part of the
bundle and non-lignified
in the phloem part.
487. To study arrange-
ment of bundles in ex-
EXOGENOUS STRUCTURE
287
ogens: Prepare thin cross-sections of the stems of meni-
spermum (moonseed), one year old, of geranium or of tomato
plant. Other greenhouse or garden
plants may be employed. Stain with
hematoxylin. Make a permanent
mount. Study with low power, and
make a sketch showing the shape and
location of the fibro-vascular bundles.
(Fig. 455.) Save the mount for
further study. If menispermum stems
are not easily obtained, ivy (Hedera
helix), clematis, geranium, coleus,
tomato or other plants may be substi-
tuted. In woody stems the compres-
sion is such that the student is usu-
455. Arrangement of tissues in
2-yenr-old stem of moonseed.
/), pith; /, fundamental tis-
sue; e, epidermis. The fibro-
vascuiar bundles are very ally puzzled to understand the bundle
The
prominent.
structure. The subject will be sim-
plified if he compares (on cross-section) the bundles in such
a plant as the cucumber with that part of the vascular ring
that lies between any two medullary rays in one-year-old
stems of peach,
elm, oak.
488. Other
Stems. — Be-
sides the two
types of stems
studied above,
which are prev-
alent among
phenogams,
there are other
kinds of struc-
tures of stems
among the Cryp- 456. Cross-section of root of brake (Pteris aquilina), showing
tno-Qm • A nnm twelve concentric fibro-vascuhir bundles. The two long
UU^dlllh. A tom- dark 8tranc]8 are composed of fibrous tissue.
288
STRUCTURE OF STEMS AND ROOTS
457. Cross-section of fibro-vas-
cular bundle of moonseed (see
Fig. 455) . /, /, crescent-shaped
jheaths of bast fiber; p,
phloem; cp, crushed phloem;
c, cambium; d, xylem ducts; t,
xylem tracheids; m, medullary
rays of fundamental tissue;
from c to / (at bottom) , xylem ;
1, end of first year's growth;
2, end of second year's growth
of wood.
mon arrangement of the bundles is
in the form of a circle some distance
from the center, with a few other
bundles within the circle. Within
the circle also are sometimes large
areas of fibrous tissue. (Fig. 456.)
There are, however, wide variations
from this structure, but this mode
of arrangement is often called the
fern type of stem.
489. Three Types of Bundles-
It has already been said (481) that
every fibro-vascular bundle is made
up of two parts: (1) phloem or
soft bast; (2) xylem or wood. The
relative position of these two
strands of tissue is very important.
There are three plans of arrange-
ment, on which three types of
These plans are collateral, bi-collateral
~*T5F3K
bundles are based,
and concentric.
490. In collateral bundles, the phloem and xylem are
placed side by side, the
xylem being nearer the
center of the stem and
the phloem outside or
nearer the circumfer-
ence of the stem. This
plan occurs in the stems
of phenogams. The col-
lateral bundles may be
either open or closed.
Open bundles are those
that continue to in-
. . ..„ 45S. Part of cross-section of root-stock of as
Crease in Size during life agus, showing a few fibro-vascular bundle
THE STUDY OF BUNDLES 289
by the presence of a growing layer at the line of union of the
phloem and xylem. This layer of growing cells is called cam-
bium. Dicotyledonous stems have open collateral bundles.
( Fig. 455.) Closed bundles are those that cease growing very
early and have no cambium or growing layer. They are called
closed, perhaps from the fact that there is no means by which
they may become larger. Stems of monocotyledons have
bundles of the closed collateral type. Examine with high
power cross -sec-
tions of menisper-
mum stems and
corn stems (see
Figs. 454, 455, 457),
that have been
stained with hema-
toxylin. Study
tissues found
single bundle of
each, with the aid
of the illustrations.
491. In concen-
tric bundles, the
xylem is centrally
in a in
placed in the 459. Enlargement of a single concentric
bundle and the bundle from Fig. 458.
phloem is all around it, as in club mosses and ferns (Fig.
456) ; or the phloem is in the center of the bundle and the
xylem surrounds it, as in the underground stems of some
monocotyledons, as asparagus. (Figs. 458, 459.)
492. To see concentric bundles: Prepare cross-sections
of the stem of pteris or aspidium. They should be cut very
thin and stained with hematoxylin. Make a sketch showing
the arrangement of bundles. Bicollateral bundles differ
from the collateral in having additional phloem on the inner
side of the xylem strand; as in pumpkins and squashes,
s
290
STRUCTURE OF STEMS AND ROOTS
493. In roots, the phloem and xylem are not definitely
arranged in bundles, but in alternating radial strands or
plates. This plan is typical in young roots and rootlets,
but is more or less obscured in older ones as seen in Fig. 467.
460. Microphotograph of cross-section of grape cane of a single season's growth; a
cambium; a-b, phloem; a-c, xylem; b-d, periderm layer, derived from phellogen,
which cuts off the cortex, d-e, with its primary bast bundles. Note large medullary
rays, m, and the large ducts for water conduction. Compare with structure of
pine wood, Fig. 461.
THE ANNUAL RINGS 291
494. Secondary Thickening of Stems. — Dicotyledonous (or
exogenous) stems with open collateral bundles may increase
in diameter each year. If they are perennial, they may add
a ring of growth each spring. (Fig. 461.) These rings may be
counted on the smooth cross-cut surface of a tree, and the
age of the tree usually can be very closely determined. All
461. White pine stem five years old. The outermost layer is hark.
growth in thickness due to the formation of new cells out-
side of the primary wood is called secondary thickening.
495. As we have seen (490), there is a cambium or grow-
ing layer in every open collateral bundle just between the
xylem and phloem. Each spring the cells of this layer divide
many times and form new cells both inside and outside the
cambium ring. (Figs. 462, 463.) Those formed inside
become thick-walled and are xylem. Those formed to the
outside of the ring are gradually changed into phloem. The
crowding of the cells within the cambium ring causes the
292
STRUCTURE OF STEMS AND ROOTS
ring itself to enlarge its circumference and to move out-
ward by this growth.
496. To study secondary thickening: Cut thin cross-
sections of basswood stems of different ages (one to three
years old). Stain and mount. Examine with low power and
462. Microphotograph of cross-section showing secondary growth in larch, June
13; a, cambium; a-b, new phloem; a-c, new wood. D. Tagential section of wood
of pine, showing transverse section of medullary rays; rd, transverse resin-duct.
sketch the arrangement of bundles in the oldest and young-
est. Note the effect of growth on the medullary rays. Test
them with iodin for starch. Now with the high power
study the peculiar character of the bast tissue. Note the
abundance of fibrous tissue all through it. Draw a
single bundle from the stem one year old, carefully show-
ing the location of the cambium and the different tissues
in the xylem and phloem strands. (Fig. 464). It may
be thought best to precede this experiment with a similar
study of two-year-old stem of moonseed, ivy or other
THE BARK
293
403. Cambium tissue a-b, in larch, May 20. Lower
quarter, cells of old xylem. Upper quarter,
cells of old phloem. Diameter increase just
about to begin. Medullary rays are shown.
Magnification 500 times.
497. Bark. — In most
woody plants, that part
of the stem which is
outside the cambium
ring is called bark. At
first it contains the
epidermis or outer layer
of cells, the phloem
and the cortex lying
between the epidermis
and the phloem. The
gradual growth of the
stem causes the outer
dead layers of bark
to crack more or less
irregularly and finally
to split off. Examples of this can be seen on the trunks
of any large trees. Before the tree is many years old,
the cortical cells of the bark become much crushed and
are lost to view. The epidermis is shed rather early in
the life of the tree.
498. Usually
very early in the
life of the stem a
corky layer of bark
is produced. This
is the product of an
active layer of cells
called phellogen.
This layer is first
found at those
places where the
' **v. stomates were
v located. The epider-
464. Section of baaswood stem, five years old, • • r- + -11
The cone-shaped growths of phloem are plainly seen. mls « nrt>L CTOW U< U
294
STRUCTURE OF STEMS AND ROOTS
off at these places, and the rough corky spots are called
lenticels. Phellogen is very active in the cork oak of Spain,
but it occurs in nearly all woody
plants. In such plants as button-
wood (sycamore) , in which the bark
peels off in thin, flat layers, the
phellogen layer is nearly uniformly
active in all parts, while in many
other cases there is very little uni-
formity. In wahoo (burning-bush) it is in four bands, giv-
ing rise to four corner wings. In the section of menisper-
mum already studied, it is found only under the lenticel
spots where the stomates have been located. Fig. 465 shows
structure of the outer bark as it occurs in the whole circum-
ference of the three-year-old stem of red currant.
499. To study phellogen and corky tissue: Cut thin cross-
465. Cross-section of red cur-
rant twig, showing bark.
c, corky tissue; p, phellogen;
g, parenchyma or cortex
466. White pine stem in radial longitudinal section.
Tracheids on the left with medullary rays crossing them. Next to the wood
is the phloem, then fundamental tissue, then the dark bark.
sections of red currant from stems two or three years old
that have been kept in alcohol at least several hours. The
sections should be stained. With the highest power make
a careful study of the phellogen and the corky tissue outside
STRUCTURE OF ROOTS
295
IBB^ISr! . '. ~
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i wr , ^
wSrw
IB
^
wm
£*j*
f
!
* ■
^EBtwmS
KHi... • V »* -v I
Tj^^HfflH)'
^?)^^U3iBffi|lM|[Hyi3aBH^^
•'^^i»W^r:
tfeSwyf-xsxg^wffiitTOSM^ .
■L
■fc^O^,
467. Microphotograph of cross-section of root of grape one season old; m, medullary
rays; a, cambium; o, c, phloem; a, 6, xylem.
of it. Draw. The relation of bark to woody tissue in pine
is shown in Fig. 461. Cork tissue may be studied to
advantage in the skin of the potato.
500. Structure of Roots. — At the growing point, the
root has a cap (of small compact cells) that protects the
delicate tissues from injury. (Fig. 448.) Such a protection
296 STRUCTURE OF STEMS AND ROOTS
does not occur in growing points (buds) of stems. In their
internal structure roots differ from stems, especially when
very young. In older roots the differentiation is not so
marked. (Fig. 467.) Young roots have the radial arrange-
ment of phloem and xylem (490). The number of xylem
strands radiating from the center differs with the plant.
In roots also there is almost uniformly a true endodermis.
This layer is just within the cortex and is composed of
rather thick-walled cells. However, many rhizomes and
stems have a true endodermis.
501. To study pea roots: From the roots of the pea
a few weeks old cut thin cross-sections; stain and mount.
With the aid of the low power make a sketch showing the
arrangement of the str&nds of wood and bast, and also the
amount of fundamental tissue. Use the highest power and
draw a portion including one strand of wood and two of
bast. In this part, draw the tissues from the center out
beyond the endodermis. Sections may also be made of the
roots of germinating pumpkins or squashes.
Revjew. — Name two types of stems occurring in flowering plants.
Describe each and give examples to illustrate them. Give the plan
of arrangement of bundles in fern stems. How many types of bundles
are there? Upon what do their differences depend? Describe and give
examples of collateral bundles. What difference is there between open
and closed collateral bundles? Give examples of each. Describe
and give examples of concentric bundles. Radial arrangement. What
is secondary thickening? What plants show it? What is the layer
called that forms the new cells in a bundle? When is this layer most
active? Describe the work of this layer. What part of each bundle of
a dicotyledon is found in the bark? What are lenticels? What is phel-
logen? Describe the work of phellogen in any plant you have studied.
Whore is the root cap? What is its use? Describe fully the structure
of roots, telling how they differ from stems.
CHAPTER XL
STRUCTURE OF LEAVES
502. Besides the framework or system of veins found
in blades of all leaves, there is a soft tissue (468) called
mesophyll or leaf-parenchyma, and an epidermis that covers
the entire outside part.
503. Mesophyll. — The mesophyll is not all alike or homo-
geneous. The upper layer of it is composed of elongated
cells placed perpendicular to the surface of the leaf. These
are called palisade cells. The chlorophyll grains are most
abundant in them, because they are on the side of the leaf
most directly exposed to the sunlight. Below the palisade
cells is the spongy parenchyma, composed of cells more or
less spherical in shape, irregularly arranged, and provided
with many intercellular air cavities. (Fig. 468; also Fig.
137.) In leaves of some plants exposed to strong light
there may be more than
one layer of palisade
cells, as in the India-
rubber plant and ole-
ander. Ivy, when grown
in bright light, will de-
velop two such layers of 468. Cross-section of ivy leaf, which crow in
ii i j. • i ill shade and has only one layer of palisade
Cells, but in Shaded places cells. u, upper epidermis; p, palisade cells;
it may be found aS in C: a ^,stal; sp' sp°n^ Parenchyma; i, in-
u tercellular space; I, lower epidermis. The
Fig. 468. Such plants as Plan* here intended is the true or English
. . , , ivy, Hedera helix.
ins and compass plant,
which have both surfaces of the leaf equally exposed to sun-
light, usually have a palisade layer beneath each epidermis.
504. Epidermis. — The outer or epidermal cells of leaves
(297)
u
298
STRUCTURE OF LEAVES
do not bear chlorophyll, but are usually so transparent that
the green mesophyll can be seen through them. They often
become very thick-walled, and are in most plants devoid of
all protoplasm except a thin layer lining the walls, the
cavities being filled with cell-sap. This sap is sometimes
colored, as in the under surface of begonia leaves. It is
not common to find more than one layer of epidermal cells
on each surface of a leaf. The epidermis serves to retain
moisture in the leaf. In desert plants the epidermis as a
rule is very thick and has a dense cuticle.
505. There are various outgrowths of the epidermis.
Hairs are the chief of these. They may be (1) simple, as
on primula, geranium, nsegelia; (2) once branched, as on wall-
flower; (3) compound, as on verbascum or mullein; (4)
disk-like, as on shepherdia (Fig. 469); (5) stellate, or star-
shaped, as in certain
crucifers. In some
cases the hairs are
glandular, as in Pri-
mula sinensis and cer-
tain hairs of pumpkin
flowers.
506. To study epi-
dermal hairs: For this
study use the leaves
of the plants men-
tioned above or others
that may be substi-
tuted. Cross-sections
may be so made as to
bring hairs on the
edge of the sections. Or, in some cases, the hairs may be
peeled or scraped from the epidermis and placed in water
on a slide. Make sketch of the different kinds of hairs.
507. Stomates are small openings or pores in the epi-
469. Disk-like or radial hairs of shepherdi
THE STOMATES
299
dermis of leaves and soft stems, allowing the passage of
air and other gases and vapors. They are placed near the
large intercellular spaces of the mesophyll. Fig. 470 shows
the usual structure. There are two guard-
cells at the mouth of each stomate, which
may in most cases open or close the passage.
It is commonly thought that the opening
and closing of the guard-cells is in response
ranium leaf, show- to different moisture conditions of the
ingtheguard-ceiia. atmosphere. When the air is dry it is
assumed that the stomates close
and thus retard water loss from
the plant, and vice versa. The
stomates have generally been
thought to regulate transpiration.
This is not true. In Fig. 471 is
shown a case in which there are 47i. stomate of ivy, showing
. , , , „ . compound guard-cells.
compound guard-cells, that of ivy.
On the margins of certain leaves, as of fuchsia, impatiens,
and cabbage, are modified stomates known as water-pores.
508. Stomates are very numerous, as will be seen from
the numbers giving the pores to each square inch of leaf
SUn ace I Lower Upper
.surface surface
Peony 13,790 None
Holly 63,600 None
Lilac 160,000 None
Mistletoe 200 200
Tradescantia 2,000 2,000
Garden Flag 11,572 11,572
The arrangement of stomates on the leaf differs with
each kind of plant. Figs. 472 and 473 show stomates on two
plants, and also the outlines of contiguous epidermal cells.
The guard-cells contain chloroplasts.
51 >'.». Fall of the Leaf. — In most common deciduous plants,
when the season's work for the leaf is ended some of the
300 STRUCTURE OF LEAVES
nutrients are withdrawn into the stem, and a layer of corky-
cells is completed over the surface of the stem where the
leaf is attached. The leaf soon falls. It often falls even
before killed by frost. Deciduous leaves begin to show
the surface line of articulation in the early growing season.
This articulation may be observed at any time during the
summer. The area of the twig once covered by the petioles
is called the leaf-scar after the leaf has fallen. Figs. 57, 87,
91 show a number of leaf-scars. Fig. 474 shows the leaf-
scar in the form of a ring surrounding the bud, for in the
plane-tree the bud is covered by the hollowed end of the
petiole; sumac is a similar case. Examine with a hand-
lens leaf-scars of several woody plants. Note the number of
bundle-scars in each leaf-scar. Sections may be cut through
a leaf-scar and examined with the microscope. Note the
character of cells that cover
the leaf-scar surface. Com-
pare 216.
472. Stomates of geranium leaf. 473. Grouped stomates on a begonia leaf.
Review. — Name three tissues found in leaves. On the board,
draw a sketch showing the structure of a leaf as seen in cross-section.
What cells of leaves bear protoplasm and chlorophyll? Why do some
leaves have palisade cells near both surfaces? Describe epidermal
cells. Why are their walls much more thickened in some plants than
in others? What is the purpose of epidermis? What are stomates? Draw
on the board a section through a stomate showing epidermis and
mesophyll. Give some idea of number of stomates in various plants.
Name several types of epidermal hairs. What utility could be suggested
for the dense coat of hairs on leaves of shepherdia? (Fig. 469.)
Note. — To study leaf tissues: A number of leaves can be com-
HOW TO STUDY LEAF HISTOLOGY
301
pared by making free-hand cross-sections of leaves held between two
pieces of pith or cork, and mounting the material in water. Study
such leaves as ivy (Hedera helix), begonia, cycas, geranium, and corn.
Note the number of layers of palisade cells, the spongy parenchyma,
the epidermal layers. Which cells bear chlorophyll? Write a brief
description of the tissues of each leaf, and make a drawing of the geranium .
To study stomates in cross-section: In the cross-sections of leaves
of geranium, corn, ivy, lily, or spider-lily prepared for the above exper-
iment, look for the stomates and make a careful drawing from the one
you can see best.
Studrj of stomates in surface
mew: From the under surface of
leaves of geranium and impatiens,
peel bits of epidermis by tearing
the leaf. Mount these in water
and examine under low power.
Are the stomates scattered or in
474. Leaf-scar of the plane-tree or
sycamore. The scar surrounds
the bud, which was covered by
the hollow base of the petiole.
groups? With the aid of a higher
power, draw a few stomates show-
ing their guard-cells and the sur-
rounding epidermal cells. Make
a similar study and sketch of the epidermis torn from the under surface
of a Begonia sanguinea leaf.
The openings or pores are known as stomata, singular stoma; also as
stomates, singular stomate.
Note on Scope, Apparatus, and Methods. — The work outlined
in Part III is sufficient, if well done, to occupy one period of the pupil's
time each school day for six weeks. These chapters are intended
only as laboratory guides. The pupil should work out each structure
or part for himself before taking up the succeeding subject. The work
in this Part deals with only the elements of the subject, but it is as
much as the pupil can hope to take up with profit in an outline course.
Apparatus. — The apparatus necessary for the work outlined in
these chapters on histology may be secured from dealers in micro-
scopes and laboratory supplies at a low figure. Schools should obtain
catalogues from the following and other reliable dealers:
Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., Rochester, N. Y.
Eimcr & Amend, New York.
The Franklin Educational Co., Boston.
Ward's Natural Science Establishment, Rochester.
Richards & Co., Chicago and New York.
302
STRUCTURE OF LEAVES
Spencer Lens Co., Buffalo.
Williams, Brown & Earle, Philadelphia.
Geneva Optical Co., Chicago.
Whitall, Tatum & Co., New York.
Chas. Lentz & Sons, Philadelphia.
Kny-Scheerer Co., New York.
Cambridge Botanical Supply Co., Cambridge, Mass.
475. All material and apparatus should be kept under cover when not in use.
The microscope should have a 1-inch and perhaps a 2-inch eye-
piece, and two objectives of say % and K focal lengths. By arrang-
ing the laboratory study of the pupils at different times, each microscope
may be used by three, four, or even more pupils.
There should be a microtome or section-cutter for use by the class.
If possible, each pupil should have his own individual tools and
bottles of reagents, as follows:
1 good razor (hollow-ground on one side only).
1 small scalpel.
1 pair forceps.
2 sharp needles mounted in handles (as penholders). (Fig. 215).
1 medicine dropper.
1 small camel's-hair brush.
A number of slides and cover-glasses.
Of reagents, stains, and other chemicals, there should be the following :
Glycerine.
95 per cent alcohol.
Canada balsam.
Xylol.
Copper sulfate solution.
Iodin dissolved in water.
Iodin dissolved in alcohol.
Potassium hydroxide solution.
Fehling's solution.
Alcanna (henna root in alcohol).
Formalin.
Preparing and keeping laboratory material. — In preparing material
for the experiments outlined in Part III, the pupil or teacher will find
APPARATUS AND SUPPLIES 303
it best to secure much of the material during the growing season and
preserve it until the time for use. Material collected can be prepared
by placing it immediately in 95 per cent alcohol and then transferring
it after twelve hours into 70 per cent alcohol, in which it may be stored
for future use. Material may also be prepared in a 2 or 2% per cent
solution of formalin. Formalin burns the skin.
Free-hand cutting and moulding. — To cut sections, the material
may often be held between pieces of pith or smooth cork by the fingers.
The material and sections should be kept wet with alcohol during the
time of cutting.
The sections when cut should be wet in water, then stained with
Delafield's hematoxylin for a few minutes; drain off the hematoxylin
and rinse with water; then use 95 per cent followed by absolute
alcohol, to extract all the water from the sections; then pour on xylol
for a few minutes. If the section is too heavily stained, some of the
stain may be removed by repeated rinsing with water. Mount the
section on the slide in a drop of balsam and cover with the thin cover-
glass. Mounts so made are permanent.'
Hematoxylin does not mix readily with alcohol, and balsam does
not mix with water nor with alcohol. Sections mounted before they
are freed from water become cloudy and worthless.
All materials should be kept covered when not in actual use, and
always in order. (Figs. 475, 476.) A good work-table may be made on
the side of the school-room. (Fig. 477.)
Microtome sectioning. — The sectioning may be improved by the
use of a hand microtome, that may be purchased of a dealer at
small cost. A more complicated microtome may be employed, but in
this case the material must first be imbedded in a matrix like collodion,
paraffine or other substance. This imbedding is a complex process;
the material must first be treated with various reagents. The method
will not be considered here. The reader should refer to Chamberlain's
"Methods in Plant Histology" or to Stevens' "Plant Anatomy" for
the methods necessary and for directions for staining.
470. Box of microscope slides, and a packet of collodion drying in a glass vessel.
PART IV.— THE KINDS OF PLANTS
PART IV
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
Number of Plants. — Above 120,000 distinct kinds or
species of seed-bearing plants are known and described.
Probably little more than one-half of the total number now-
existing on the earth is known. Even in the older countries
and regions, seed-bearing plants heretofore unknown to
science are discovered now and then. Outlying regions
are relatively little known botanically. Large parts of
Africa, South America, Central America, China, Central
Asia, and the tropical islands are only imperfectly explored
for plants. Cryptogamous plants are very numerous in
kinds, and many kinds — as, for example, various bacteria
— are almost infinite in numbers of individuals. In the
lower ranges of cryptogamous plants, as in fungi and bac-
teria, new kinds are being described even in countries in
which they have been carefully studied.
Species. — Each kind of plant is called a species. There
is no absolute mark or characteristic of a species. Between
many kinds there are intermediate forms, and some kinds
vary immensely under different conditions. What one
botanist considers as a distinct species another botanist
may regard as only a variety or form of another species.
No two botanists agree as to the number of species in any
region. Species are not things in themselves. In practice,
any kind of plant that is distinct enough to be recognized
by a description, and that is fairly constant over a con-
siderable territory, is called a species. We make species
merely to enable us to talk and to write about plants: we
must have names to call them by. The different kinds of
(307)
308 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
plants are the results of evolution. Probably none of them
was created in the beginning as we now find it.
Names of Species. — For more than one hundred and
fifty years (since Linnaeus published "Species Plantarum" in
1753), species have been known by two names, the generic
and the specific. The generic name is the name of the
genus or group to which the plant belongs: it corresponds
to a surname. The specific name belongs only to the par-
ticular species or kind: it corresponds to a given or Chris-
tian name. Both names are necessary, however, to desig-
nate the species. Thus Quercus is the generic name of
all the oaks. Quercus alba is one of the oaks (the white
oak), Q. virginiana (the live-oak) another. All maples be-
long to the genus Acer, and all elders to Sambucus. The
same specific name may be used in any genus, as the same
Christian name may be used in any family. Thus, there
is a Quercus nigra, Cyperus niger, Acer nigrum, the word
"niger" meaning black.
By common consent, the oldest proper name of any
species must stand. If a species happens to have been
named and described twice, for example, the first name, if
in the proper genus, must hold; the later name becomes a
synonym. It sometimes happens that the same specific
name has been given to different plants of the same genus.
Of course this name can be allowed to stand for only one
species, and the other species must receive another name.
In order to avoid confusion of this and other kinds, it is
customary to write the author's name with the species-
name that he makes. Thus, if Gray describes a new
Anemone, his name is written after the plant-name: Ane-
mone cylindrica, Gray. The author's name thus becomes
an index to the history of the species-name.
Plant-names are thrown into the forms of the Latin
language. When plants first were studied seriously, knowl-
edge was preserved in Latin, and Latin names were used
PLANT NAMES 309
for plants. The Latin form is now a part of the technical
system of plant and animal nomenclature, and is accepted
in all countries; and the Latin language is as good as any-
other. In the Latin language all plant-names have gender,
and the termination of the word usually differs in each gender.
The species-name must agree with the genus-name in
gender. Acer is neuter: so are A. rubrum and A. nigrum.
Cyperus is masculine; so is C. niger. Quercus is feminine,
although masculine in form, but trees and shrubs are feminine
in Latin: so we write Q. nigra. Masculine, feminine, and
neuter endings are seen in Rubus sativus, Pastinaca sativa,
Pisum sativum. "Sati-vus" means cultivated.
The name of a species not only identifies the species, but
classifies it. Thus, if a plant is named in the genus Acer,
it belongs to the maples; if it is named in Fragaria, it belongs
to the strawberries; if it is named in Pyrus, it is allied to
apples and pears ; if it is HeUanthus, it is one of the sunflowers.
Use of Knowing Plant-names. — The name is an intro-
duction to the plant, as it is to a person. It is an index
to its history and literature. It enables us to think and
to speak about the plant with directness and precision. It
brings us nearer to the plant and increases our interest in it.
The name is a means, not an end. Merely to know the
name is of little use or satisfaction. Knowing the name
should be only one step in knowing the plant. Of late
years, the determining of the names of plants has been
discouraged as a school-exercise. This is because all in-
quiry stopped when the name was secured. A name was a
stone wall when it should have been a gate.
How to Find Out the Names of Plants. — There can
be no short-cut to the names of plants, for names cannot
be known accurately until the plant is known. The name
and the plant should be indissolubly associated in the mind.
Study first the plant. If one does not know the plant, there
is no occasion for knowing its name.
310 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
Learn first to classify plants: names will follow. Look
for resemblances, and group the plants around some well-
known kind. Look for sunflower-like, lily-like, rose-like,
mint-like, mustard-like, pea-like, carrot-like plants. These
great groups are families. The families of plants are bet-
ter recognized by studying a few representative plants than
by memorizing technical descriptions. Go to the botany
and use the keys in these families, in order to run the plant
down to its genus and species. If the family is not recog-
nized, use the key to find the family. Use the keys at first:
gradually discard them. When one looks for relationships,
the vegetable kingdom comes to have continuity and mean-
ing. Merely to know names of plants here and there is of
little use.
It is unwise for the beginner to try first to find the name
of any plant. Let him first examine familiar plants or those
which seem to be related to other plants that he knows.
Let him get in mind the bold characteristics of the families
which are most dominant in his locality. After a time, in
case of each new plant, he should be able to give a shrewd
guess as to its family; then he may go to the book to verify
the guess.
In the following Flora, about fifty well-marked families
are chosen for study. Some of them are not the most char-
acteristic of American vegetation, but they are such as
afford easily accessible species, either in the wild or in culti-
vation, and which are not too difficult for the beginner.
The pupil should begin with plants of which he knows the
common names or with which he is familiar. Several plants
should be studied in each family, that he may grasp the
characteristics of the family and thereby be led to
compare plant-groups and to clarify his perception and
widen his horizon. When these families, or the larger
part of them, are understood, if the pupil desires further
knowledge of species, he may go to the regular manuals in
THE HERBARIUM 311
which species are grouped or classified according to their
natural affinities. It is well to study more than one plant in
a genus whenever possible, for then close comparisons can
be made.
Making a Collection. — The making of a collection of
plants focuses one's attention, defines one's ideas, and affords
material for study at any season. The collecting and pre-
serving of plants should be encouraged. Not until one
searches for himself, and collects with his own hands, can
he know plants. The collection should not be an end, how-
ever. It should be only a means of knowing plants as they
live and grow. Too often the pupil thinks it sufficient
merely to have made a collection, but the collection of itself
is scarcely worth the while.
Plants are preserved by drying them under pressure.
The collection, when properly arranged and labeled, is an
herbarium. Each species should be represented by sufficient
specimens to display the stems, foliage, flowers, fruits. If
the plant is an herb, its roots should be shown. There should
be several or many specimens of each species, to show the
different forms that it assumes. It is less important to
have an herbarium of many species than to have one showing
the life-phases of a few species. First make specimens
of the common species: later one may include the rare ones
if he choose, although an herbarium that selects plants
merely because they are rare is of little account except as
a collection of curiosities. The commonest plants are usually
the least represented in herbaria.
Dry the plants between blotters that arc 12 inches
wide and 18 inches long. These blotters are called "driers."
They may be purchased of dealers in botanical supplies,
or they can be cut from felt "carpet paper." It is well to
place the specimen in a folded sheet of newspaper, and
then lay the newspaper between the driers. If the specimens
are large or succulent, three or four driers should be laid
312 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
between them. The sheets may be piled one above another,
until the pile becomes so high (10-16 inches) that it tends to
tip ever. On the top place a board of the dimensions of the
drier, and apply twenty to thirty pounds of stones or other
weight. Change the driers — but not the newspapers — once
a day at first, laying the moist driers in the sun for a time.
In a dry warm place, most plants will dry in a week or ten
days. When thoroughly dried, they retain no soft, sappy,
fresh-green areas, and they usually break if bent sharply.
They will be perfectly flat.
The use of corrugated paste-board has proved very satis-
factory in drying specimens. The board should be of the
same size as the driers. Place one of the corrugated boards
upon a table; over it lay a drier; then the sheet containing
the specimen; over this a drier; then another corrugated
board, a drier, a sheet containing specimens, and so on. The
corrugations of the board provide air passages for the re-
moval of moisture absorbed from the specimens by the driers;
and, unless very succulent plants are being pressed, it is not
necessary to change driers at any time while the specimens
are drying. The pile should be weighted as described above.
The specimen may now be secured to strong white
paper, known as "mounting paper." The regulation size
of the sheets is 113^xl6J^ inches. It is the quality of
heaviest ledger paper. By the ream, it can be bought for
one cent or less a sheet. The specimen should be large
enough nearly or quite to cover the sheet, unless the entire
plant is smaller than this. It may be glued down tight, as
one pastes pictures in a scrap-book, or it may be held in
place by strips of gummed paper. The former is the better
way, because the plants are not so easily broken. Only
one species should go on a sheet. In one corner, glue the
label. This label should give the place and date of collecting,
name of collector, and any information as to height, color,
nature of soil, and the like. Sooner or later, the label should
MAKING THE HERBARIUM
313
contain the name of the plant; but the name need not be
determined until after the plant is mounted. (Fig. 478.)
The sheets of one genus are laid together in a folded
sheet of strong straw-colored paper. This folded sheet is
f3 ^wMW
"--"•-^V/ /< i\"<-
i'
12?
~w
*^%^§gg-
-3wW tnfl './~», SR /.'-.
?•• -*--
•178. An herbarium sheet. In this case, the specimens are held in place
by strips of glued paper.
the "genus cover." Its size when folded is 11^x163^
inches. On the lower left-hand corner the name of the
genus is written. If one has many sheets in one genus
— say more than 20 — it may be necessary to have more than
314 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
one cover for them. The covers are laid in cupboards flat-
wise, one on the other, and the sheets then retain their
shape and are always ready for use.
Explanation of the Flora. — The following Flora con-
tains 625 species of plants in 294 genera and 51 families.
These species are selected from common and representative
plants, in the hope that 50 to 100 of them may be secured
by any pupil. The pupil should collect his own specimens
as far as possible, and he should press and preserve them
after he has studied the structure. Familiarity with 100
plants will give the pupil a good grasp of plant forms, pro-
vided he does not stop with merely acquiring the names and
pressing the specimens. He should know how the plants
look, where they grow, how they associate with other plants,
how long they live, and the like.
Avoid the use of keys as much as possible: learn to
see the plant as a whole : go directly to the family, if possible.
But it may be necessary to use keys at first. In this book
coordinate parts of the key are marked by the same letter:
e.g., f, ff, fff, are three coordinate entries. Coordinate
entries are also introduced by the same catch-word, as
"flowers," "leaves," "fruit." Using a key is a process of
elimination. First try the plant in a; if it does not belong
there, go to aa. Then repeat the search in d, dd, etc., until
the family is found.
Synonyms are placed in parentheses immediately fol-
lowing the accepted name. Thus "Impatiens biflora, Walt.
(7. fulva, Nutt.)" means that the accepted name is Walter's
I. biflora, but that the plant is also known by Nuttall's
name, /. fulva.
Proper pronunciation is suggested by the accent, which
indicates both the emphatic syllable and the length of the
vowel. The grave accent C) indicates a long vowel; the
acute ('), a short vowel. Terminal vowels are pronounced
in Latin words. The word officinale is pronounced offici-
THE KEY 315
niiy-ly; aurea with au as in Laura; virginiiina with the a as in
hay; alba, with a as in had; acutiloba with i as in hill; minor
with i as in mine; halimifolia with o as in hole; japonica with
o as in con; rumcx with u as in tune; funkia with u as in run.
Key to the fumilics as represented in the following pages
a. CRYPTOGAMS: no true flowers or seeds: propagating by means
of spores Filices, p. 321
aa. PHENOGAMS: hearing flowers and seeds.
B. Gymnosperms: seeds naked (not enclosed in ovaries), borne
in cones or berries: no conspicuous flowers: lvs. needle-
shaped or scale-like: plants usually evergreen Coniferae, p. 324
bb. Angiosperms: seeds borne in ovaries: flowers usually showy:
leaves very various, mostly deciduous.
C. Monocotyledons: cotyledon 1 : leaves mostly parallel-
veined, not falling with distinct articulation: stem with
scattered fibro-vascular bundles (endogenous) and no
separable bark: flowers mostly 3-merous.
d. Flowers without true perianth, except sometimes small
scales, or bracts, or bristles, but inclosed by green
alternate glumes, or chaffy bracts: arranged in spikes
or spikelets: grass-like plants.
E. Glumes in pairs, of 2 sorts (glumes and palets): culms
round, hollow: leaf-sheaths usually split on one side
opposite blade
Graminese, or Grass Family, not treated here.
EE. Glume or scale single, with flower in axil: perianth
none or replaced by bristles: culm triangular, solid;
sheath entire or closed
Cyperaceee, or Sedge Family, not treated here.
(For grass-like plants having flowers with G similar, green
or chaffy bracts [glumaceous segments], culms solid,
See Juncaceae, or Rush Family, not included here.)
DD. Flowers without glumes, borne on spadix, small, incon-
spicuous, usually attended by spathe Araceae, p. 327
ddd. Flowers not on spadices, mostly conspicuous.
E. Perianth free from ovary.
f. The perianth with all parts similarly colored.
g. Parts of perianth 6, similar, green or chaffy
(bract-like) or glume-like (glumaceous segments).
Juncaceae.
gg. Parts of perianth 6, regular, colored . . . .Liliacex, p. 328
FF. The perianth with parts differently colored.
g. Leaves in a whorl: stigmas 3 .Trillium in Liliacese, p. 332
gg. Leaves alternate: stigma 1 Commelinacese, \>. 334
316 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
ee. Perianth-tube adherent to ovary wholly or partly:
flowers perfect.
f. Anthers 3 Iridaceae, p. 337
ff. Anthers 6 Amaryllidaceae, p. 335
fff. Anthers 1 or 2, united with pistil, gynandrous
Orchidaceae, p. 339
cc. Dicotyledons: cotyledons 2 or more: leaves mostly netted-
veined, usually falling with a distinct joint or articula-
tion: stem with concentric layers of wood when more
than one year old (exogenous), and a distinct separable
bark: flowers mostly 5-merous or 4-merous (comprising
the remainder of this key).
d. Choripetalse: petals distinct or wanting (i. e., flowers
polypetalous, apetalous or naked, in distinction from
gamopetalous, dd, p. 319).
e. Flowers characteristically apetalous; mostly small and
often greenish, inconspiciious.
f. Plants woody.
g. The flowers monoecious or dioecious, one or both
sorts in catkins.
H. Fertile flowers in short catkins or heads: calyx
regular in the pistillate flower, becoming
fleshy or juicy in the fruit (juice milky)
Urticacese, p. 345
hh. Fertile flowers 1-3 in a cup-like involucre:
or 2 or 3 at each scale of the pistillate catkin:
fruit dry, often winged, or a 1-seeded nut:
sterile fls. in elongated catkins Cupuliferae, p. 342
gg. The flowers not in catkins.
h. Calyx-tube adherent to ovary : climbing
Aristolochiaceae, p. 348
hh. Calyx-tube hypogynous.
i. Leaves opposite.
j. Fruit a double samara, 2-winged
Sapindaceae, p. 343
jj. Fruit a single-winged samara or 1-seeded
drupe: stamens 2 Oleaceae, p. 388
jjj. Fruit not winged: 3-seeded: stamens 4
Euphorbiaceae, p. 351
ii. Leaves alternate.
j. Styles or stigmas 2 or 2-cleft; stamens
equal the calyx-lobes and opposite to
them Urticacese, p. 345
jj. Styles or stigmas 3, each 2-cleft: pod 3-
■ celled and 3-seeded: flowers 3-parted:
fruit a dry capsule : stamens 8 to many. . .
Euphorbiaceae, p. 351
THE KEY 317
ff. Plants herbaceous: flowers not in catkins or amenta.
g. Ovary inferior, 6-celled: stamens 6 or 12
Arislolochiaccae, p. 348
gg. Ovary superior, 1-celled.
h. Stamens indefinite Ranunculaceae, p. 355
hh. Stamens few (4-12).
i. Styles 2-3: stipules sheathing stem at nodes
of the alternate leaves Polygonacese, p. 349
ii. Style single: stipules not sheathing stem
Urticaceae, p. 345
ggg. Ovary superior, 3-celled Euphorbiaceae, p. 351
ee. Flowers characteristically polypetalous, generally showy.
f. Plants woody.
g. The stamens numerous (more than 10).
h. Leaves alternate.
i. Ovary 1, simple or compound, or ovaries
numerous; fruit a drupe or fleshy: stamens
distinct, inserted on the cup-shaped recep-
tade Rosacea, p. 385
ii. Ovaries many or numerous: stamens many,
monodelphous Malvaceae, p. 372
HH. Leaves opposite: ovary single, 2-5-celled: fruit
a dry capsule Saxifragacese, p. 393
gg. The stamens 10, or less than 10.
h. Stamens 2 (rarely or accidentally 3 or 4): fruit a
drupe, or 2-celled berry or 2-celled pod
Olcaceae, p. 420
hh. Stamens 5, alternate with petals: fruit a beny.
Saxifragacese, p. 393
hhh. Stamens 5 or 10 united at base, some sterile:
leaves simple: fruit 5-lobed, carpels separating
from central axis when ripe Geraniaceae, p. 373
hhhh. Stamens 5-10: leaves compound: fruit a leathery
1-3-valved pod and flower irregular: or, fruit
a 3-celled inflated (bladdery) pod and flowers
regular Sapindacese, p. 375
hhhhh. Stamens usually 10, monadelphous, diadel-
phous, or distinct: fruit a legume
Leguminosae, p. 379
FF. Plants herbaceous.
g. The stamens 10 or more.
h. Ovary 1, simple: fruit a 1-2-seeded berry
Berberidaceae, p. 360
hh. Ovaries several, simple.
i. Stamens indefinite, hypogynous
Ranunculaceae, p. 355
318 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
ii. Stamens indefinite, inserted on cup-like recep-
tacle Rosaceae, p. 385
hhh. Ovary compound.
i. Water plants: leaves flat and floating, or
heart-shaped and erect Nymphaeaceae, p. 361
ii. Land plants.
j. Ovary compound and 1-celled.
k. With central placentae, many-ovuled:
plants juicy (watery) Portulacaceae, p. 371
kk. With 2 or more parietal placenta?: colored
or milky juice Papaveraceae, p. 362
kkk. With 3 or more parietal placentae: leaves
opposite: juice not milky: flowers
yellow, cymose Hypericaceae, p. 370
jj. Ovary compound, several-celled: stamens
monadelphous Malvaceae, p. 372
GG. The stamens 10 or less in number.
h. Ovary single, 1-celled, simple or compound.
i. Corolla regular or nearly so.
j. Sepals and petals 4-5 each.
k. Leaves alternate.
l. Stigma 1 Leguminosae, p. 379
ll. Stigmas 4 Saxifragaceae, p. 393
kk. Leaves opposite, punctate: flowers yellow.
Hypericaceae, p. 370
kkk. Leaves opposite, not punctate: flowers
pink, red, white Caryophyllaceae, p. 353
jj. Sepals 2: petals 4-5 Portulacaceae, p. 371
jjj. Sepals 6: stamens hypogynous, opposite
to the petals Berbcridaceae, p. 360
ii. Corolla irregular.
j. Fruit a legume Leguminosae, p. 379
jj. Fruit a capsule.
K. Petals 5: stamens 5: pod 1-celled, 3-valved.
Violaceae, p. 369
kk. Petals 4: stamens 6, diadelphous: fruit
2-valved (globular) 1-seeded, indehis-
cent in Fumaria Fumariaceae, p. 363
hh. Ovary 2-5-celled: fruit dry.
i. Fruit of 2 dry seed-like carpels: flowers small,
umbelled or in heads: stamens 5. . Umbelh ferae, p. 397
II. Fruit a 2-celled pod, silique or silicle, or some-
times loment, or indehiscent and nut-like:
flowers not truly umbelled, but solitary or
in racemes.
j. Stamens 6: sepals 4: petals (0 or) 4
Cruciferae, p. 365
THE KEY 319
jj. Stamens 4-8, distinct or monadelphous; fls.
very irregular: sepals 5, unequal and some
of them colored: petals 3 (or 5, with 2
scale-like): pods 2-seeded Polygalaceae, p. 378
m. Fruit (or ovary) a 4-celled capsule: stamens 2,
4 or 8: petals 0, 2 or 4 Onagraceae, p. 396
mi. Fruit (or ovary) a 5-celled capsule.
j. Leaves simple, evergreen: seeds minute,
innumerable: plants white, or yellowish,
parasitic or saprophytic about the roots
of trees Ericaceae, p. 423
jj. Leaves simple, more or less lobed or divided,
capsule 5-10-seeded: or stem succulent
and translucent: pod walls elastic, each
cell several-seeded Geraniaceae, p. 373
jjj. Leaves compound, palmately 3-foliolate. . . .
Oxalis in Geraniaceae, p. 373
mil. Fruit of 2 follicles, seeds hairy tufted: juice
milky Asclepiadaceae, p. 417
DD. Gamopetal^e: corolla in one piece, at least toward the
base (as if the petals were more or less united): calyx
and corolla both present.
E. Stamens more numerous than corolla-lobes.
F. Ovary 1-celled, 1 parietal placenta: fruit a legume.. .
Leguminosae , p. 379
ff. Ovary 3, several-celled.
g. The stamens nearly or quite free from corolla:
style 1 Ericaceae, p. 423
gg. The stamens free from corolla: styles 5
Oxalis in Geraniaceae, p. 373
GGG. The stamens on base of corolla-tube: filaments
monadelphous Malvaceae, p. 372
EE. Stamens as many in number as the lobes of the corolla
and inserted opposite to the lobes: ovary 1-celled:
style and stigma 1: pod several to many-seeded
Piiinulaceae, p. 422
kkk. Stamens equal in number to lobes of corolla and alter-
nate with them, or fewer in number.
F. Ovary inferior.
g. The stamens distinct, inserted on corolla, 4 or
5: ovary 2-5-celled.
h. Leaves whorled or opposite with stipules
Rubiaceae, p. 426
hh. Leaves opposite, without true stipules
Caprifolioceae, i>. 127
gg. The stamens inserted on corolla and united by
anthers.
^20 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
H. Flowers in a head with involucre subtending. . . .
Compositae, p. 431
hh. Flowers not in involucrate heads, but separate:
corolla irregular Lobeliaceae, p. 431
ggg. The stamens not inserted on corolla and not
united to each other: no stipules: juice milky.. . .
Campanulaceae, p. 430
ff. Ovary superior.
g. Corolla irregular: stamens 4, in 2 pairs: or 2
stamens: the ovary deeply 4-lobed around the
style: fruits 4 dry nutlets: stem square.. Labiatae, p. 400
gg. Corolla somewhat irregular: stamens 5, inserted on
corolla.
H. The ovary deeply 4-lobed about the style
Echium in Borraginaceae, p. 412
hh. The ovary not lobed: pod many-seeded: fila-
ments all or some woolly
Verbascum in Scrophulariaceae, p. 405
ggg. Corolla regular: stamens equal in number to the
lobes of the corolla.
h. Ovaries 2, distinct: lvs. opposite: juice milky:
styles or stigmas united into 1.
I. Stamens separate, inserted on corolla: corolla
bell -shaped, funnel- or salver - formed :
pollen granular, as usual Apocynaceae, p. 418
II. Stamens monadelphous, anthers attached to
stigma: a crown of hood-like appendages each
containing an incurved horn, borne on the
stamen-tube: pollen cohering in masses (waxy
or granular) Asclepiadaceae, p. 417
hh. Ovary 1, deeply 4-lobed around style (2-lobed
in Heliotropium).
I. Leaves alternate: plants usually rough-hairy.. .
Borraginaceae, p. 412
ii. Leaves opposite: stems square
Mentha in Labiatae, p. 400
Hhh. Ovary 1, not deeply lobed, 1-celled: ovules
parietal, or 2 parietal placenta?.
I. Leaves simple, entire, opposite, exstipulate. . . .
Gentianaceae, p. 417
H. Leaves toothed, lobed or pinnately compound,
mostly alternate Hydrophyllaceae, p. 415
Hiiiiii. Ovary not deeply lobed, 2-10-celled.
i. Leaves none: parasites, twining
Cuscuta in Convolvulaceas, p. 411
ii. Leaves opposite, without stipules.
THE KEY 321
j. Stamens free from corolla but inserted with
it : style 1 Ericaceae, p. 423
jj. Stamens inserted on tube of corolla.
K. Number of stamens 4 in 2 sets: ovary
2-4-celled (cells 1 -seeded)... Verbenacex, p. 403
ee. Number of stamens 5 or (rarely) more.
l. Fruit 2 or 4 nutlets. . . .Borraainacese, p. 412
ll. Fruit a pod, few-seeded.
m. Calyx 5-lobed: styles 3-cleft
Polemoniacese, p. 416
mm. Calyx 5-lobed: style 1 or 2, or 2-cleft:
ovary 2-celled (rarely 3-celled):
seeds good-sized, 1 or 2 per cell:
generally twining herbs
Convolvulacese, p. 411
lll. Fruit a pod, many-seeded, or a berry:
style 1 Snlanaceas, p. 4(38
gggo. Corolla regular or irregular: stamens fewer than
the corolla-lobes.
h. Stamens 2: ovary 4-lobed: corolla nearly
equally 4-lobed Lycopus in Lobiatse, p. 400
hh. Stamens 2 (rarely 3): ovary 2-celled.
i. Woody plants, shrubs or trees: corolla regular,
4-cleft Oleacese, p. 420
II. Herbs: corolla wheel-shaped or salver-shaped,
with a 4-parted (rarely 5-parted) border,
or somewhat irregular
Veronica in Scrophulariaceae, p. 408
A. CRYPTOGAMS.
I. FILICES. Ferns.
Herbaceous and leafy plants, ours without stems or trunks above
ground, but producing perennial rootstocks: plants flowerless and
seedless, but bearing spores in sporangia, the latter collected into
sori which are usually borne on the under side or margins of the fronds
and which are sometimes covered with an indusium. — Most abundant
in warm countries, of about 4,000 species, of which about 1G5 arc na1 ive
to the United States. The leaflets of fern-fronds are pinna'; the second-
ary leaflets are pinnules.
a. Fruit borne in contracted panicles or on specially con-
tracted parts of the frond, these parts being devoid
of resemblance to green leaves.
322
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
B. Sporangia large and globose, without a ring of special
cells running around their margin 1. Osmunda
BB. Sporangia with a ring of prominent elastic cells run-
ning around the margin, and which are concerned
in the dehiscence 2. Onoclea
AA. Fruit borne on the back of green fronds (the fruiting
pinnse sometimes narrowed but still leaf-like), sporan-
gia with a ring of elastic cells.
B. Sori naked (no indusium) 3. Polypodium
BB. Sori borne under the reflexed margins of the frond.
C. Pinnse entire on the lower edge, somewhat trian-
gular in outline 4. Adiantum
CC. Pinnse toothed on both margins, oblong in outline... 5. Pteris
BBB. Sori covered with a distinct scale-like indusium.
c. Shape of sori oblong. . . 6. Asplenium
cc. Shape circular.
D. Indusium circular-peltate, without a sinus 7. Polystichum
dd. Indusium reniform, or if circular with a narrow
sinus 8. Aspidium
1. OSMUNDA. Flowering Fern.
Strong ferns from stout creeping rootstocks, with large, pinnate fronds:
sporangia covered with interwoven ridges, but wanting the elastic ring of
most ferns. Inhabitants of bogs and wet woods.
O. regalis, Linn. Royal fern. Top of the frond contracted into a fruit-
ing panicle: frond 2-pin-
nate, the pinnae oblong, ob-
tuse, and nearly entire.
O. Claytoniana, Linn.
- ■<*$*?'*' ^g- 4^9- ^wo to *°ur Pa^rs
"^MffiJ0$w ^ ^jffi&ftK °f Pmnse near tne middle
\""'!i^*';' of the frond contracted into
v?*&0*&fo,V*:^1* fruit-bearing parts: pinnse
linear-lanceolate and acute,
deeply lobed.
0. cinnamomea, Linn.
479. Osmunda Claytoniana (left). Osmunda cinnamon fern. Fig. 479.
cinnamomea. ' .
Some fronds entirely con-
tracted into fruiting parts, and these cinnamon colored (whence the ver-
nacular name): sterile form with the fronds much like those of 0. Clay-
toniana in shape except more acute at top.
2. ONOCLEA. Sensitive Fern.
Mostly rather strong ferns, with broad sterile fronds and with the fertile
fronds rolled into hard contracted fruiting bodies, which remain after the
sterile leafy fronds have perished: sporangia with an elastic marginal ring
of cells. Bogs and old springy fields.
FERNS 323
O. sensibilis, Linn. Sensitive fern. Brake. Fig. 337. Sterile frond
triangular-ovate, the pinnae not extending quite to the midrib and toothed:
fertile frond usually lower than the other (1-2 ft. high), with a few pinnae.
Common in old pastures.
O. Struthiopteris, Hoffm. Ostrich fern. Very tall (2-5 ft.), the
sterile fronds narrow, once-pinnate, with long-lanceolate acute-lobed
pinna;: fertile fronds much shorter, blackish, with many pinnae.
3. POLYPODIUM. Polypody.
Small ferns, with simple or once-pinnate fronds from slender creeping
rootstocks: sori round, borne at the ends of little veins. On dry cliffs.
P. vulgare, Linn. Common polypody or polypode. Figs. 333, 334.
Fronds a foot or less tall, narrow-oblong in outline, pinnatifid, the lobes
nearly or quite entire: fertile pinnae not contracted.
4. ADIANTUM. Maidenhair Fern. Fig. 336.
Small ferns with compound forking fronds and wedge-shaped or some-
what triangular pinnae, shining stipes or petioles, and sori borne at the
ends of the veins under the reflexed margins of the pinnae.
A. pedatum, Linn. Common maidenhair. Plant 2 ft. or less high, the
leaves forking into several or many long pinnae which bear broad pinnules
notched on the upper margin. Cool, shadj- woods. Very graceful.
5. PTfiRIS. Brake.
Coarse ferns of mostly dryish places, with long pinnae: sporangia borne
beneath the reflexed margin of the pinnules, on small, transverse veins.
P. aquilina, Linn. Common brake. Figs. 139, 335. Fronds broadly
triangular, twice- or thrice-pinnate, the pinnules long-lanceolate, acuminate,
and lobed. Common in sunny places: perhaps our commonest fern. Two
to 3 ft. high, growing in patches, particularly in burned areas.
6. ASPLF,NIUM. Spleenwort.
Middle-sized ferns, mostly with pinnate leaves: sori oblong or linear,
borne on the upper side of a veinlet, or back to back on opposite sides of
the veinlet, these veinlets not interwoven.
A. Filix-fcemina, Linn. Lady-fern. Large, the fronds 2-3 ft. tall,
growing many together, twice-pinnate, the pinnules oblong-pointed and
sharp-toothed: sori short and close together, at maturity becoming more
or less continuous. A very common fern in moist woods and copses.
7. POLfSTICHUM. Christmas Fern.
Much like the last in general appearance, but the sori circular and
covered with peltate indusia.
P. acrostichoides, Kuntze {Aspidinm acrostichoides. Swartz). Christmas
fern. Figs. 331, 332. Fronds 2 ft. or less tall, narrow, once-pinnate, the
pinnae serrate and bearing a larger tooth on the upper side near the base,
the terminal part of the frond somewhat contracted in fruit. Common in
woods. Nearly or quite evergreen.
324 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
8. ASPIDIUM. Shield Fern.
Resembles Polystichum but with reniform indusia or, if circular-peltate,
having a distinct sinus along one side.
A. Thelypteris, Swartz (Dryopteris The-
lypteris, Gray). Marsh shield fern. Fronds
standing 2 ft. high, long-pointed, once-pin-
nate, the pinnae many-lobed, the margins of
the fertile fronds revolute.
A. marginale, Swartz (Dryopteris mar-
ginalis, Gray). Fig. 480. Large, handsome
,„„ . , " "" ~ "T , fern growing in woods and ravines, 2 ft.
480. Aspidmm marginale. , • , , , • lL .
high: fronds once-pinnate, the pinna? pinna-
tifid and lance-acuminate: sori large and close to the margin of the frond:
petiole chaffy.
AA. PHENOGAMS: B. GYMNOSPERMS.
II. CONIFERiE. Cone-bearing or Pine Family.
Woody plants, mostly trees, with resinous sap and stiff needle-
shaped or scale-like, mostly evergreen leaves: plants bearing no ovaries,
the ovules lying naked and receiving the pollen directly: flowers
diclinous (usually monoecious), generally in scaly catkins, those cat-
kins bearing the pistillate flowers maturing into cones but sometimes
becoming berry-like (as in junipers). Above 300 species, one-third
of which inhabit North America: particularly abundant in elevated
and mountainous regions.
A. Cone dry, with overlapping scales.
b. Scales many and cones 1 in. or more long.
c. Leaves long and needle-like, in sheaths or bundles of
2-5, persistent 1. Pinus
cc. Leaves short, scattered, persistent.
d. In cross-section, Ivs. 4-sided: sessile 2. Picea
dd. In cross-section, lvs. flat: short -petioled 3. Tsuga
ccc. Leaves short but very slender, in clusters, deciduous. 4. Larix
bb. Scales few (3-12), the cones about Yi in. long 5. Thuja
aa. Cone modified into a fleshy, berry-like body 6. Juniperus
1. PINUS. Pine.
Trees with long, persistent, needle-shaped, angled leaves, in bundles of
2-5, and with scale-like deciduous leaves on the young branchlets: sterile
catkins usually borne at the base of the new shoot: fertile cones maturing
the second year, often hanging on the tree for years: cotyledons several.
P. Strobus, Linn. White pine. Figs. 158, 299. Large forest tree, much
PINES AND SPRUCES
325
481. Pinus rigida.
Old open cone at the left.
used for lumber: leaves long and soft, light green, in 5's: cones long and
symmetrical, with thin-edged scales, terminal on the shoots and falling
after shedding the seeds. Grows as far
south as Georgia.
P. palustris, Mill. Long-leaved pine.
Very tall tree, with nearly smooth hark:
leaves very long and slender (usually a
foot or more), clusters at the ends of the
branches, in 3's: cones 6 in. or more
long, the scales tipped with a short
curved spine. Lumber tree. Virginia,
south.
P. rigida, Mill. Pitch pine. Fig. 481.
Medium-sized or small tree with rough
dark bark: leaves short and stiff, usually
in 3's: cone 2-3 in. long, conical, the
scales with a short spine. Grows as far
south as Virginia; common in pine barrens of the north Atlantic coast.
eastern species.
P. sylvestris, Linn. Scotch pine. Fig. 482. Medium-sized tree, with glau-
cous green leaves in 2's: cone short, the scales tipped with a prickle or point.
Europe; very commonly
planted.
P. austriaca, Hoss.
Austrian pine. Fig. 482.
Large tree with rough
bark, and long, dark
green stiff leaves (about
6 in. long) in 2's: cone
about 3 in. long, ■ the
scales not prickly.
Europe, commonly
planted; a coarser tree
Pinus sylvestris (left). Pinus austriaca. than the Scotch pine.
An
2. PICEA. Spkuci
Trees of medium or large size, with short, scattered leaves: cones
maturing tin1 first year, hanging at maturity, their scales thin.
P. Abies, Karst. (P. excelsa, Link). Norway spruce. Figs. 297, 298.
Becoming a tall tree: cones 5-7 in. long, the large scales very thin-edged.
Europe, but the commonest of planted evergreens. Until 25-40 years "Id.
the trees are symmetrical cone-shaped /*A<V S>i6£&-£'1>~ ' ' '■'■
specimens, holding their lower //A^W^^^^^vA^-V
branches. S&^l^
P. mariana, B.S.P. (P. nigra, f ^tft
Link). Black spruce. Fig. 4S3. P.ccom- 483. Picea mariana.
326
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
ing a middle-sized tree, with dull, dark foliage; cones \]4 in. or less long,
usually hanging for several years, the edges of the scales often irregular.
Cold woods, as far south as North Carolina in the mountains.
3. TSUGA. Hemlock Spruce.
Differs from Picea in having
flat 2-ranked petioled leaves: cones
hanging on the end of last year's
branches.
T. canadensis, Carr. Hemlock.
Fig. 484. Large forest tree, with
484. Tsuga canadensis, deep-furrowed, dark bark and
coarse wood: leaves whitish be-
neath: cones not an inch long, compact. Common lumber tree. Bark much
used in tanning.
4. LARIX. Larch.
Trees of medium size: leaves soft, short, in fascicles or clusters on
short branchlets, falling in autumn: cones much like those of Picea, but
standing erect at maturity.
L. decidua, Mill. (L. europcea, DC). European larch. Leaves 1 in.
long: cones of many scales, about 1 in. long. Planted for ornament and
timber.
L. laricina, Koch (L. americana, Michx.). Tamarack. Hackmatack.
Leaves shorter and pale in color: cones of few scales, Yi in. or less long.
Swamps.
5. THUJA. Arborvit^s.
Trees, becoming large: leaves opposite, closely appressed to the branch-
lets, the latter frond-like: cones small, oblong or globular, of few scales.
Leaves awl-like on new growths and scale-like on the older growths.
T. occidentalis, Linn. Arborxitaz. White cedar of some places. Fig.
485. Cones J^ in. or less long, bearing 2-winged seeds. Swamps and cold
woods, as far south as North Carolina in
the mountains. Very commonly planted
as a hedge evergreen and as single speci-
mens, but in the wild becoming very large
trees and much used for telegraph poles.
485. Thuja occidentalis.
6. JUNIPERUS. Juniper.
Small trees or shrubs, with opposite
or whorled awl-like leaves (often of two
kinds) : fertile catkin of 3-6 fleshy scales
which cohere and form a berry-like fruit containing 1-3 hard seeds.
J. communis, Linn. Common juniper. Shrub, erect or usually spreading
and lying close to the ground, with leaves in whorls of 3 and all alike (awl-
like): berries large and smooth. Banks and sterile ground.
THE AEUMS 327
J. virginiana, Linn. Red cedar. Savin. Small tree or largo shrub,
usually narrow pyramidal in growth, with leaves of two kinds (scale-like
and awl-like, the former small and lying close to the branch): berry glaucous:
heart-wood red and highly scented. Common on banks and in old fields.
BB. ANGIOSPERMS: C. MONOCOTYLEDONS.
III. ARACE.E. Arum Family.
Perennial herbs, with rhizomes or corm-like tubers and acrid juice:
flowers minute, often diclinous and naked, borne on a spadix and
surrounded or attended by a spathe: fruit usually a berry, the entire
spadix usually enlarging and bearing the coherent berries in a large
head or spike. Leaves often netted-veined. Mostly tropical plants,
and some of temperate regions, many of them odd and grotesque.
Genera about 100; species about 1,000. Representative plants are
skunk cabbage, jack-in-the-pulpit, calla, caladium, anthurium.
a. Leaves compound 1. Arissema
aa. Leaves simple.
B. Spathe hooded or roofed at the top 2. Symplocarpus
BB. Spathe open or spreading at the top 3. Riehardia
bbb. Spathe open and spreading for its whole length 4. Calla
bbbb. Spathe separated from spadix, appearing lateral. . . .5. Acorus
1. ARISSEMA. Indian Turnip. Jack-in-the-Pulpit.
Stem arising from a corm-like tuber, and bearing 1 or 2 compound leaves
with sheathing petioles: flowers naked and diclinous, the pistillate at the
base of the spadix and the staminate above them (or the plant dioecious),
the top of the spadix not flower-bearing: staminate flowers of a few sessile
anthers, and the pistillate with 1 sessile ovary, which ripens into a red few-
seeded berry. Plants of spring or early summer, in rich woods. Tuber
very pungent, often used in domestic medicine.
A. triphyllum, Schott. Jack-in-the-pulpit. Common Indian turnip.
Fig. 251. Leaves usually 2, each bearing 3 oblong elliptic pointed leaflets:
spathe purple-striped, curving over the spadix.
A. Dracontium, Schott. Dragon-root. Leaf usually 1, with 7-11 narrow
oblong leaflets: spathe greenish, shorter than the spadix.
2. SYMPLOCARPUS. Skunk Cabbage.
Leaves and flowers arising from a strong rootstock, the Ivs. very large
and appearing after the spathes: fls. perfect, each with 4 sepals, 4 stamens
and single ovary which is sunk in the fleshy spadix: fruit made up of the
fleshy spadix with imbedded fleshy seeds: spathe pointed and arching, in-
closing the spadix. Common in wet meadows in the northeastern states.
328
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
S. fcetidus, Nutt. Spathes purple, arising in the earliest spring: leaves
very large (often 2 ft. long), simple and entire, ovate, in tufts. The tufted
leaves and fetid odor give the plant the name of skunk cabbage.
RICHARDIA. Calla Lily.
Leaves several from each short rootstock, their pe-
tioles sheathing the flower-scape: flowers naked and
diclinous, the stamens above and the 3-loculed ovaries
below on the spadix: spathe large and showy, the top
flaring and the base rolling about the spadix. Several
species are cultivated, but the following is the only com-
mon one.
R. africana, Kunth. Calla or Calla lily of gardens.
Fig. 486. Leaf-blades broadly arrow-shaped, simple and
entire, cross-veined, glossy: spathe white and wax-like.
Cape of Good Hope.
n
486. Richardia
africana.
4' CALLA. Water Arum.
Differs from the above in having a spathe which does not inclose the
spadix, and mostly perfect flowers (the upper ones sometimes staminate),
each of 6 stamens and 1 ovary: fruit a red berry. One species.
C. paliistris, Linn. True calla. Fig. 487. Leaves about 1 ft. high, the
blades arrow-shaped: spathe about 2 in. long, white on the upper face.
In cold bogs, north.
5. ACORUS. Sweet Flag. Calamus.
Erect, having long, horizontal, branching root-stocks, thick and aromatic :
leaves sword-shaped, rising from the rootstocks: scapes 3-angled, bearing
each a cylindric spadix, but much prolonged and leaf-like, causing the
spadix to appear as if borne on the side of the leaf -like scape: flowers on a
very dense spadix: ovary oblong, 2-4-celled, with 2-8
ovules in each cell.
A. Calamus, Linn. Sweet flag. Calamus-root. Along
the margins of streams, in swamps and wet soils.
Leaves 2-3 ft.: flowers greenish-yellow, very small.
May to July. The rootstocks supply "sweet flag roots"
of the druggists.
IV. LILIACE^E. Lily Family.
Herbs, with bulbs, corms, or large rootstocks:
fls. mostly regular and showy, the perianth of 6
separate or coherent parts, the stamens usually 6 and standing in front
of the parts of the perianth: ovary superior, usually 3-loculed, ripen-
ing into a capsule or berry. About 200 genera, including more than
LILY FAMILY 329
2,000 widely distributed species. Characteristic plants are lily, lily-of-
the-valley, onion, Solomon's seal, tulip, trillium, hyacinth, asparagus,
yucca.
a. Fruit a LoculicidaJ capsule.
B. Style 1, undivided.
c. Plant bulbous: root-leaves not in large clumps.
d. Stem tall and leafy 1. Lilium
dd. Stem short, with only 2-6 leaves.
e. Flower erect 2. Tulipa
ee. Flower nodding 3. Erythronium
ddd. Stem naked, bearing many flowers.
e. Perianth tubular.
F. Flowers funnelform, throat open: lobes
spreading or recurved, as long as the
tube 4. Hyacinthus
ff. Flowers urn-shaped, constricted at throat;
lobes much shorter than tube 5. Muscari
ee. Perianth parted nearly to base 6. Orniihogalum
cc. Plant with a rootstock, and large clumps of
leaves.
d. Flowers yellow and paniculate on a somewhat
branching scape 7. Hemerocallis
dd. Flowers white or blue, mostly in a simple
raceme 8. Fun I: in
bb. Style 1 at base, but 3-cleft or 3-parted: flowers
bell-like, drooping, yellow 9. Uvula ria
aa. Fruit an angled berry: styles or stigmas 3: leaves
broad and netted-veined 10. Trillium
aaa. Fruit a globular berry: style 1: fls. small white, or
greenish.
b. Foliage made up of cladophylls, tin- true leaves
being mere scales: stamens borne on the base
of the small corolla 11. Asparagus
bb. Foliage of ordinary leaves: stamens borne on the
corolla-tube.
c. Perianth of 6 parts, separate 12. Smilacina
cc. Perianth of 4 parts 13. Maiantfu mum
ccc. Perianth gamosepalous, with 6 lobes.
d. Flowers racemose on a scape 14. Coitvallariu
dd. Flowers hanging from the axils of the leaves.. 15. Polygonatum
1. LILIUM. Lily.
Strong-growing bulbous herbs, with leafy stems usually bearing several
or many Sowers: perianth bell-shaped or funnelform, the <> divisions nearly
nr quite separate and spreading or recurving and having a honey-bearing
groove at the base: anthers attached by the middle (versatile).
330
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
a. Flowers white.
L. longiflorum. Thunb. Easter lily. One to 4 ft., with scattered long-
lanceolate pointed leaves: flowers 5-8 in. long, horizontal, scarcely
widened from the base to the middle, fragrant. Japan and China, now
much cultivated under glass. Many of the bulbs are grown
^\^ jftuTTi *n *^e Bermuda Islands, whence the name "Bermuda lily."
L. candidum, Linn. Common white lily. Leaves broad-
lanceolate, scattered: flowers numerous, 5 in. or less long,
widening gradually from the base. Europe. Common in
gardens.
Lilium
philadelphicum.
aa. Flowers in shades of yellow or orange.
L. philadelphicum, Linn. Fig. 488. Flowers 1-3, erect,
2-3 in. long, orange-red and spotted, the divisions separate:
leaves whorled. Dry soil.
L. canadense, Linn. Wild orange-red lily. Wood lily. Two
to 5 ft., with leaves in whorls and bulbs producing rhizomes
or runners: fls. several or many, erect or horizontal on long
stalks, the divisions spreading above the middle, orange or
red and spotted. Meadows and swales.
L. superbum, Linn. Turk's-cap lily. Fig. 489. Very tall,
bearing several or many nodding red-orange spotted flowers
in a panicle, the segments all pointing backward. Meadows
and low grounds.
L. tigrinum, Ker. Tiger lily. Fig. 31. Four to 5 ft.,
bearing a loose cottony covering on the stems: leaves sessile,
scattered, lanceolate: flowers many, nodding in a panicle,
orange-red and black-spotted, the divisions about 4 in. long
and rolled back. China and Japan; old gardens.
2. TULIPA. Tulip.
Low bulbous plants with a few leaves near the ground on the 1-flowered
stem: flower large, erect, the 6 divisions erect or flaring: capsule triangular.
T. Gesneriana. Linn. Common tulip. Leaves 3-6, broad: peduncle
glabrous: divisions of the flower broad at the end, with a
very short point in the center: late-blooming tulips, orig-
inally from Asia Minor.
T. suaveolens, Roth. Due Van Thol tulip. Early and
dwarf, with fewer leaves, downy peduncle, and acuminate
segments. Caspian Sea; common in cultivation.
3. ERYTHRONIUM. Dog's-tooth Violet.
Low herbs with deep-seated conical bulbs, and scape
with 2 leaves near the ground: flower nodding, the 6 divi-
490. Erythronium sions wide-spreading or recurved, the style long and club-
americanum. shaped. Blooming in earliest spring.
LILY FAMILY 331
E. americanum, Smith. Common dog's-tooth violet, or adder' s-tongue.
Fig. 490. Leaves thickish, oblong-lanceolate, mottled with purple: flower
light yellow, nodding on a stem 3-6 in. tall. Low grounds.
E. albidum, Nutt. White adder' s-tongue. Leaves scarcely mottled:
flowers whitish. Low grounds.
4. HYACINTHUS. Hyacinth.
Low plants, with large bulbs, producing many flowers in spikes or dense
racemes on a short scape, the leaves arising directly from the bulb: flowers
bell-shaped or funnelform, the 6 lobes spreading or curling back.
H. orientalis. Linn. Common hyacinth. Fig. 186. Early spring, the
flowers of many colors and sometimes double, the perianth-tube swollen,
the oblong-spatulate lobes as long as the tube. Greece to Asia Minor.
Var. albulus, Baker. Roman hyacinth. Flowers fewer and usually
smaller, white or nearly so, the perianth-tube scarcely swollen and the lobes
shorter. France. Much cultivated.
5. MUSCARI. Grape Hyacinth.
Low herbs, with very narrow, somewhat fleshy leaves and small flowers
in a raceme: perianth deep blue or white, the tube ventricose or urn-shaped,
with 6 short blunt teeth.
M. botryoides. Mill. Grape hyacinth. Flowers faintly odorous, nod-
ding, deep blue: scape 4-10 in.: leaves linear, obtuse, erect, becoming longer
than scapes. In grass about gardens and lawns in very early spring; also
escaped in some places to meadows and along roadsides. Asia.
6. ORNITHOGALUM. Star of Bethlehem.
Stemless low herbs, with narrow linear, fleshy, channelled leaves:
flowers in terminal clusters, usually with conspicuous bracts: perianth
of (i parts, white, spreading, veined: stamens 6, hypogynous: filaments
flattened, subulate: ovary sessile, 3-celled: capsule roundish, 3-angled:
seeds few, black.
O. umbellatum. Linn. Scape 4-10 in.; flowers 5-8, on long spreading
pedicels: sepals white, each with green band outside. Common about
gardens. Introduced from Europe. Early spring.
7. HEMEROCALLIS. Day-lily.
Strong-growing plants from tuberous roots, producing clumps of long
swoid-shapcd leaves: flowers yellow or orange, erect, large and lily-like, in
clusters or panicles on a tall, branching scape, the divisions widely spread-
ing at the top. Old World, but common in gardens.
H. ffilva, Linn. Orange day-lily. Flowers tawny orange, produced in
early summer, the inner perianth divisions nearly or quite obtuse. The
commonest species, and often escaped along roadsides.
H. flava, Linn. Yellow day-lily. Plant somewhat smaller, early-
blooming: flowers fragrant, pure lemon-yellow, inner divisions acute.
332
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
491. Funkia
subcordata.
8. FUNKIA. White and Blue Day-lily.
Medium-sized plants, producing dense clumps of broad-bladed leaves
from rootstocks: flowers blue or white, in racemes on scapes, each flower
sheathed at the base by 1 or 2 bracts, the perianth-tube long and the limb
sometimes irregular. China and Japan ; planted by houses
and along walks.
F. subcordata, Spreng. White day-lily. Fig. 491. Leaves
broadly cordate-ovate: flowers large and white, in a short
raceme, not drooping.
F. ovata, Spreng. (F. casrulea, Sweet). Blue day-lily.
Fig. 492. Leaves broadly ovate: flowers deep blue, in a long
raceme, nodding.
9. UVULARIA. Bellwort. "Wild Oats."
Low, erect plants, with short rootstocks: stems with
leaves alternate above, sessile or perfoliate, parallel-veined:
flowers yellow, drooping, solitary at the end of the forking
stems, the perianth elongated, bell-shaped, of 6 similar,
distinct, narrow sepals, each bearing a nectar gland at in-
side base. Spring-flowering wood plants.
U. grandiflora, Smith. Large-flowered Bellwort. Commonly 1-2 ft.
tall: leaves oblong, whitish-pubescent beneath, and perfoliate: perianth
smooth on inner surfaces. Common in rich woods. Blooms a little earlier
' than U. perfoliate,.
U. perfoliata, Linn. Smaller than the preceding: glaucous, leaves per-
foliate: perianth segments twisted, covered on inner surface with shining
grains (papillose): flowers somewhat fragrant, pale
yellow. Common in moist woods.
U. sessilifolia, Linn. (Oakesia sessilifolia) . Straw
lily. Leaves sessile, lance-oval, thin, smooth, pale be-
neath: stem angled, slender and zigzag: flower green-
ish-yellow, about 1 in. long. Woods.
10. TRILLIUM. Wake-robin.
Low herbs from deep-seated corm-like tubers:
leaves 3 in a whorl, broad and netted-veined : flower
single, of 3-colored petals and 3 green sepals, the
latter persistent until the angled, many-seeded berry
ripens; stigmas 3, often sessile. Plants of earliest spring, growing in
rich woods.
492. Funkia ovata.
a. Flower sessile in the leaf-whorl.
T. sessile, Linn. Flowers dull purple, the parts narrow, pointed, and
nearly erect: leaves sessile, ovate, often blotched with purple. Pennsylvania,
west and south.
LILY FAMILY 333
aa. Flower stalked in the leaf-whorl.
T. grandiflorum, Saliab. Common wake-robin, or birthrool. Fig. 244.
Flowers large and white, the peduncle standing erect or nearly so, the
petals broadest above the middle (obovate) and 2-23^ in. long: leaves broad-
ovate, sessile or nearly so. Flowers become rose-pink with age.
T. erectum, Linn. Flowers smaller, ill-scented, varying from white to
pink and purple, the peduncle erect or declined, the petals ovate or lanceo-
late and spreading: leaves broad-ovate. Frequent North, and south to
Tennessee.
T. cernuum, Linn. Flowers not large, white, the peduncle declined under
the broad leaves; petals ovate-lanceolate, rolled back. Range of the last.
T. undulatum, Willd. Painted wake-robin. Flowers on peduncles
erect, or partly declined; segments ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, margined,
thin, widely spreading, white, penciled with purple stripes at base; sepals
half as long as petals: leaves ovate, taper-pointed, distinctly petioled,
obtuse or rounded at the base. Cool damp woods, from New Brunswick to
Georgia, and west.
11. ASPARAGUS. Asparagus.
Mostly tall, often climbing plants with cladophylla and very small
scale-like true leaves: flowers white or greenish, small, bell-shaped, scat-
tered or in groups of 2 or 3: fruit a 3-loculed and 1-6-seeded small berry.
A. officinalis, Linn. Common asparagus. Figs.
159, 160. Erect and branchy, the strong young
6hoots thick and edible: berries red. Europe.
A. plumosus, Baker. Fig. 161. Twining, with
dark, frond-like foliage, small white flowers and
black berries. South Africa; greenhouses.
493
A. medeoloides, Thunb. Smilax of florists (but , ", , . ,
. , , . . . x L. .„.> rp . . , ,. , , Asparagus medeoloides.
not of botanists). lug. 493. Twining: foliage broad
and leaf -like: flowers solitary and fragrant: berries dark green. South
Africa; much grown by florists.
12. SMILACtNA. False Solomon's Seal.
Low, erect plants with many small white flowers in racemes or pani-
cles: perianth 6-par^ed: fruit a 3-loculed berry: rootstock creeping.
S. racemosa, Desf. False spikenard. About 2 ft. tall, somewhat downy,
with many oblong or oval leaves: flowers in a panicle: berries pale red,
speckled. Spring and early summer. Rich woods.
S. stellata, Desf. Nearly or quite smooth: leaves narrower: flowers in
a simple raceme. Forms patches in low ground.
13. MAIANTHEMUM. Two-leaved Solomon's Seal.
Xeat little herbs, with slender rootstocks: stems unbranched, few-
leaved: flowers small, in an open raceme, with usually 2 or 3 pedicels
together; perianth of 4 ovate, obtuse, spreading segments, united at base:
fruit a globular 1-2-seeded berry. One species in eastern North America.
334 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
M. canadense, Desf. Slender stem, 3-6 in. high, terminated by the
many-flowered raceme: flowers white: leaves ovate, cordate at base, short-
stalked. Common in moist woods and on shaded banks, making mats or
patches. May to July.
14. CONVALLARIA. Lily-of-the-valley.
Low, spring-flowering herbs from branching rootstocks: flowers gamo-
petalous, white and waxy, nodding in a 1-sided raceme, the 6 short lobes
recurving: fruit a red berry.
C. majalis. Linn. Leaves oblong, numerous from the rootstocks, form-
ing mats, and about 2 with each scape: flowers very fragrant. One of the
best-known garden flowers. Europe. The only species.
15. POLYGONATUM. Solomon's Seal.
Mostly strong plants from long running rootstocks on which the scars
of preceding stalks are very evident (whence the common name): stems
leafy, bearing nodding gamosepalous flowers in the axils: fruit a globular,
dark-colored berry. Rich woods, spring.
P. commutatum, Dietr. Three to 5 ft. tall: leaves ovate, somewhat clasp-
ing: peduncles in each axil, 2-8-flowered: filaments not roughened.
P. biflorum, Ell. One to 3 ft.: leaves oblong, nearly sessile, somewhat
glaucous, hairy: peduncles usually 2-flowered: filaments roughened.
V. COMMELINACEiE. Spiderwort Family.
Herbs, annual or perennial, with flat, narrow leaves, sheathing
at base: roots fibrous, sometimes thickened: flowers regular or irreg-
ular, perfect, usually showy, in terminal cymes, usually borne above a
leafy or spathe-like bract; sepals 3: petals 3, soon decaying or falling;
stamens 6, hypogynous, some of them often deformed or abortive:
ovary 2-3-celled, style single, stigma entire or somewhat lobed: juice
slimy or mucilaginous. More than 300 species, mainly belonging to
tropical regions.
a. Flowers irregular, inclosed in cordate spathe-like
floral leaf; perfect stamens 3 (rarely 2) 1. Commelina
aa. Flowers regular, or nearly so; bracts leaf -like;
stamens 6 2. Tradescantia
aaa. Flowers somewhat irregular, tubular, usually in pairs :
trailing habit, easily rooting at nodes 3. Zebrina
1. COMMELiNA. Day Flower.
Plants erect or partly procumbent and rooting at joints, succulent,
branching: leaves petioled or sessile, the floral leaf or spathe cordate:
flowers recurved on their pedicels and hooded by the floral leaf before and
after flowering, open for a short time only.
SPIDERWORT — AMARYLLIS 335
C. virginica, Linn. Stem glabrous or somewhat downy, ascending 1-2
ft.: leaves Lanceolate to linear, acuminate: flowers 1 in. wide, the odd petal
very small. In moist soil.
2. TRADESCANTIA. Spiderwort.
Mucilaginous herbs, with stout, succulent stems, simple or branched:
leaves elongated, narrow, keeled, sometimes purple-veined: flowers in ter-
minal and axillary umbelled clusters, with leaf-like bracts, not tubular;
filaments glabrous or bearded.
T. virginiana, Linn. Plant green, erect, with linear leaves: flower-
clusters showy, terminal; corolla over 1 in. broad, the 3 petals deep blue
(rarely white), longer than sepals; filaments blue, and clothed with hairs.
Cultivated and wild; mostly in rich soil. Very variable. Flowers quickly
fading by becoming mucilaginous, but produced all summer.
T. pilosa, Lehm. Stout, more or less zigzag, stems soft-hairy or nearly
smooth: leaves lanceolate, tapering at apex, narrowed at base, hairy on both
sides: cymes terminal and axillary, or on short axillary branches: flowers
%-\ in. wide. In rich moist soil, woods and thickets, or in shaded places.
T. fluminensis, Veil. One of the greenhouse plants known as Wandering
Jew (see Zebrina), but leaves usually green and flowers white. South America.
3. ZEBRINA. Wandering Jew.
Low, trailing or partially climbing, rooting readily at the nodes, and
branching: leaves often striped with purple, green, white, thick and ovate:
flowers small, more or less irregular, tubular, usually in pairs.
Z. pendula, Schnitzl. Stems trailing, perennial: corolla 3-parted,
roseate: calyx with short tube, 3-parted: ovary 3-celled, 3-6 ovuled: leaves
ovate or oblong, heavy or succulent, green and silver stripes above, purple
beneath. Much used for vases and baskets. A native of Mexico.
VI. AMARYLLIDACE.E. Amaryllis Family.
Differs from Liliacese chiefly in having an apparently inferior ovary
and in bearing its flowers more uniformly on scapes. More than 600
species in nearly 70 genera, widely dispersed. Representative plants
are narcissus, daffodil, snowdrop, tuberose, amaryllis. Plants of
the first three genera may be grown from bulbs in the school-room.
A. Plants from coated bulbs; stem a leafless scape
B. Perianth with a crown or cup in its center 1. Narcissus
bb. Perianth with no cup.
c. Anthers and style pointed 2. Gala?ithus
cc. Anthers and style blunt 3. Leucoium
aa. Plants from tuberous rootstocks or corms.
B. Stem tall and leafy 4. Polianthes
bb. Stem a low, leafless scape 5. Hypoxis
336
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
1. NARCISSUS. Narcissus. Daffodil.
Low plants producing from 1 to many 6-parted flowers on a scape which
arises from a tunicated bulb: perianth with a long tube and bearing a cup
or crown in its center. Old World, but frequently
CiHs^V cultivated.
AC .
<ju m inw ,-"^jb a- Crown as long as, or longer than, the
divisions of the perianth.
N. Pseudo-Narcissus, Linn. Trumpet narcissus.
Common daffodil. Scape 1-flowered, the flower large
and yellow with a relatively short tube and a wavy-
edged crown. Leaves flat and glaucous. Double forma
are common in gardens.
494.
Narcissus Tazetta.
Crown half or more as long as the divisions
of the perianth.
N. incomparabilis, Curt. Scape 1-flowered, the flower about 2 in. or
more across, yellow, the cylindrical tube 1 in. long, the crown plaited and
usually a deeper yellow: leaves flat and glaucous.
aaa. Crown less than half the length of the division.
N. Tazetta, Linn. Polyanthus narcissus. Chinese sacred lily. Fig. 494.
Flowers several to many in an umbel, yellow or white, small, the crown
usually darker colored and usually somewhat scalloped: leaves flat and
somewhat glaucous. One of the commonest kinds. The narcissus known
to florists as "Paper-white" is a white-flowered form of this
species.
N. poeticus, Linn. Poet's narcissus. Scape rather slender,
usually 1-flowered, the flower white with the thick rim of
the very short crown margined with red: leaves flat, glaucous.
N. Jonquflla, Linn. Jonquil. Scape 2-5-flowered, the
flowers small and yellow, the tube slender and the segments
wide-spreading: leaves linear, somewhat cylindrical.
2. GALANTHUS. Snowdrop.
Small, spring-blooming plants, with a single white flower
nodding from the top of the scape, followed by grass-like
leaves: perianth divisions 6, oblong and more or less con-
cave, the three inner ones shorter, some of them usually
green-blotched at the tip; anthers and style pointed.
G. nivalis, Linn. Snowdrop. Fig. 495. One of the earliest of spring
flowers, appearing as soon as the snow is gone, the flower and leaves arising
from a small bulb: scape 6 in. or less high: inner divisions of the bell-shaped
flower tipped with green. Europe.
495. Galanthua
nivalis.
IRIS FAMILY 337
3. LEUCOIUM. Snowflake.
Flowers often more than 1: divisions of the perianth all alike: anthers
and style blunt: otherwise very like Galanthus.
L. vernum, Linn. Snowflake. Taller than the snowdrop (about 1 ft.),
the scape usually 1-flowered, blooming later, the flowers larger. Europe.
4. POLIANTHES. Tuberose.
Leafy-stemmed lily-like plants, with a thick, tuberous rootstock (whence
the name tuber-ose not tube-rose), bearing an erect spike of white flowers;
perianth with a short slightly curved tube and 6 spreading nearly equal
divisions: stamens included in the tube (not projecting).
P. tuberosa, Linn. Tuberose. Two to 3 ft., bearing long-linear, chan-
nelled, many-ranked leaves: flowers very fragrant, sometimes tinted with
rose. A popular garden plant from Mexico, blooming in the open in late
summer and autumn; some forms are double.
5. HYPOXIS. Star-grass.
Stemless, with grass-like, hairy leaves, growing from a corm-like root-
stock: flowers yellow on filiform scapes; perianth 6-parted.
H. hirsuta, Coville. Scape 3-8 in., not so long as the grassy leaves, soft-
hairy: flowers 1-4, yellow, greenish without, about H in. in diameter. Com-
mon in dry soils.
VII. IRIDACE^. Iris Family.
Differs from Amaryllidacese and Liliacese in its inferior ovary,
3 stamens which are opposite the outer parts of the perianth, and
2-ranked equitant (bases overlapping) leaves: stigmas sometimes large
and petal-like. About 60 genera and 700 species. Representative
plants are iris or blue flag, crocus, gladiolus, freesia. Crocuses and
freesias are easily grown in window-boxes for winter and spring bloom.
a. Lobes of the style expanded and colored, looking like
petals 1. Iris
AA. Lohes of the Style thread-like.
B. Plant stemless: flowers borne on scapes.
c. From corms: spathe 1-flowered: flower large,
and perianth-tube long and slender 2. Crocus
cc. From mostly fibrous roots: perianth-tube scarcely
perceptible, if at all: flowers small: spathe 2-
or more flowered 3. Sisyrinchium
bb. Plants with a leaf-bearing and flower-bearing stem.
c. Flowers in a short 1-sided cluster: plant small 4. Freesia
cc. Flowers in a terminal spike: plant large 5. Gladiolus
V
338
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
496. Iris germanica.
1. IRIS. Fleur-de-lis. Flag.
Mostly strong plants, with rhizomes or tubers: flowers mostly large and
showy, the 3 outer segments recurving and the 3 inner ones usually smaller
and more erect or sometimes incurving; the 3 long divisions of the style
petal-like and often more or less hairy, covering the stamens ; stigma on
the under side of the style: leaves long and sword-
shaped. Several wild and many cultivated species.
The following species have rhizomes:
a. Flowers yellow.
I. Pseudacorus, Linn. Common yellow flag. One
to 3 ft., with several-flowered, often branching stems;
outer divisions of the perianth with no hairs or crests;
flowers bright yellow. Europe.
aa. Flowers in shades of blue (sometimes varying to white).
I. versicolor, Linn. Common wild blue flag. Two
to 3 ft., stout: leaves ?£in. wide, flat: flowers about 3
in. long, short-stalked violet-blue, the tube shorter
than the ovary, the inner petals small and the outer
ones with no hairs. Swamps.
I. laevigata, Fisch. & Mey. (/. Kacmpferi, Sieb.). Japanese iris. Two to
3 feet, the stem much overtopping the thin, broad leaves: flowers large
(sometimes several inches across), flat, the inner lobes spreading, the
outer ones very large and rounded, with no hairs or crests: color mostly in
shades of blue and purple. Japan; now one of the choicest of garden irises.
I. germanica, Linn. Common blue flag of gardens (sometimes runs wild).
Fig. 496. Two to 3 ft, with long sword-shaped leaves: flowers few or several
to each stem, about 3-4 in. across, the drooping outer segments with
yellow hairs, the inner segments erect and arching inward. Europe.
2. CROCUS. Crocus.
Small, stemless plants, the long-tubed flowers and the
grass-like leaves arising directly from the coated corm:
flowers with the 6 obovate divisions all alike and erect-
spreading or the inner ones a little the smaller, opening
only in sunshine. The following, from Europe, blooms in
earliest spring:
C. vernus, Linn. Common crocus. Fig. 497. Leaves ._,
2-4 to each flower, glaucous on the under side: flower
rising little above the ground; color in shades of lilac and variously striped,
sometimes white.
3. SISYRINCHIUM. Blue-eyed Grass.
Low, slender, perennial herbs with grass-like, linear, or lanceolate
leaves and fibrous roots: scapes or stems erect, compressed, 2-edged or
IRIS FAMILY 339
winged, often branched: flowers small, usually blue or bluish, soon wither-
ing, in terminal 2-5-flowered umbels in a 2-leaved spathe; perianth seg-
ments spreading, bristle-pointed: stamens 3, monadelphous; style 1 long;
stigmas very slender; ovary 3-celled.
S. angustifdlium, Mill. Grassy plants in tufts or clumps: scape 4-12 in.,
spathe single, sessile: flowers blue to purple, rarely
white; petals notched and mucronate. In moist
meadows, among grass. Summer. Common.
4. FREfiSIA. Freesia.
Small, cormous plants with flat leaves: flowers
white or yellowish, tubular, with a somewhat spread-
ing limb, the tube generally curved: stem about 1 ft.
high, bearing several erect flowers on a sidewise
cluster. Popular florists' plants of easy culture and
quick growth.
F. refracta, Klatt. Fig. 498. Leaves narrow:
flower usually somewhat 2-lipped or irregular, white in the most popular
forms but yellowish in some, often with blotches of yellow; fragrant. Cape
of Good Hope.
5. GLADIOLUS. Gladiolus.
Tall, erect plants, with flat, strong-veined leaves, the stem arising from
a corm (Fig. 54): flowers in a more or less 1-sided terminal
spike, short-tubed, the limb flaring and somewhat unequal:
stamens separate (united in some related genera): style
long, with 3 large stigmas.
G. gandavensis, Van Houtte. Fig. 499. Upper seg-
ments of the perianth nearly horizontal: colors various and
bright: spikes long. Hybrid of two or more species from
499. Gladiolus the Cape of Good Hope. Summer and fall. The common
gaDdavensis. gladioli of gardens are greatly hybridized.
VIII. ORCHIDACE.E. Orchid Family.
Perennial herbs, distinguished by singular and extremely irregu-
lar perfect flowers, among the most ornamental and interesting of
native and exotic plants, curiously adapted, in most cases, to insect
pollination; many air-plants (epiphytes) of the tropics and warmer
regions also belong to this family. Leaves visually alternate, simple,
entire, sheathing: perianth in 6 divisions, adnate to the 1-celled ovary:
sepals 3, the outer segments of the perianth usually colored and similar
or nearly so, appearing petal-like, the 2 lateral petals generally alike;
third petal, the lip (the upper petal and, morphologically, next to
axis, but apparently next to bract, by a peculiar twisting of the ovary),
340 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
very unlike the others, usually larger and frequently lobed, spurred,
or saccate: stamens 1 or 2 fertile, variously coherent with the style
or with a thick, fleshy stigma, all together forming the column: pollen
in waxy or powdery masses: ovary inferior. About 5,000 species
and over 400 genera, of wide distribution but most abundant in the
tropics; species rather difficult to determine, and therefore not de-
scribed here in detail. Ours usually found in cool, damp woods, bogs,
and meadows. Some of the rarest of greenhouse plants, and often very
difficult to grow, are members of this family.
A. Lip sac-like or inflated, larger than the other parts.
b. Anthers 2, one on each side of the style: a spread-
ing sterile stamen over the summit of the style:
flowers generally large and drooping 1. Cypripedium
aa. Lip not saccate, but spurred, and sometimes fringed:
flowers in a terminal spike.
b. Sepals more or less spreading 2. Hahenaria
bb. Sepals and petals somewhat arching together 3. Orchis
AAA. Lip not noticeably saccate or spurred.
b. Flowers in spikes, appearing more or less twisted
about the spike, in 1 or several rows: flowers small.
• c. Leaves not variegated 4. Spiranthes
cc. Leaves variegated with white veins 5. Epipactis
bb. Flowers 1 to several, in a spike-like loose raceme:
or terminal on a leaf-bearing stem.
a. Stem (scape) from one grass-like leaf: lip crested
with colored hairs 6. Calopogon
cc. Stem 1-3-leaved 7. Pogonia
1. CYPRIPfiDIUM. Lady's Slipper. Moccasin Flower.
Distinguished by having 2 fertile anthers: pollen sticky, as though var-
nished on surface, powdery beneath: lip a large, inflated, spurless sac,
toward which the column bends: leaves large, broad, many-nerved: flowers
large, showy. Fig. 250.
C. hirsutum, Mill. Stem leafy, 1-2 ft., or more: flower solitary or
2 or 3 together; lip a globular sac, white, colored with purplish-pink. lM-2
in. long. In swamps, bogs and woods, North, and South in mountains. June
to September. One of our rare and beautiful wild flowers.
C. acaule, Ait. Scape 1 ft. tall, with two leaves at base, 1-flowered:
sepals greenish purple, spreading; lip pink, veined with rose-purple, about
2 in. long, fragrant, split down the front, but edges closed. Woods and
bogs. May to June. Fig. 250.
C. pubescens, Willd. Stem slender, leafy, 1-2 ft., usually clustered,
1- to several-flowered: flowers yellow, lip much inflated, with purplish stripes
or spots, lJ^j-2 in. long. Low woods, meadows. May to July.
C. parviflorum, Salisb. Stem 1-2 ft. high, leafy, 1- to several-flowered :
ORCHIDS 341
flowers yellow, fragrant; lip usually more marked with purplish spots or
lines than preceding and smaller, about 1 in. long. Low woods and thickets.
May to July.
C. candidum, Muhl. Lip white, with purple veins and stripes, not 1 in.
long. A very rare species, found in bogs and wet meadows, New York and
New Jersey to Minnesota, Missouri, Kentucky.
C. arietinum, R. Br. Slender, less than 1 ft., leafy stemmed: flower 1,
drooping, the 3 sepals separate and very narrow and greenish, the lip somewhat
shorter than sepals Vi in. long, red with lighter veins. Cold woods, North.
2. HABENARIA. Fringed or Ragged Orchids.
Flowers several or numerous, in open terminal spikes, each flower in
the axil of a foliaceous bract: corolla white, purplish or j'ellow, with lip
variously fringed or 3-parted and cut-toothed, spur longer than lip: 1
anther: pollen-mass stalked, cohering. Growing, for most part, in wet
places, borders of ponds, etc., through eastern United States. Several
species, rather too critical for the beginner and therefore not described
here. By some, the genus is broken up into several genera.
3. ORCHIS.
Very similar to Habenaria, differing in having the glands attached to
the pollen masses, and inclosed in a kind of pocket: the petals are arched and
somewhat connivent over the column.
O. spectabilis, Linn. Stem short, from 2 large and glossy root-leaves,
and carrying 1 or 2 lanceolate bracts, with several flowers above, in a
raceme: lip white, spurred at base: other petals purplish pink, arching up
over the flower. Woods.
4. SPIRANTHES. Ladies' Tresses.
Generally characterized by small flowers, whitish, yellowish or greenish
white, bent horizontally and arranged in 1-3 rows spirally in a spike,
appearing as if twisted: stem usually bearing leaves below, or at the base:
lip of the little flowers not saccate but erect, oblong, recurved, channelled,
the base embracing the column and bearing 2 callous protuberances; anther
1-2-celled: 1 powdery pollen mass in each cell. Several species.
S. cernua, Richard. Six to 20 in. high, having leafy bracts with the
flowers; spike dense, with flowers in 3 rows, inflorescence appearing but
slightly twisted: leaves lance-linear. Common in moist meadows and
swamps. Late summer and early autumn.
S. gracilis, Beck. Spike and scape slender, with flowers in one straight
or spiral row: leaves all radical, ovate to oblong, commonly withering
away at or before flowering. Common in dry or sandy fields, open or
hilly woods. July to October.
5. EPIPACTIS. Rattlesnake Plantain.
In spike and perianth similar to spiranthes, but without the 2 lateral
callous protuberances on the lip: leaves basal, tufted, thickish, petioled,
342 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
dark green, usually blotched or veined with white. A few species widely
distributed, but not common, with handsome leaves. The genus is also
known as Peramium and as Goodyera.
6. CALOPOGON. Grass Pink.
Scapes from round solid bulbs bearing several flowers in loose terminal
spikes or racemes; leaf 1, grass-like. Distinguished by having the lip on
the upper side (ovary or stalk not twisting) bearded.
C. pulchellus, R. Br. Scape 1 ft. high, 2-6-flowered : flowers 1 in. across,
pink-purple; the lip triangular at apex, crested with colored hairs (yellow,
orange, purple), club-shaped: anther lid-like: pollen-masses 4, powdery.
Wet meadows and bogs. Very pretty.
7. POGONIA.
Low, with solitary, terminal, odd flowers; alternate leaves: lip spurless,
crested or hooded or 3-lobed; column not attached: calyx spreading; fertile
anther lid-like; 2 pollen-masses, granular.
P. ophioglossoides, Ker. Stem 6-9 in. from a fibrous root; leaf sessile,
oval near middle of stem: lip erect, bearded and fringed; flower 1 in. long,
Bweet-scented, pale rose color, slightly nodding, with a leafy bract. Marshes
or swampy places. Eastern United States. June to July.
BB. PHENOGAMS: ANGIOSPERMS: DICOTYLEDONS.
D. CHORIPETALM.
IX. CUPULlFERiE. Oak Family.
Monoecious trees and shrubs with staminate flowers in catkins
and the pistillate in catkins or solitary: leaves alternate, with stipules
early deciduous (mostly scale-like), and the side- veins straight or
nearly so : stamens 2 to many : fruit a 1-seeded nut, sometimes inclosed
in an involucre. Ten or a dozen genera and upwards of 450 species.
Representative plants are oak, chestnut, beech, birch, hazel, ironwood.
a. Sterile flowers in a hanging head: fruits 2 three-cornered
nuts in a small, spiny involucre or bur 1. Fagus
aa. Sterile flowers in cylindrical catkins.
b. Fruit 1-4 rounded or flat-sided nuts in a large, sharp-
spiny involucre or bur 2. Castanea
bb. Fruit an acorn — a nut sitting in a scaly or spiny cup 3. Quercus
bbb. Fruit flat and often winged, thin and seed-like, borne
under scales in a cone.
c. Fertile flowers naked: mature cone-scales thin 4. Bctula
cc. Fertile flowers with a calvx: cone-scales thick 5. Alnuh
BEECH — CHESTNUT — OAK 343
1. FAGUS. Beech.
Tall forest trees with light bark, and prominent parallel side-veins in
the leaves: sterile flowers in a small, pendulous head, with 5-7-cleft calyx
and 8-16 stamens: fertile flowers 2, in a close involucre, ripening into 2
three-cornered "beech nuts" in a 4-valved bur.
F. grandifolia, Ehrh. American beech. Close-grained, hard-wood tree,
with light colored bark: leaves ovate-oblong and acuminate, coarsely serrate,
usually with 9 or more pairs of nerves: nuts ripening in the fall, and much
sought by boys and squirrels. A common forest tree.
F. sylvatica, Linn. European beech. Fig. 151. Often planted, particularly
in the form of the purple-leaved and weeping beech: foliage differs in being
mostly smaller, ovate or elliptic, small-toothed, with 9 or less pairs of nerves.
2. CASTANEA. Chestnut.
Forest trees, with rough, furrowed bark: Sterile flowers with 4-7-lobed
calyx and 8-20 stamens in very long, erect or spreading catkins, which
appear in clusters in midsummer: fertile flowers about 3 in an involucre,
producing "chestnuts" in a spiny bur.
C. dentata, Borkh. American chestnut. Fig. 267. Tall, straight-
grained tree, with large, broad and thin, oblong-lanceolate leaves, which are
taper-pointed, and have large teeth with spreading spines: nuts usually 1 in.
or less across, sweet. Grows as far west as Michigan, and south to
Mississippi.
C. sativa, Mill. European chestnut. Less tall: leaves smaller and
narrower, more pubescent when young, not long-acuminate, the teeth smaller
and their spines more incurved: nuts 1 in. or more across, not so sweet as
those of the American chestnut. Europe. Very com-
monly planted.
I
500. Quercus alba. 501. Quercus maerocarpa. 502. Quercus Prinus.
3. QUERCUS. Oak.
Strong, close-grained trees, with mostly laterally-lobed leaves: sterile
flowers in clustered hanging catkins, with a 4-7-lobed calyx, and 3-12 sta-
mens: fertile one in a shallow involucre which becomes the cup of the
acorn, the stigma 3-lobed: fruit an acorn. See Fig. 228, which represents
a form of the English oak {Q. Robur) often planted in choice grounds.
a. White oak group, distinguished by its light gray scaly bark, rounded lobes
or teeth of the leaves, and the acorns maturing the first year. (Q. rin its
has nearly or quite entire leaves.)
Q. alba, Linn. White oak, Fig. 500. Leaves obovate, 5 or 6 in.
long, the Lobes usually 7 and al equal distances apart, and the sinuses
344
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
deep or shallow: acorn small, with a rather shallow and not fringed cup.
The commonest species.
Q. macrocarpa, Michx. Bur oak. Fig. 501. Leaves obovate, downy
or pale on the lower surface, toothed towards the tips and irregularly and
often deeply lobed toward the base: acorn cups heavily fringed on the
margins: young branches corky. More common West.
Q. Prinus, Linn. Chestnut oak. Fig. 502. Leaves rather long-obovate,
503. Quercus bicolor.
504. Quercus rubra.
505. Quercus coccinea.
toothed, with rounded teeth and yellow-ribbed: acorn long and the cup
hard-scaled: bark dark with broad, deep furrows. Eastern.
Q. bicolor, Willd. Swamp white oak. Fig. 503. Leaves obovate. white-
downy on their lower surface, toothed with squarish teeth, the bases wedge-
shaped: acorn small, with the margin of the cup finely fringed. Common
in low grounds and along ravines.
Q, virginiana, Mill. Live-oak. Leaves small, oblong, entire or sometimes
spiny-toothed, thick and evergreen: acorn oblong, the nut about one-third
covered with its scaly cup. Virginia, south.
aa. Black oak group, distinguished by its dark furrowed bark, pointed lobes
of the leaves, and the acor?is maturing the second year.
Q. rubra, Linn. Red oak. Fig. 504. Leaves obovate or sometimes
shorter, the 7-9 lobes triangular and pointing toward the tips: acorn large,
flat-cupped. Common.
Q. coccinea, Moench. Scarlet oak. Fig. 505.
Leaves obovate, bright scarlet in autumn, thin,
smooth on the lower surface, the sinuses deep,
wide and rounded : margin of the acorn cup round-
ing inwards and the scales close: inner bark
reddish. Common.
Q. veliitina, Lam. Black oak. Fig. 506.
Leaves obovate, coarser, downy on the lower sur-
face until midsummer or later, wider toward the
tip, the sinuses shallow (or sometimes as in the scarlet oak): margin of the
acorn cup not rounding inwards and the scales looser: inner bark orange.
Common.
4. BETULA. Birch.
Small to medium-sized trees, with sterile flowers in drooping, cylindrical
catkins, 3 flowers with 4 short stamens being borne under each bract: fertile
506. Quercus velutina.
BIRCH — ALDER 345
flowers in short, mostly erect cut kins which become cones at maturity, 2 or 3
naked (lowers being borne under each 3-lobed bract: fruit winged and seed-
like: leaves simple, toothed or serrate; bark often aromatic.
a. Brown-barked birches: leaves ovate.
B. lenta, Linn. Cherry birch. Sweet birch. Tall tree, the bark tight
incit peeling in layers), the twigs very aromatic: leaves oblong-ovate, some-
what cordate at base, doubly serrate, becoming glossy above: bracts of the
oblong-cylindric fruiting catkins with wide-spreading lobes. Rich woods.
B. lutea, Miehx. Yellow or gray birch. Bark grayer or silvery, peel-
ing in layers: leaves scarcely cordate, dull, more downy: bracts of the
short-oblong fruiting catkins with scarcely spreading scales: tree less aro-
matic than the other. Same range.
aa. White-barked birches: leaves triangular or broad-ovate.
B. papyrifera, Marsh. Paper birch. Canoe birch. Tree of medium
to rather large size, with the bark peeling in very large plates or layers:
leaves broad-ovate and often somewhat cordate, dull green. Pennsylvania,
north.
B. populifolia, Ait. American white birch. Small and slender tree with
rather tight, glistening, white bark: leaves triangular-acuminate, toothed,
dangling, and moving incessantly in the wind. Northeastern states.
B. alba, Linn. European white birch. A larger tree, with triangular-
ovate leaves which are pointed but not long-acuminate. Europe. The com-
mon cultivated white birch. There are weeping forms (Fig. 6).
5. ALNUS. Alder.
.Much like Betula, but smaller trees or bushes: flowers with a 3-5-
parted calyx, and the small, short, fertile catkins composed of thickened,
woody scales. In the following, the flowers appear before the leaves in
earliest spring, from catkins formed the previous year and remaining partly
developed during winter. Common along streams.
A. incana, Moench. Speckled alder. Shrub or small tree, with pubescent
branches: leaves oval to oblong-ovate, acute, doubly serrate, glaucous and
downy underneath: cones about }4 in. long, mostly sessile.
A. rugosa, Spreng. (A. serruUUa, Willd.). Smooth alder. Leaves elliptic
or obovate, acute or rounded at the apex, finely serrate, the under side
of the leaves smooth or pubescent only on the veins: cones short-stalked.
A. vulgaris, Hill. Black alder. Leaves orbicular or very broadly obo-
vate. not acute, irregularly serrate, dull and nearly smooth beneath: cones
peduncled. Europe. Planted, some varieties with divided leaves.
X. URTICACE^. Nettle Family.
Trees and herbs, with small apetalous flowers in small clusters or
solitary: leaves mostly straight-veined, with stipules: plants dioecious
or monoecious, or flowers perfect in the elms: stamens usually as many
346
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
as the lobes of the calyx and opposite them: ovary superior, ripening
into a 1-seeded indehiscent, often winged fruit. A very polymorphous
association, by some botanists divided into two or three coordinate
families. More than 100 genera and 1,500 species. Representatives
are elm, hackberry, mulberry, osage orange, nettle, hop, hemp.
a. Trees.
b. Fruit a samara 1. Ulmus
bb. Fruit a small drupe 2. Celtis
bbb. Fruit as large as an orange, formed of the whole mass of
the pistillate flower-cluster 3. Madura
bbbb. Fruit resembling a blackberry, formed of the pistillate
flower-cluster 4. Morus
AA. Herbs.
b. Leaves digitately lobed or divided.
c. Plant standing erect 5. Cannabis
cc. Plant twining 6. Humulus
bb. Leaves not lobed: plant with stinging hairs 7. Urtica
Ulmus americana.
509. Ulmus racemosa.
1. ULMUS. Elm.
Trees, mostly large and valuable for timber, with rough-furrowed bark:
leaves alternate (2-ranked), ovate and straight- veined, dentate: flowers small
and not showy, appearing in earliest spring, sometimes diclinous, the calyx
4-9-parted, the anthers 4-9 on long filaments: ovary generally 2-loculed,
ripening into a 1-seeded wing-fruit.
a. Leaves large, rough on the upper surface: fruit large, nearly orbicular.
U. fulva, Michx. Slippery elm. Fig. 507. Middle-sized or small tree
with inner bark mucilaginous or "slippery" in spring: leaves 6-8 in. long
and half or more as broad, ovate-elliptic and unequal-sided, doubly
serrate, very rough above and softer beneath: samara H-% in. long,
orbicular or nearly so, with the seed in the center: flowers in dense
clusters. Common.
ELM TRIBES 347
aa. Leaves not very rough above: fruit oval, deeply notched at the apex.
U. americana, Linn. Common or white elm. Figs. 96-100, 508. Tall and
graceful tree: leaves elliptic-oval, serrate: samara small, more or less hairy
on the thin wing, the notch in the apex extending nearly to the seed: flowers
hanging on slender stalks. One of the finest of American trees.
U. racemosa, Thomas. Cork elm. Fig. 509. Smaller tree than the last,
with corky-winged branches: leaves with straighter veins: samara with
sharp incurved points at the apex: flowers in racemes. Less common.
U. alata, Michx. Wahoo elm. Small tree, with wide, corky ridges on
the branches: leaves small and rather thick, almost sessile, ovate to nearly
lanceolate and acute: samara downy, at least when young. Virginia, south
and west.
2. CELTIS. Nettle-tree. Hackberry.
Elm-lfke in looks, but the fruit a 1-seeded, berry -like drupe: flowers
greenish, in the leaf axils, mostly diclinous; calyx 5-6-parted; stamens 5 or
6: stigmas 2, very long.
C. occidentalis, Linn. Common hackberry. Middle-sized tree with
rough-furrowed bark: leaves ovate-pointed, oblique at base, serrate: fruit
purplish, as large as a pea, edible in the fall when ripe. Low grounds.
3. MACLURA. Osage Orange.
Small tree, with dioecious flowers in catkins,
and alternate, simple leaves: sterile flowers in
raceme-like, deciduous catkins: fertile flowers
densely crowded in a head, with 4 sepals and 2 510. Madura pomifera.
stigmas, the ovaryr ripening into an achene, the
whole flower-cluster becoming fleshy and ripening into an orange-like mass.
M. pomifera, Schneid. (Toxylon pomiferum, Raf.). Osage orange.
Fig. 510. Spiny, low tree, much used for hedges, but not hardy in the north-
ernmost states: leaves narrow-ovate and entire, glossy: flowers in spring
after the leaves appear, the fruit ripening in autumn. Missouri and
Kansas south.
4. MORUS. Mulberry.
Small to middle-sized trees, with broad, alternate toothed or lobed
leaves and monoecious flowers, with 4-parted calyx: stamens 4, witli fila-
ments at first bent inward, the staminate catkins soon falling: fertile Bowers
ripening a single achene, but the entire catkin becomes fleshy and blackberry-
like, and prized for eating. Leaves very variable, often lobed and not
lobed on the same branch.
M. rubra, Linn. Common wild mulberry. Often a large tree in the
South: leaves ovate-acuminate, oblique at the base, rough and dull on t In-
upper surface and softer beneath, dentate: fruit '-..-l in. long, black-red,
sweet. Wood yellow. Most abundant South, but growing as far north as
Massachusetts.
348 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
M. alba, Linn. White mulberry. Fig. 511. Leaves light green and
usually glossy above, the veins prominent and whitish beneath, the teeth
usually rounded or obtuse: fruit of variable size, often \y2 in. long, whitish,
violet, or purple. China; planted for ornament and for its fruit, also for
feeding silkworms. The much-planted Russian mulberry is a form of it.
5. CANNABIS. Hemp.
Tall, strong, dioecious herbs with 5-7 leaflets: fertile flowers in clus-
ters, with 1 sepal surrounding the ovary, and 2 long, hairy stigmas: sterile
flowers in racemes or panicles, with 5 sepals and 5 drooping stamens.
C. sativa, Linn. Hemp. Six to 10 ft., strong-smelling, blooming all
summer: leaflets lanceolate, large toothed. Old World; cultivated for fiber
and sometimes escaped in waste places.
6. HUMULUS. Hop.
Twining dioecious herbs of tall growth, with 5 sepals in the sterile
flowers, the stamens erect: fertile flowers with 1 sepal,
2 flowers under each scale of a short, thin catkin which
becomes a kind of cone or "hop."
H. Lupulus, Linn. Common hop. Perennial, rough-
hairy: leaves broad-ovate, deeply 3-lobed (only rarely
5-7-lobed): sterile flowers in panicles 2-6 in. long: pis-
tillate catkin enlarging into a "hop" often 2 in. or
more long. A native plant, cultivated for hops and
sometimes for ornament.
s$ H. japonicus, Sieb. & Zucc. Japanese hop. Fig.
511. Moms alba. 179. Annual: leaves not less than 5-lobed: fertile
catkin not enlarging into a hop. Japan; much
cultivated for ornament.
7. URTICA. Nettle.
Erect herbs with opposite simple leaves and stinging hairs, and monoe-
cious or dioecious flowers in racemes or dense clusters, the calyx of 4
separate sepals: stamens 4: stigma sessile: fruit an ovate flat achene. The
following are perennials with flowers in panicled spikes:
U. gracilis, Ait. Common nettle. Two to 6 ft.: leaves ovate-lanceolate,
serrate, on long petioles. Common in low grounds.
U. dioica, Linn. Not so tall: leaves ovate-cordate and deeply serrate, on
rather short petioles, downy underneath. Weed from Europe, very stinging.
XI. ARISTOLOCHIACE^.
Birthwort Family. Dutchman's Pipe Family.
Low acaulescent herbs, or tall twining vines: leaves basal or alter-
nate, without stipules, petiolate, roundish or kidney-shaped: flowers
regular or irregular, perfect: perianth-tube brown or dull, valvate in
ARISTOLOCHIA — POLYGONUM 349
bud, adherent to ovary: stamens 6-12, epigynous, and adherent to
base of the styles: ovary 6-celled, pistil 1. A small family of about 200
species, sparingly represented in this country. Many of the members
have aromatic or bitter-tonic properties.
a. Low stemless herbs 1. Asarum
aa. Leafy-stemmed herbs, or woody climbers 2. Aristolochia
1. ASARUM. Wild Ginger.
Perennial spreading herbs: loaves large, kidney-shaped, pubescent:
flower brown, inconspicuous, borne on a short peduncle arising from between
the petioles: rootstocks creeping, elongated, very aromatic.
A. canadense, Linn. Leaves in pairs, large, reniform, but more or less
pointed at tip, soft-hairy with a silky finish: flower greenish outside, purple-
brown within, consisting of a 3-lobed calyx, adnate to ovary: stamens 12,
the filaments longer than the anthers. Common in rich woods. April, May.
2. ARISTOLOCHIA. Dutchman's Pipe.
Herbs or tall vines, with alternate, petiolate leaves, cordate, entire
and palmately nerved: flowers irregular, the calyx tubular, the tube oddly
inflated above ovary and contracted at throat, shaped like a much-bent
pipe, the margin reflexed or spreading, 3-6-lobed or appendaged: sta-
mens 6.
A. macrophylla, Lam. (A. Sipho, L'Her.). Calyx-tube about 1-1^2 in.
long, curved to resemble a Dutch pipe, the margin spreading, brownish-
purple: leaves large, smooth, dark green, round kidney-shaped. Wild in
rich woods; May; often cultivated.
XII. POLYGONACE.E. Buckwheat Family.
Herbs, mostly with enlarged joints or nodes and sheaths (repre-
senting stipules) above them: leaves simple and usually entire, alter-
nate: flowers small, apetalous, usually perfect and generally borne in
spikes or dense clusters: stamens 4-12, attached to the very base
of the 3-5-merous calyx: ovary 1-loculed, ripening into a 3-4-angled
achene. Thirty or more genera and about 600 widely dispersed species.
Characteristic plants are buckwheat, rhubarb, dock, sorrel, smart-
weed.
a. Root-leaves 1 ft. or more across, rounded I. Rheum
aa. Root-leaves narrow or not prominent.
b. Calyx of 6 sepals, often of two kinds 2. Rumex
bb. Calyx of 5 (rarely 4) sepals, all alike.
c. Flowers white and fragrant 3. Fagopyrum
cc. Flowers greenish or pinkish, not distinctly fragrant. .4. Polygonum
350
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
1. RHEUM. Rhubarb.
Very large-leaved perennials, sending up stout hollow flower-stalks in
early summer which bear smaller leaves with sheathing bases: sepals 6, all
alike, withering rather than falling, and persisting beneath the 3-winged
achenes: stamens 9: styles 3. Old World.
R. Rhaponticum, Linn. Rhubarb. Pie-
plant. Figs. 81, 82. Leaves 1 ft. or more
across, the thick petioles edible: fls. white, in
elevated panicles.
RUMEX. Dock. Sorrel.
Perennial often deep-rooted plants with herbage
bitter or sour: sepals 6, the 3 outer large and spread-
ing, the 3 inner (known as "valves") enlarging after
flowering and one or more of them often bearing a
grain-like tubercle on the back; stamens 6, styles 3;
flowers in panicles or interrupted spikes.
512. Rumex Acetosella.
Docks: herbage bitter: valves often grain-bearing: flowers mostly perfect:
leaves not arrow-shaped.
R. obtusifolius. Linn. Bitter dock. Lower leaves oblong-cordate and
obtuse, not wavy: one valve usually grain-bearing. Weed from Europe.
R. crispus, Linn. Curly dock. Leaves lanceolate, wavy or curled: all
valves usually grain-bearing. Weed from Europe.
aa. Sorrels: herbage sour: valves not grain-bearing:
flowers diwcious: leaves arrow-shaped.
R. Acetosella, Linn. Common ^or sheep sorrel.
Fig. 512. Low (1 ft. or less): lvs. mostly arrow-
shaped at base: flowers brownish, small, in a ter-
minal panicle. Common in sterile fields. Europe.
3. FAGOPYRUM. Buckwheat.
Fast-growing annuals, with somewhat triangular
leaves, and fragrant flowers in flattish, panicle-like
clusters: calyx of 5 parts: stamens 8: fruit a trian-
gular achene. Old World.
F. esculentum, Moench. Common buckwheat.
Fig. 513. Leaves triangular-arrow-shaped, long-
petioled: flowers white, in a compound cluster: achene with regular angles.
Flour is made from the grain.
F. tataricum, Gaertn. India wheat. Slenderer, the leaves smaller and
more arrow-shaped and short-petioled: flowers greenish or yellowish, in
simple racemes: achene notched on the angles. Somewhat cultivated.
513.
Fagopyrum esculentum.
KNOTWEED FAMILY
351
4. POLYGONUM. Knotweed. Smahtweed.
Low weedy plants, or some exotic ones tall and cultivated, blooming in
summer and fall, the small pinkish or greenish flowers mostly in racemes or
spikes (in the Knotweeds in the leaf-axils): calyx usually 5-parted: stamens
4-9: stigmas 2 or 3: black achene lenticular or triangular.
a. Knotweeds: /lowers sessile in the axils of the leaves, greenish and very small.
P. aviculare, Linn. Common knotweed. Doorweed. Fig. 210. Pros-
trate or creeping, bluish green wiry plant, growing along the hard edges of
walks and in yards, and commonly mistaken for sod: leaves small, mostly
oblong, entire: sepals very small, green with a broad white margin: stamens
5 or more: stigmas usually 3. Annual.
P. erectum, Linn. Taller knotweed. One ft. or more high: leaves three
or four times larger, oblong or oval and obtuse. Common annual.
aa. Smarhveeds: flowers in terminal spikes, mostly pinkish.
b. Sheaths of leaves (surrounding stem) hairy on the edge, or
the margin with a spreading border.
P. orientate, Linn. Prince's feather. Several feet tall, soft-
hairy: flowers in long cylindrical nodding spikes: leaves ovate:
stamens 7. India; cultivated. Annual.
P. Persicaria, Linn. Smartweed. Lady's thumb (from the
dark blotch near the center of the leaf). Fig. 514. About 1
ft.: leaves lanceolate: spikes oblong, dense and erect: stamens
usually 6: stigmas 2. Weed from Europe.
P. Hydropiper, Linn. Smartweed. Herbage very pungent
or "smarty:" leaves oblong-lanceolate: spikes short and
nodding, the flowers greenish: stamens 6: stigmas 3. Low
grounds. Annual.
P. hydropiperoides, Michx. Smartweed. Herbage not
pungent: spikes slender and erect, the flowers whitish: sta-
mens 8: stigmas 3. In very wet places. Perennial.
P. acre, HBK. Smartweed. Herbage pungent: leaves
linear or lanceolate, long-pointed: spikes slender and erect: flowers white or
blush: stamens 8: stigmas 3. Low grounds. Perennial.
bb. Sheaths of leaves not hairy, nor the margin bordered.
P. pennsylvanicum, Linn. Smartweed. Pungent: plant with conspicuous
glandular hairs above: leaves lanceolate: spikes short-oblong and erect, the
flowers purplish: stamens 8: stigmas 2. Low ground. Annual.
XIII. EUPHORBIACE.E. Spurge Family.
Trees, shrubs or herbs, often with milky, pungent juice, some-
times poisonous: flowers monoecious or dioecious, mostly apetalous,
usually small and inconspicuous. The family is large, in wanner parts
352 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
of the world. The determination of the genera and species is difficult.
Euphorbia and Ricinus will sufficiently explain the flower structure for
the beginner.
A. Flowers in a cup-like involucre, which imitates a perianth:
flowers dioecious, without calyx or corolla 1. Euphorbia
AA. Flowers, not in an involucre, but in a terminal panicle:
flowers dioecious, calyx present, but no corolla 2. Ricinus
1. EUPHORBIA. Spurge.
Flowers monoecious inclosed in an involucre, which is 4-5-lobed and
often showy, resembling a perianth: staminate flowers each consisting of
a stamen jointed to filament-like pedicel, subtended by a minute bract,
attached on the inner surface of the involucre: the solitary pistillate flower,
standing at the bottom of the involucre, is at length protruded on a stalk:
capsule 3-lobed and 3-celled: styles 3, each 2-cleft: stigmas 6. Many of the
species are cultivated for ornamental purposes, as E. splendens, Crown of
Thorns; E. Cyparissias, Cypress spurge, common in old yards and about
cemeteries, where it has run wild.
E. corollata, Linn. Flowering spurge. Perennial, 2-3 ft., slender-
branched: leaves mostly alternate, or the uppermost ones, or those on
the branches opposite, whorled, oval, rather thick, usually pale beneath:
flowering branches much forked: involucres terminal, or on peduncles, from
the forks of the branches, the lobes snowy white, appearing like petals with
oblong yellowish green glands at base of each. In dry or sandy soil, common.
July to October.
E. maculata, Linn. Small plant, prostrate or spreading, the branches
slender and radiating, dark green, often dark red: leaves oblong-linear,
usually with red-brown spots in center: involucre minute, the corolla-like
appendages narrow, white or red. A common inconspicuous weed through-
out North America, except the extreme north.
E. pulcherrima, Willd. Poinsettia. Floral leaves brilliant red and
appearing like flaming blossoms: flowers in a greenish involucre, with a
large yellow gland on summit. A Mexican species, well known as an
ornamental greenhouse plant.
2. RICINUS. Castor-oil Plant. Figs. 313-316.
Tall stately, perennial herb (annual North), with large, alternate, pal-
mately cleft leaves: flowers monoecious, apetalous, greenish, in terminal
racemes or panicled clusters, the pistillate flowers above the others; styles
large, reddish.
R. communis, Linn. Castor bean. Palma Christi. Stem erect from
3-12 ft., somewhat branched: leaves very large, peltate, lobes acute, pointed,
toothed: seeds smooth, black, mottled or variegated with gray and brown.
Grown for medicinal and ornamental purposes. Tropical. There are many
forms in cultivation.
pinks 353
XIV. CARYOPHYLLACE.E. Pink Family.
Herbs, with opposite, mostly narrow, entire leaves without conspic-
uous veins: flowers 4-5-merous, sometimes apetalous, with stamens
twice or less the Dumber of sepals or petals, and 2-5 styles which
may be wholly separate or partially united: pod usually a 1-loculed
capsule commonly inclosed in the calyx, mostly splitting from the
top, th<> seeds usually attached to a central column. Genera between
30 and 40, species about 1,000. Representative plants are pink, car-
nation, bouncing Bet, catchfly, chickweed, corn-cockle, lychnis, spurry.
a. Flowers polypetalous, with sepals united into a tube.
B. Bracts at the base of the calyx 1. Dianthus
bb. No bracts at base of calyx.
c. Styles 2 2. Saponaria
cc. Styles 4-5 3. Lychnis
ccc. Styles 3 4. Silene
aa. Flowers often apetalous, the sepals nearly or quite distinct.
b. Styles 3 or 4 5. Stellaria
bb. Styles 5 6. Cerastium
1. DIANTHUS. Pink.
Showy-flowered small herbs, with striate, many-furrowed
calyx and sepal-like bracts at its base: petals with slender
claws or bases, the limb usually toothed or fringed: styles 2. * IT^^6
a. Flowers single on ends of branches.
D. chinensis, Linn. China or florists' pink. Leaves
short-lanceolate, not grass-like: calyx-bracts linear-acute and
as long as the calyx: petals in white and shades of red, very
showy. China. Perennial, but grown as an annual (mostly f^]/
under the florists' name D. Hcddcwigi).
D. plumarius, Linn. Grass or Scotch pink. Common pink 515' Dianthus
of old gardens, from Europe. Low, growing in mats, glau-
cous-blue: leaves grass-like: flowers very fragrant, deep-fringed, white or
pink. Perennial.
D. Caryophyllus, Linn. Carnation. Two ft. or more, with wiry stems,
glaucous-blue: leaves grass-like: calyx-bracts short and broad: petals more
or less toothed but not fringed: flowers fragrant. Europe.
aa. Flowers in compact clusters.
D. barbatus, Linn. Sweet William. Fig. 515. One ft. or more, erect,
green: flowers small, in dense clusters in red and white. Old World; common
in old gardens.
W
<T
354 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
2. SAPONARIA. Soapwort.
Calyx cylindrical or angled, 5-toothed, with no bracts at its base:
stamens 10: styles 2: pod 4-toothed at top (Fig. 282).
S. officinalis, Linn. Bouncing Bet. Perennial, forming colonies in old
yards and along roads, 1-2 ft. high, glabrous, with ovate or oval leaves:
flowers 1 in. across, white or rose, in dense clusters, often double, the petals
with a crown. Europe. Common.
3. LYCHNIS. Lychnis. Cockle.
Annual or perennial, with styles usually 5, and pod opening by 5 or more
teeth: calyx 5-toothed and 10- or more-nerved, naked at the base: stamens 10.
L. Githago, Scop, (or Agrostemma Githago, Linn.). Fig. 181. Corn
cockle, because it is a common weed in wheat fields (wheat is known as
corn in Europe), its seeds not being readily separated from wheat because
of their similar size and its seasons corresponding with those of wheat: annual,
2-3 ft., hairy: flowers purple-red and showy, on very long stalks, the
petals crowned and the calyx-lobes long and leafy: leaves very narrow.
Europe.
L. Coronaria, Desv. Dusty Miller. Mullein pink. Biennial or per-
ennial, white-woolly all over: leaves oblong: flowers rose-crimson, showy.
Europe. Old gardens and along roads.
4. SILENE. Campion. Catchfly.
Annual or perennial herbs, with white, pink, or red flowers, solitary or
in cymes: calyx often inflated, 5-toothed, 10- to many-nerved, with no
bracts at base; petals 5, clawed, sometimes with crown or scale at base of
blade; stamens 10; styles 3 (rarely 4 or 5); ovary 1-celled (or incompletely
2-4-celled): fruit a capsule, or pod, 1-celled or 3-celled at base, dehiscent by
3 or 6 teeth at apex, many-seeded. A viscid secretion covers the calyx and
stems of certain species, by which creeping insects are caught, whence the
name "catchfly."
S. stellata, Ait. Starry campion. Perennial, 2-3 ft. high: leaves ovate-
lanceolate, acuminate, in whorls of 4 (at least the upper ones) : flowers in
panicled cymes; calyx bell-shaped, loose and inflated; petals fringed,
crownless, white. July. Open woods.
S. latifolia, Britten & Rendle. Bladder campion. Perennial, 1-2 ft.:
leaves ovate-lanceolate, acute, opposite: flowers in panicles, inclined or
drooping: calyx globular, thin and much inflated, conspicuously veined;
petals 2-cleft, white. Roadsides, fields and waste places. Common eastward.
Naturalized from Europe.
S. pennsylvanica Michx. Wild pink. Perennial, viscid-pubescent above,
4-10 in.: basal leaves spatulate or cuneate, narrowed into petioles; stem-
leaves lanceolate, sessile, opposite: flowers in terminal, few-flowered cymes;
calyx narrow; petals wedge-shaped, slightly emarginate (or eroded) on
edge, pink-red, crowned. In dry soil in eastern states.
S. virginica, Linn. Fire pink. Perennial, 1-8 ft.: lower leaves thin,
spatulate, the cauline oblong or lanceolate, sessile: flowers few in a loose
516. Stellaria media.
PINK FAMILY 355
cyme, peduncled, showy, 1^-2 in. broad; calyx bell-like, enlarged as pod
matures: petals 2-cleft, crowned, bright crimson: stem viscid-pubescent.
Open, dry woods. May to September.
S. noctifldra, Linn. Night-flowering catchfly. Annual: lower leaves
spatulate or obovate, the upper linear: flowers large, few, pedicelled,
in loose panicle, opening at dusk for the night: very fragrant: calyx-tube
elongated, noticeably veined, with awl-like teeth: petals 2-cleft; white,
crowned. Weed introduced from Europe. July to
September.
5. STELLARIA. Chickweed.
Small, weak herbs with sepals 4-5, petals of equal
number and deeply cleft or sometimes wanting; stamens
10 or less; styles usually 3: pod opening by twice as
many valves as there are styles.
S. media, Cyrill. Common chickweed. Fig. 457. &
Little prostrate annual, making a mat in cultivated ,_£
grounds, with ovate or oblong leaves mostly on hairy
petioles: flowers solitary, minute, white, the 2-parted
petals shorter than the calyx, the peduncle elongating in fruit. Europe;
very common. Blooms in cold weather.
6. CERASTIUM. Mouse-ear Chickweed.
Differs from Stellaria chiefly in having 5 styles and pod splitting into
twice as many valves. The two following gray herbs grow in lawns. From
Europe.
C. viscosum, Linn. Annual, about 6 in. high: leaves ovate to spatulate:
flowers small, in close clusters, the petals shorter than the calyx, and the
pedicels not longer than the acute sepals.
C. vulgatum, Linn. Perennial and larger, clammy-hairy: leaves oblong:
pedicels longer than the obtuse sepals, the flowers larger.
XV. RANUNCULACE.E. Crowfoot or Buttercup Family.
Mostly herbs, with various habits and foliage: parts of the flower
typically all present, free and distinct, but there are some apetalous
and dioecious species: stamens many; pistils many or few, in the
former case becoming achenes and in the latter usually becoming folli-
cles. Upwards of 30 genera and 1,000-1,200 species. Characteristic
plants are buttercup, anemone, meadow-rue, marsh-marigold or
cowslip, adonis, clematis, larkspur, aconite, columbine, baneberry,
peony. Known from Rosacese by the hypogynous flowers.
a. Plants not climbing: herbs.
B. Fruits achenes, several or many from each flower.
356 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
c. True petals none, but the sepals petal-like (and
involucre often simulating a calyx).
d. Flowers in small umbels, or peduncles 1-fld.
e. Involucre of 2 or more lvs. some distance
below the flower 1. Anemone
ee. Involucre of 3 sepal-like leaves close to the flower 2. Hepatica
eee. Involucre of 3 compound lvs., sessile at base
of umbel: pistils fewer than in Anemone 3. Anemonella
dd. Flowers in panicles or corymbs 4. Thalictrum
cc. True petals present : yellow 5. Ranunculus
bb. Fruits, follicles.
c. Flowers regular.
d. Petals each spurred 6. Aquilegia
dd. Petals none: sepals petal-like, yellow 7. Caltha
ddd. Petals many: fls. very large and of shades of red:
plant bushy 8. Pseonia
cc. Flowers irregular; upper sepal spurred; 2 petals
spurred 9. Delphinium
bbb. Fruits, berries, red or white.
c. Flowers with petals and 3-5 petal-like sepals: fls.
small, white, in a short raceme 10. Actsea
aa. Plants climbing by the leaf-stalks: stem woody 11. Clematis
1. ANEMONE. Anemony. Windflower.
Low perennial herbs with mostly showy apetalous flowers and an invo-
lucre of 2 or more mostly divided leaves standing some distance below the
flower: pistils ripening into a head of achenes.
a. Achenes woolly or silky.
A. japonica, Sieb. & Zucc. Japanese anemony. Three ft., blooming in
fall, with pink or white flowers 2-3 in. across: leaves with 3 cordate-ovate
notched leaflets. Much planted.
A. virginiana, Linn. Two ft., with involucre of three 3-parted leaves:
flowers on long stalks arising in succession from succeeding nodes: sepals 5,
acute, greenish white: head of fruit oblong, J^ in. long. Woods.
aa. Achenes not woolly or silky.
A. quinquefolia, Linn. (A. nemorosa of some). Common windflower.
Low, about 6 in., blooming in rich woods in early spring: involucral leaves 3,
each with 3 or 5 long leaflets: flowers white, purplish outside, pretty.
2. HEPATICA. Liverleaf. Mayflower of some places.
Differs from Anemone chiefly in having 3 simple sepal-like bracts be-
neath the flower (but they are sometimes a half-inch removed from it):
flowers in earliest spring, white, blush, or blue, on simple hairy scapes:
leaves broad, 3-lobed. Woods.
H. triloba, Chaix. Leaves with rounded lobes.
H. acutiloba, DC. Leaves with acute lobes.
CROWFOOT FAMILY 357
3. ANEMONELLA. Rue Anemone.
Attractive slender perennial herb, resembling Anemone: basal Leaves
2 or 3 times compound: involucre of 3 compound leaves at base of the
umbel: leaflets petioled: flowers in a terminal umbel, on slender pedicels;
petals wanting; sepals 5-10; white or pinkish, 1 in. broad, petal-like: pistils
4-15; stigma broad, sessile on carpels, glabrous and deeply grooved.
A. thalictroides, Spach. Rue anemone. Stem slender, 6-10 in., appear-
ing in earliest spring before the 2-3 ternately compound basal leaves, rising
from a cluster of tuberous roots: sepals 5-10, bright, quite lasting. A com-
mon spring flower of the woodland, appearing with the Wood Anemone or
Windflower and easily confused with it.
4. THALICTRUM. Meadow Rue.
Mostly smooth perennial herbs, erect, sometimes several feet high :
panicled flowers small, greenish and inconspicuous, often dioecious, or
polygamous: foliage light, graceful, the alternate leaves being 2-4 ternately
compound, with the leaflets and divisions stalked: calyx of 4-5 petal-like
greenish sepals, soon falling; stamens many; ovaries 4-15, 1-seeded.
T. dioicum, Linn. Early meadow rue. Flowers dicecious, green or pur-
plish, in loose panicles: leaflets thin and delicate, 3-7-lobed, pale beneath,
somewhat drooping on the petiolules: anthers yellow, drooping on thread-
like filaments: achenes about 8, sessile or nearly so: 1-2 ft. high. Common
in woodlands. April and May.
T. polygamum, Muhl. Tall-meadow rue. Coarser, ranker and later than
T. dioicum, 4-8 ft. high: filaments of stamens broad, spatulate: achenes
stalked: flowers polygamous, sepals white.
T. dasycarpum, Fisch. & Lall. Purplish meadow rue. Stem 2-5 ft. high,
usually purplish: stem-leaves almost sessile: leaflets thick, dark green above,
pale and waxy or downy beneath, margins slightly rolled or thickened:
flowers polygamous or dicecious, greenish and purplish: anthers drooping
on filiform filaments. June to August.
5. RANUNCULUS. Crowfoot. Buttercup. Figs. 202, 203, 207, 268.
Perennials or annuals, with mostly yellow flowers; sepals 5; petals 5
and bearing a little pit or scale at the base inside: leaves alternate: achenes
many in a head.
R. acris, Linn. Tall buttercup. Two to 3 ft., from a fibrous root: Leaves
3-parted, all the divisions sessile and again 3-cleft: flowers bright yellow.
Europe, but now a common weed. Summer.
R. bulbosus, Linn. Earlier and only half as tall, from a bulbous base:
leaves 3-parted, the lateral divisions sessile and the terminal one Btalked:
peduncles furrowed: flowers bright yellow. Europe; common eastward.
R. septentrionalis, Poir. Stems more or less prostrate at base, often
forming long runners: leaves 3-divided, divisions all stalked and 3-lobed or
-parted: petals obovate, yellow. Wet places.
R. abortivus, Linn. Glabrous, biennial herb; 6 in. to 2 ft., branching:
basal leaves heart-shaped or kidney-form, crenate (sometimes lobed), on
358 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
long stalks: later leaves, often 3-5-lobed or -parted, and sessile or nearly so:
petals small, yellow, not equal to the sepals: styles very short, curved.
Shady woods and along stream-sides. April to June.
R. micranthus, Nutt. Pubescent, smaller than preceding and basal
leaves ovate, but not heart-shaped, some 3-parted: fairly common.
R. recurvatus, Poir. Usually pubescent, erect, branching, 1-2 ft. : leaves
all petioled and similarly 3-parted : sepals longer than the pale yellow petals
and recurved: beaks of achenes strongly hooked. Common. Spring.
6. AQUILEGIA. Columbine.
Upright herbs, with compound leaves which have petioles expanded
at the base: sepals 5, somewhat petal-like; petals 5, each one produced
into a long nectary spur ; pistils 5 : fruit a several-seeded follicle. Delphinium
or larkspur is an allied genus.
a. Spurs straight.
A. canadensis, Linn. Common wild columbine. Often
incorrectly called honeysuckle. Fig. 517. About 2 ft.:
leaflets rounded or obovate, toothed at top: flowers
about 2 in. long, drooping, scarlet and orange or nearly
yellow, the stamens projecting. Common on rocks.
A. chrysantha, Gray. Yellow columbine. Flowers
517. " bright yellow, often tinged, erect or becoming so. New
Aquilegia canadensis. Mexico and Arizona, but frequent in gardens.
aa. Spurs hooked at the end.
A. vulgaris, Linn. Blue columbine. A European species, common in
gardens, and often full double: flowers varying from blue and purple to
white, with rather short and thick hooked spurs.
7. CALTHA. Marsh Marigold. Cowslip (in America)
Low tufted herbs with undivided leaves, and clusters of yellow butter-
cup-like flowers: sepals 5-9, petal-like; petals none; pistils 5-10, ripening
into several-seeded follicles.
C. paliistris, Linn. About 1 ft. high: leaves rounded or kidney-shaped,
crenate or nearly entire. Wet places, in early spring. Used for "greens."
8. P^ONIA. Peony. Piney.
Stems shrubby and perennial or, as in the commoner garden forms, her-
baceous, from thick, fleshy roots: leaves ternately and pinnately compound:
flowers large, terminal, solitary; sepals 5, unequal, leafy, persistent; petajs
5 to indefinite in number; ovaries 3-5, surrounded by a disk: fruit, many-
seeded follicles. Oriental.
P. officinalis, Linn. Common garden peony. Large flowers, double,
red, pink, flesh-colored to white; carpels 2, pubescent, forming 2 erect,
many-seeded follicles. June.
CROWFOOT FAMILY 359
9. DELPHINIUM. Larkspur. Figs. 224, 225, 269, 270.
Stems erect, simple or branching, with alternate leaves, petioled, pal-
mat. 1\ -divided or -lobed: flowers in a terminal raceme or panicle, white, blue,
purple and showy, with irregular sepals and petals; sepals 5, colored, the
upper spurred behind; petals 4 (rarely 2), the upper pair spurred, and in-
closed in the spur of the sepal; carpels 1-5, sessile, forming many-seeded
follicles. Several wild and cultivated species.
D. Ajacis, Linn. Annual, 1-2 ft.: flowers purple, roseate or white,
sometimes double, many in crowded racemes; pistil 1: follicle pubescent,
with short, stout beak. Cultivated and a showy garden plant; sometimes
escaped from gardens.
D. tricorne, Michx. Perennial, 6 in. to 1 or 2 ft.: flowers blue or white,
in few-flowered racemes (6-12): leaves 5-parted, the divisions 3-5-cleft:
pistils 3: follicles widely diverging, short-beaked. In rich soil, west of
Alleghanies. April to June.
10. ACTJilA. Baneberry.
Erect, perennial plants, in rich woods, 2-3 ft., with conspicuous red or
white berries: stems mostly simple, bearing large, ternately compound
leaves, the leaflets ovate but sharply cut-lobed or toothed: flowers small,
white, in thick terminal racemes; sepals 3-5, soon falling; petals 4-10, long-
clawed, flat, spatulate; stamens many, filaments white and slender; ovary
1, with a broad, sessile, 2-lobed stigma, many-ovuled.
A. alba, Mill. White baneberry. Raceme oblong: petals truncate,
pedicels thickened, and usually red: berries white, ellipsoid. Common in
woods. April to June.
A. rubra, Willd. Red baneberry. Raceme ovate or hemispherical;
petals acute; pedicels slender: berries cherry-red (sometimes white), oval
or ellipsoid. Common in woods, especially northward. In bloom, April,
May.
11. CLEMATIS. Virgin's Bower. Figs. 77, 178.
Herbs, or somewhat woody, generally climbing by clasping petioles:
leaves opposite, simple or compound: flowers apetalous, or petals very small;
sepals 4 (rarely more) and colored; stamens many, a number of them (some-
times all) usually sterile; pistils many in a head, bearing the persistent,
plumose or silky styles. Many large-flowered cultivated forms.
C. verticillaris, DC. A woody climber, nearly smooth: leaves in whorls
of 4's, each 3-foliate: large, purple flowers 2-3 in. across, at each node.
Not common, belonging mainly to the North and to mountainous districts.
May, June
C. Viorna, Linn. Leaves mostly pinnately compound, with 3-7 leaflets,
entire, or 3-lobed: flowers solitary and usually nodding on long peduncles,
bell-shaped, having peculiarly thick sepals, with their points recurved;
purplish-red color: the long akenes plumose. Climbing. Pennsylvania, west.
May to August.
C. virginiana, Linn. Common virgin's bower. Old-man vine (from
360 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
the heads of hairy styles). A common climbing plant, along fences, streams
and in low woodlands: leaves compound, glabrous, with 3 leaflets cut or
lobed and nearly heart-shaped at base: flowers small, in leafy panicles, poly-
gamo-dicecious ; petals none, but sepals whitish, thin, spreading: styles
long-plumed in fruit, making a feathery cluster. July, August.
XVI. BERBERIDACE^;. Barberry Family.
Herbs and shrubs with alternate or radical leaves, sometimes with
stipules: flowers regular, perfect (except 1 genus), hypogynous, soli-
tary or racemed; sepals and petals usually in several rows of 3 each,
and calyx colored; stamens as many as petals (rarely more) and one
opposite to each petal: anthers opening at the top by 2 valves or
lids (except in Podophyllum) : pistil 1 : fruit a berry or pod. About 20
genera and 100 species.
a. Shrubs: flowers yellow: berries red or orange, remaining
on branches into the winter 1. Berberis
AA. Herbs.
b. Flowers on leafless scapes: leaves radical, each 2-
parted: fruit a pod, opening at the top by a lid 2. Jeffersonia
bb. Flower on short pedicel, in fork between 2 large
leaves: fruit a large, oval, edible berry 3. Podophyllum
1. BERBERIS. Barberry. Figs. 168, 221.
Shrubs, often spiny: flowers yellow, in drooping racemes; sepals 6-9,
colored, bracted; petals 6, each with 2 basal glandular spots; stamens 6,
irritable, bending inward when touched; pistil 1; stigma circular, sessile:
berries sour, 1— few-seeded: leaves simple or compound, bases dilated and
jointed on short petioles, usually spiny-toothed, sometimes reduced to
cleft spines.
B. vulgaris, Linn. Common barberry. Leaves with repandly-toothed
margins, teeth spinous-pointed or represented by branched (3-pronged)
spines: berries oblong, scarlet, acid. Europe; but cultivated and naturalized
in eastern and middle states.
B. canadensis, Mill. Shrub 1-3 ft., native to southern mountains,
with oval berries and few-flowered racemes.
B. Thunbergii, DC. Cultivated, low shrub with small entire leaves and
handsome horizontal sprays: flowers solitary or in pairs, on slender pedicels,
from leaf -axils: berries bright red, remaining on the twigs into the winter:
leaves 3^-1 in. long, also red in fall. Japan.
2. JEFFERSONIA. Twin-leaf. Rheumatism Root.
Perennial glabrous herb, from roots of matted, blackish fibers, with
ample 2-parted leaves, rising on long petioles from the roots: scape bearing 1
terminal large white flower; sepals 4, soon falling; petals usually 8, oblong;
BERBERIDACE.E — NYMPHjEACEjE 361
stamens 8, with linear anthers on slim filaments; stigma peltate, with many
ovules on lateral placentae: pod green, leathery, becoming pear-shaped and
dehisces by a lid, opening half-way round the upper part, from which the
many, rounded seeds, arilled on one side, spill forth.
J. diphylla, Pers. Scape erect to 8 or 12 in.: leaves divided longitu-
dinally into 2 parts, with usually entire margins. Very interesting little
plant in rich woods, spring: sometimes cultivated.
3. PODOPHYLLUM. May Apple. Mandrake.
Smooth perennials from creeping horizontal rootstocks, and thick,
fibrous roots: stems smooth, simple, carrying large, peltate, glossy-green
leaves and a solitary white flower: sepals 6, petal-like, soon falling; petals
6-9, concave, broad and large; stamens as many or twice as many as petals;
pistil 1, with sessile, large, thick, stigma: fruit a large, fleshy, oval, 1-celled
berry, filled by many seeds, each seed inclosed in a pulpy aril, edible.
P. peltatum, Linn. Leaves 2, large, orbicular, peltate, deeply 5-9-lobed
and few-toothed: flowers fragrant, solitary from the common axil of the 2
stem leaves, borne on a short, recurved peduncle: petals, large, white, wax-
like: common in rich, shady, woodland, often in large patches. May, June.
XVII. NYMPrLEACE,E. Water-Lilt Familt.
Aquatic, perennial herbs, with very large rootstocks under watei :
leaves large, peltate or heart-shaped, often floating: flowers solitary,
on axillary peduncles; sepals 3-5 or 6; petals 5 to many; stamens 5
to many, with large, erect anthers; carpels 3 to many, distinct, or united
in a circle or with the receptacle: fruit indehiscent, or group of distinct
carpels. Eight genera, of wide distribution in fresh water. The great
Victoria Regia of the Amazon, and often cultivated, belongs here.
a. Flowers white: sepals 4 1. Castalia
aa. Flowers yellow: sepals 5 or more 2. Nymphuu
1. CASTALIA. Water-lily.
Herbs with floating leaves and beautiful, large, many-petaled flowers:
sepals 4, white, green without; petals large, wax-like, gradually becoming
smaller, and passing into the yellow stamens which are adherent to the
many-celled ovary; stigmas radiate (as in a poppy head) from a center:
fruit ripens under water.
C. odorata, Woodville & Wood. White water-lily. Flower 2 6 in. across,
very sweet-scented: petals oftenest white, sometimes tinged with pinkish.
Common.
2. NYMPH&A. Yellow Pond-lily.
Distinguished from the water-lily l>y the leaves, which are more or less
heart-shaped, floating or erect: also by the flowers, which are 2-3 in. in
362 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
diameter, with small, linear, yellow or purplish petals, becoming stamen-like
toward center: fruit ripens above water. The name Nymphzea is sometimes
applied to the genus Castalia.
N. advena, Ait. Spatterdock. Leaves oval, thick, 6 in. to 1 ft. long,
floating or erect: flowers yellow, sepals 6 or more, not equal; petals thick,
truncate, resembling stamens.
XVIII. PAPAVERACE.E. Poppy Family.
Herbs with milky or colored juice (acrid and narcotic), alternate
or radical exstipulate leaves, the upper rarely opposite: flowers mostly
single, regular or irregular, perfect; sepals 2 (rarely 3 or 4), falling as
the flower opens; petals 4-6 (or more), imbricated, often crumpled in
the bud, and early falling; stamens usually many; ovary 1- to many-
ovuled, 1-celled: fruit a dry pod or capsule, 1-celled or, in Poppy,
imperfectly many-celled, generally dehiscing by a pore or by valves.
Small family of mostly small but usually showy herbs.
a. Plants with white (milky) juice 1. Papaver
aa. Plants with colorless juice (watery) 2. Eschscholtzia
aaa. Plants with red or orange juice.
b. Flower-bud erect: flowers white, in earliest spring. . . .3. Sanguinaria
bb. Flower-buds generally nodding; flowers yellow.
c. Stigma 3-4-lobed, on a short style. Capsule ovoid. 4. Stylophorum
cc. Stigma 2-lobed, about sessile: capsule long 5. Chelidonium
1. PAPAVER. Poppy.
Herbs with white juice: stems smooth or hairy, erect, and the terminal
buds nodding, but erect in flower and fruit: sepals 2 (or 3) soon falling; petals
4-6; sessile stigmas united to form a rayed disk.
P. somniferum, Linn. Opium poppy. Annual, erect to 13^-2 ft.,
branching, glaucous, with large, white or purplish-centered flowers on long
peduncles: leaves sessile, clasping, variously incised: capsule smooth.
Cultivated for opium and for ornament.
P. Rhceas, Linn. Corn poppy. Shirley poppy. Annual, bristly, hairy,
the leaves deeply lobed: flowers mostly red or scarlet with a dark center,
varying in cultivation: pod small.
P. oriental e, Linn. Stem rough-hairy, 1-flowered: flowers very large,
brilliant, scarlet: leaves scabrous, deep green, about pinnate. A favorite
perennial in gardens.
P. nudicaule, Linn. Iceland poppy. Rather delicate, hairy, with leaves
radical, pale green, and pinnately incised: flowers single, on slender, hairy
scapes, orange or white. Gardens.
2. ESCHSCHOLTZIA.
Annual or perennial herbs: leaves glaucous, finely pinnatifid: sepals 2,
cohering as a pointed cap, falling as flower opens; petals 4, yellow or orange
PAPAVERACE.E — FUMARIACE^E 363
or cream-colored; stamens many, adherent to petals; stigmas 2-G, sessile:
pods long, cylindrie, grooved, many-seeded.
E. calif ornica, Cham. California poppy. Cultivated in flower-gardens:
stem branching, leafy: flowers showy and large, receptacle funnelform,
with a broadly dilated rim: pod long and slender. California.
3. SANGUINARIA. Bloodroot.
Low, acaulescent perennial, from thick, horizontal, pointed and scarred
rootstocks, with juice red and acrid: in very early spring a naked scape,
carrying 1 terminal white flower, enfolded at first by long-petioled kidney-
shaped or cordate, glaucous, palmately veined leaf; sepals 2, soon falling;
petals 8-12, unequal, in 2 rows, not lasting; stamens many: fruit a capsule,
oblong, swollen, 1-celled, many-seeded, 2-valved, dehiscent at base.
S. canadensis. Linn. Flower large, white, fragile, on a scape about G
in. tall: glabrous and glaucous: leaves with rounded lobes and sinuses.
Common in rich, open woods and on sunny banks; early spring.
4. STYLOPHORUM. Celandine Poppy.
Hairy herbs with yellow juice, and pinnately divided leaves: flowers
large, yellow: style 1: stigma 3-4-lobed.
S. diphyllum, Nutt. Low perennial, usually with two opposite, pinnately
parted leaves on the stem; leaves often marked with white, 5-7-lobed:
flowers few, in umbels, large, 1H_2 in. across, clear yellow. Frequent in
rich woods in central states. May.
5. CHELIDONIUM. Celandine.
Rather weak, branching herbs; perennial: leaves alternate, pinnatifid:
juice deep yellow: flowers yellow, small, the bud nodding; sepals 2; petals
4; stamens many.
C. majus, Linn. Along roadsides, about fences, as a weed, growing 1-4
ft. high: leaves thin, once or twice pinnatifid: flowers in loose umbels,
soon perishing, about xA-3/\ in. in diameter.
XIX. FUMARIACE.E.
Smooth, succulent herbs with noticeably delicate, finely dissected,
or lace-like leaves, alternate or radical, exstipulate: flowers small,
irregular, racemose; 2 very small sepals, scale-like; petals 4, small,
partially united: G diadelphous stamens (2 sets of 3 each); ovaries
1-celled: fruit a pod, 1-celled, 1-seeded and indehiscent, or Beveral-
seeded with 2 parietal placentae.
a. Corolla 2-spurred at base, or heart-shaped: fls. pendent. ... 1. Die* ntra
aa. Corolla with 1 spur at base.
B. Pod slender, several-seeded: seeds arilled, or crested . . 2. <'<iri/dalis
bb. Pod globular, 1-seeded, indehiscent 3. Fumaria
364 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
1. DICENTRA.
Low, acaulescent perennials, among the earliest and most delicate of
spring flowers: leaves compound in 3's, finely dissected (lace-like), on
tender pinkish petioles from the roots: the racemose, nodding flowers borne
on leafless, flesh-colored scapes; pedicels 2-bracted; corolla peculiarly
irregular — 4 petals in 2 pairs, the 2 outer spurred at base, somewhat united
to form a 2-spurred corolla, the inner pair of petals spoon-shaped, crested,
meeting over the pistil and stamens; stamens 6, in two sets, opposite the
outer petals.
D. Cucullaria, Bernh. Dutchman's breeches. Leaves from a cluster of
little pinkish tubers, forming a bulb: flowers with straight spurs, longer
than pedicel, and diverging, mostly creamy with yellow tips to petals, not
fragrant.
D. canadensis, Walp. Squirrel corn. Similar to the preceding, but
leaves usually glaucous: root-tubers yellow, resembling grains of Indian
corn: flowers differing in shape from D. Cucullaria in being more elongated,
spurs short and rounded, and the crests of the inner 2 petals prominent:
fragrant. Blooms a little later than preceding, but found in same
situations.
D. spectabilis, DC. Bleeding-heart. A smooth, leafy-stemmed plant of
many gardens; stems much branching; leaves large, twice ternately com-
pound: flowers many and showy in long racemes drooping from the curv-
ing stems, heart-shaped, bright rose or pink; no sepals when in full flower.
Siberia.
2. CORtfDALIS.
Biennial or perennial herbs with leafy stems, pale or glaucous: leaves
much divided or decompound: flowers small, in racemes; corolla 4-petaled,
irregular; one of the outer pair of petals spurred at the base, all erect and
somewhat united.
C. sempervirens, Pers. Stem slender, erect, 6 in. to 2 ft. : leaves small, ses-
sile above, all finely dissected: flowers horizontal in terminal racemes; spurs
short and blunt; corolla rosy, yellow-tipped; outer petals sharp-pointed: pods
erect, slender. May to June.
C. aurea, Willd. Low, diffuse or spreading: flowers yellow, XA in. long;
outer petals keeled, not crested; spur shorter than pedicel {l/i in.), decurved:
pods hanging or spreading, knotty. March to May.
3. FUMARIA. Fumitory.
Annuals, branched and leafy-stemmed : leaves compound, finely dissected:
flowers small, in dense racemes or spikes; petals 4, unequal, 1-spurred at
base; stamens 6, diadelphous: fruit small, globular, 1-seeded, indehiscent,
the style falling.
F. officinalis, Linn. Low, much branched, erect to 1 ft., glabrous: flowers
purple-tipped, pinkish, minute, in loose spikes; sepals acute, sharply toothed,
shorter than corolla. Waste places. Summer. Introduced.
MUSTARD PLANTS 365
XX. CRUClFERiE. Mustard Family.
Herbs, mostly of small stature, with alternate mostly simple leaves:
flowers 4-merous as to envelopes, the 4 petals usually standing 90
degrees apart and thereby forming a cross (whence the name Cruciferse,
or "cross-bearing"); stamens usually 6, 2 of them shorter: fruit
a silique or silicle. A very natural or well-marked family, with about
180 genera and nearly 2,000 species. Familiar plants are mustard,
shepherd's purse, honesty, cress, pepper-grass, wallflower, stock,
cabbage, turnip, radish, horse-radish.
a. Fruit a silique (much longer than broad).
b. Silique tipped with a long point or beak, extending
beyond the valves, the latter more than 1-nerved. . 1. Brassica
bb. Silique not prominently beaked beyond the valves.
c. Flowers yellow 2. Barbarea
cc. Flowers white or purple.
d. Valves with a midrib, or 6eeds in 2 rows.
e. Stigma deeply 2-lobed: flowers large 3. Matthiola
ee. Stigma but slightly, if at all 2-lobed 4. Arabis
dd. Valves without midrib.
e. Seeds in 1 row.
F. Stems leafless below, with 2 or 3 leaves near
middle: rootstock scaly 5. Dcntaria
ff. Stems leafy: roots more fibrous 6. Cardamine
ee. Seeds in 2 rows in each cell.' (Water plants.
See Radicula.)
aa. Fruit a silicle (short and broad).
b. Partition in the pod parallel to the sides.
c. Fruit not much compressed: seeds minute, in 2
rows in each cell 7. Radicula
CC. Fruit quite flattened, 2-8-secded 8. Alyssum
bb. Partition crosswise the pod.
c. Pod obcordate, many-seeded '.». Capsi Ua
cc. Pod orbicular, 2-seeded: corolla regular 10. Le iridium
ccc. Pod rounded or ovate: corolla irregular with un-
equal petals 1 1 . I In ria
aaa. Fruit fleshy, indehiscent, constricted between the
seeds 12. Raphanua
1. BRASSICA. Mustard.
Erect branchy herbs, mostly annual, with more or less lyrate lower
leaves, and small yellow flowers in racemes or panicles: petals clawed or
narrowed below, the limbs spreading horizontally: silique narrow, cylindrical
or 4-angled, the valves 1-5-nerved and the seeds in 1 row in each locule.
Cabbage, cauliflower, and turnip also belong to this genus. The three fol-
lowing are common weeds introduced from Europe:
366 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
B. nigra, Koch. Black mustard. Fig. 518. Leaves pinnatifid, some-
what hairy: pod short, strongly 4-angled, not hairy. Mustard (flour) comes
largely from this species.
B. alba, Boiss. White mustard. Leaves pinnatifid, and rough -hairy:
pods rather slender, hairy, but only the lower part seed-bearing.
B. arvensis. Kuntze. Charlock. Leaves strongly toothed,
pod knotty, hairy or smooth, the upper third indehiscent and 2-
edged. Fig. 413.
2. BARBAREA. Winter Cress.
Low herbs, blooming in early spring, with many small light
yellow flowers, and lyrate leaves with the terminal division much
the largest: pod cylindrical or somewhat 4-angled, the valves
having a strong midvein: seeds a single row.
B. vulgaris, R. Br. Common winter cress. Yellow rocket.
Biennial, about 1 ft. high, with smooth foliage and flowers in
elongating clusters: lower leaves lyrate, upper ones cut or merely
toothed. Low grounds.
or».
Brassica 3 MATTHiOLA. Stock. Gilliflower.
nigra.
Cultivated garden or house plants from Europe: stems and
leaves hoary-pubescent: flowers showy, single or double, of many colors,
fragrant, in terminal racemes; stigma deeply 2-lobed: silique nearly cylin-
drical, with prominent midrib on each of the 2 valves; seeds winged.
M. incana, R. Br. Biennial or perennial with stout, rather woody stem:
leaves lanceolate, entire: flowers white, varied shades of red, purple, etc.
Much grown in gardens and greenhouses.
4. ARABIS. Rock Cress.
Mostly very small herbs with purple or white flowers: stems leafy: rad-
ical leaves spatulate, the stem-leaves sessile: siliques very narrow, elongated,
flat, the valves smooth, keeled or one-nerved in the middle, or veined length-
wise; seeds in 1 or 2 rows in each cell, flattened, usually margined or winged.
A. canadensis, Linn. Sickle-pod. Biennial with stems erect, 1-3 ft.:
leaves lanceolate, pointed at both ends, simple, toothed or entire, sessile,
pubescent: flowers small, white, petals twice as long as sepals: pods long,
flat, sickle-shaped, pendent on hairy pedicels; seeds broadly winged. Com-
mon in woods and rocky ravines.
A. glabra, Bernh. Biennial tall, 2-4 ft., glaucous above, but pubescent
at base, with many stem-leaves, ovate-lanceolate, 6essile, sagittate-clasping
at base; petals yellowish white, scarcely longer than the calyx: pods narrow,
erect: seeds in 2 rows, marginless. Fields and rocky places.
5. DENTARIA. Toothwort.
Low herbs, perennial, found in damp woodland, blooming with the early
spring flowers, bearing flowers in corymbs, white, roseate or purplish,
larger than the similar flowers of Cardamine: rootstocks long, horizontal,
MUSTARD PLANTS 367
scaly or toothed, aromatic or with cress-like taste: stems erect, unbranched,
leafless below, with 2 or 3 palmately divided or compound leaves on petioles;
near the middle: fruit a linear silique, flattened, valves not nerved, with 1
row of seeds in each cell; seeds not winged.
D. diphylla, Michx. Crinkle-root. Pepper-root. Stem erect, from a
toothed rootstock: leaves usually 2: leaflets 3-parted, wide-ovate, with
margins dentate: flowers white.
D. laciniata, Muhl. Fig. 266. Rootstock deep, short, tuberous, con-
stricted in several places (necklace-like): stem-leaves 3, nearly verticillate,
deeply 3-parted into lanceolate, linear or oblong Leaflets, which are lobed or
toothed, and some 2-cleft: flowers white or pinkish, smaller than preceding.
6. CARDAMINE. Bitter-cress.
Very similar to Dentaria, the chief difference being in the stem, which
is leafy, and the leaves simple, usually more or less lobed, alternate on stem.
Glabrous perennials, growing in wet places and along waterways, from
fibrous roots or tubers (not scaly rootstocks), the flowers white or purple in
terminal racemes.
C. bulbosa, BSP. Stem simple, erect, 9-18 in., from a tuber: leaves
simple, petioled below, ovate or rhombic-oblong in shape: petals white,
small, much longer than calyx. A variety purpurea, not so tall (4-6 in.),
with rose-colored flowers, appears even earlier than the type.
7. RADICULA. Water-cress. Horse-radish.
Low, mostly aquatic or marsh plants, with pinnate or pinnatifid leaves
(sometimes simple); flowers small, white or yellow, with spreading sepals;
stamens 1-6: fruits various, short and broad (silicle) or short-cylindrical:
valves convex, nerveless or 1-nerved. Formerly called Nasturtium.
R. Nasturtium-aquaticum, Britten & Rendle. Water-cress. Glabrous,
growing in or about water: stems spreading, rooting at the nodes: leaves
pinnately lobed, with 3-11 lobes, the terminal segment largest: flowers
small in racemes, which elongate as the fruits mature: petals white and twice
as long as the sepals. A favorite plant for salads.
R. palustris, Moench. Marsh-cress. Annual or biennial, with simple,
fibrous roots: stem erect, 1-2 ft., glabrous or slightly pubescent: pinnately
lobed leaves, the upper sessile: flowers small, yellow: pods oblong or ovoid,
turgid, 1 it tit- if any longer than the pedicels. Weed in marshy places.
R. Armoracia, Robinson. Horse-radish. Cultivated, but sometimes
escaped into waste grounds: perennial, the roots long and thick: root-leaves
large, coarse, glabrous, oblong, crenate, rarely pinnatifid, on thick petioles,
the stem leaves sessile, lanceolate: flowers small, petals white, longer than
calyx.
8. AL? SSUM. Alyssdm.
Small plants, mostly trailing, with entire and small leaves: pod small,
orbicular, 1 or 2 seeds in each locule: flowers in elongating racemes.
368 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
A. maritimum, Linn. Sweet alyssum of the gardens (from Europe).
Fig. 519. Annual, producing a profusion of small white, fragrant flowers.
There are many cultivated forms.
9. CAPSELLA. Shepherd's Ptjrse.
Low short-lived annuals, with very small white flowers in racemes:
pod obcordate or inversely triangular, the partition run-
ning across the narrow diameter, containing several seeds.
C. Bursa-pastoris, Medic. Common shepherd's purse.
Fig. 286. One of the commonest little weeds: root-leaves
pinnatifid or strong-toothed, in a rosette, the stem-leaves
arrow-shaped. Europe.
LEPIDIUM. Pepper-grass.
Small stifnsh annuals (or biennials), which shed their
,, leaves late in the season: flowers very small, white or
A/J^y? V^ST^^ greenish, in elongating racemes: pod small and roundish,
the partition running across the narrow diameter. Plant
peppery to the taste.
519. Alyssum ^ yirginicum, Linn. Common pepper-grass. About
1 ft. high, much branched, glabrous: leaves linear to
lanceolate, tapering to the base, the lower mostly pinnatifid. Common
weed; often fed to canary birds.
11. IBERIS. Candytuft. Fig. 192.
Herbs with white, or purple flowers in flat or elongated clusters; 2 outer
petals larger than 2 inner: silicles flattened, truncate, cells 1-seeded. Cul-
tivated.
I. umbellata, Linn. Annual, 1 ft. or more: lower leaves lanceolate, the
upper linear and entire: flowers mostly purple or lilac in flat clusters:
silicles acutely 2-lobed. June and July.
I. amara, Linn. Annual: leaves lanceolate, toothed toward apex: flowers
white. The common white-flowered candytuft, in many forms (including
the garden /. coronaria).
12. RAPHANUS. Radish.
Annual or biennial herbs, with lyrate, pinnately-lobed root-leaves:
flowers rather showy in long racemes; calyx erect; petals clawed; style long
and slender: pod linear, indehiscent, constricted between the seeds, pithy;
seeds spherical. Europe.
R. Raphanistrum, Linn. White charlock. A weed, common in the
East: tap-root slender: petals yellow, fading to white or purplish: pod 4- to
10-seeded, long-beaked, constricted between seeds when dry.
R. sativus, Linn. Garden radish. Flowers pink or white: root fleshy,
spindle- or turnip-shaped, red or white: silique 2-3-seeded, short and
pointed, with fleshy partitions between seeds: seeds round and blackish.
369
XXI. VIOLACE.E. Violet Family.
Ours herbs with or without stems, and simple, entire or cleft leaves,
radical or alternate, with stipules: flowers showy, irregular, solitary
on peduncles; sepals persistent; petals unequal, the lower one larger
or spurred at base; stamens with filaments short, broad, continued
beyond the anthers, usually coherent, joining over and around the
pistil; ovary simple, 1-celled, 3 parietal placentae: fruit a 3-valved
capsule, loculicidal, and, after dehiscence, edges strongly inrolled in
drying, thus dispersing the seeds. One genus is well known.
ViOLA. Violets. Heart's-ease. Johnny-jump-up. Fig. 236.
Early flowers conspicuous and petaliferous, but frequently sterile; some-
times later flowers cleistogamous, concealed under the leaves, apetalous
and self-fertilized, usually developing seeds; sepals eared at base; petals
unequal, the lower spurred or saccate at base; stamens 5, 2 with spurs which
project into the corolla spur.
a. Stemless: leaves basal: flowers on peduncles from rootslocks.
b. Flowers blue or violet: side petals beardless.
V. pedata, Linn. Bird's-foot violet. Not stoloniferous, rootstock short,
stout, nearly smooth: leaves orbicular in outline, but palmately 3- or 5-11-
lobed or divided, segments linear not lanceolate: flowers large, 1 in. broad,
pale violet or deep purple (varying to white); stigma large, not beaked.
Sandy soil. Var. bicolor has 2 upper petals deep velvety violet, 3 lower pale
blue.
bb. Flowers blue or violet: side petals bearded.
V. palmata, Linn. Common, or early blue violet. Pubescent to nearly
glabrous: rootstock stout and scaly: early leaves rounded, cordate or kidney-
shaped, margin crenate, the later leaves various, palmately or pedately
lobed or parted, on long stalks: flowers deep or pale blue; spur short,
saccate; stigma beaked.
V. cucullata, Ait. Common blue violet. A common form, variable and
grading into V. palmata: leaves not lobed or toothed at base, merely crenate
or dentate, kidney-form to broadly ovate: nearly or quite glabrous.
V. sagittata, Ait. Leaves sagittate-lanceolate, or often cordate, toothed
near base: scapes bearing the flowers shorter than the leaves, 3-5 in.;
sometimes all petals bearded; stigma beaked; flowers usually large.
V. odorata, Linn. Sweet violet. English violet. Hardy, cultivated
species from Europe: stoloniferous by creeping runners: leaves downy or
glabrous, rounded or heart-shaped or broadly ovate: flowers fragrant, single
or double, sometimes white.
bbb. Flowers while.
V. lanceolata, Linn. Rootstock smooth, creeping: stoloniferous: leaves
lanceolate to linear, erect, the blade decurrent on the long petioles: flower
370 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
small, white, the lower and side petals purplish-veined: petals beardless
cleistogamous flowers on erect pedicels, frequently from stolons. Wet
places.
V. blanda, Willd. Sweet white violet. Stoloniferous from slender root-
stock: flowers fragrant: petals beardless or nearly so, white veined with
purple: leaves cordate or rounded: few cleistogamous flowers on curved
stalks. Wet places. Plant small.
bbbb. Flowers yellow.
V. rotundifolia, Michx. Stoloniferous: leaves rounded to cordate, mar-
gin somewhat crenate, finally growing large, glossy and lying flat on the
ground: flowers small: lateral petals bearded, °nd with brown lines; sepals
blunt-pointed. Cool woodlands.
aa. Stems evident, leafy: flowers showy on axillary stalks.
b. Flowers blue or violet.
V. rostrata, Pursh. Plant 3-8 in. : leaves rounded heart-shaped, serrate,
the upper acuminate: stipules fringe-toothed, lanceolate: flowers pale violet,
darker-veined: petals beardless: spur slender, longer than corolla. Moist
woodland and shaded hillsides.
V. arenaria, DC. Stems weak, 6-8 in., glabrous: leaves heart-shaped
or kidney-form, margin crenate: stipules lanceolate, somewhat fringe-
toothed: spur slender, half as long as corolla. Swamps and wet places.
Pale purple. American forms differ from the European.
bb. Flowers white, tinged with pink or violet.
V. canadensis, Linn. Upright, 6 in. to 2 ft. : stems leafy, stipules broad-
lanceolate, entire: leaves large, heart-shaped, serrate: petals white inside,
pinkish or violet beneath, spurred petal yellow at base: lateral petals
bearded. Common. Rich woods. All summer.
bbb. Flowers yellow.
V. pubescens, Ait. Downy yellow violet. Pubescent: stems erect, 5-20
in., leafy: leaves broadly heart-shaped, toothed: stipules large, entire: root-
leaves soon wither up: lower petals veined, more or less obscurely, with
purple; spur short; stigma beakless: pod downy. Dry woods.
bbbb. Flowers of various colors: cultivated
V. tricolor, Linn. Garden pansy. Stems angular, branching, leafy:
leaves roundish to cordate: stipules leaflike, incised: flowers widely varied
in colors. Europe. Var. arvensis, in fields, is slender, and petals scarcely
exceeding sepals.
XXII. HYPERICACE.E. St. John's-wort Family.
Herbs or shrubs (in our species), with leaves chiefly sessile, sim-
ple, opposite, some with translucent or black dots: flowers regular,
usually in terminal cymes, and yellow; sepals and petals 4 or 5; sta-
HYPERICACEiE — PORTULACACEiE 371
mens few to many, often in clusters of 3 or 5, hypogynous: pod 1- to
7-celled.
HYPERICUM. St. John's-wort. Figs. 208, 278.
Mostly branching plants with yellow flowers in cymes: leaves sessile,
usually dotted: sepals and petals 5; stamens many, mostly in 3-5 groups.
H. perforatum, Linn. A common introduced species: stems upright,
1-3 ft., branching, 2-edged: leaves linear to oblong, dotted, sessile: flowers
about 1 in. in diameter, the petals dotted with black and much exceeding the
lanceolate sepals; stamens grouped in 3 sets: capsule 3-celhd. Spreads
by running shoots from base.
H. punctatum, Lam. Much like preceding, but leaves more broadly-
oblong, sepals more ovate, and the petals often lined, as well as dotted, with
black.
XXIII. PORTULACACE^. Purslane Family.
Herbs succulent or fleshy, with entire leaves, alternate or oppo-
site, and dry stipules: flowers regular but not symmetrical; sepals 2;
petals 4-5 or none; stamens equal to number of petals and opposite,
or fewer, or more; ovaries free, each 1-celled; style 2-3-cleft, or di-
vided, stigmatic on inner surfaces: fruit a 1-celled pod, opening loculi-
cidally, or a pyxis, opening by a lid; seeds small, kidney-shaped, few
or many.
A. Stamens more numerous than petals: flowers opening once
only, in sunshine 1. Portulaca
aa. Stamens 5: flowers open for some time 2. Claytonia
1. PORTULACA. Purslane. Fig. 280.
Low, fleshy annuals, diffuse or ascending: terminal flowers, which open
once only, in sunshine; sepals 2, joined at base and partially adherent to
ovary; petals 4-6 on calyx, not lasting; stamens 7 to many, on calyx; style
3-8-parted.
P. oleracea, Linn. Common purslane. Pusley. A very common weed.
Smooth, fleshy, prostrate: stems cylindrical, reddish: leaves obovate or
wedge-form, thick, nearly sessile: flowers small, yellow, sessile, open in
morning sunshine. Sometimes used for greens.
P. grandiflora, Lindl. Rose-moss. Stems erect, 3-6 in., fleshy, smooth
or hairy: leaves alternate, cylindrical, ££— 1 in. long: flowers open in morn-
ing; very gay colors, white, yellow, reds, 1-2 in. wide. South America.
Gardens.
2. CLAYTONIA. Spring Beauty.
Low, glabrous, perennial herbs, from small tubers: flowers iasting some
time; sepals 2; petals 5, distinct or slightly united; stamens 5, 1 on base
of each petal; style 3-lobed; ovary 1-celled: capsule 3-valved, few-seeded:
372 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
6tcm erect, usually bearing 2 leaves and terminating in a raceme. Among
the first spring flowers in open woods.
C. virginica, Linn. Leaves thickish, linear-lanceolate, 3-6 in. long,
nearly sessile: stem about 3 in. from tuberous root, bearing 2 (3 or 4 occa-
sionally) leaves: petals white or pink with darker veins, emarginate XA~%
in. long; sepals and petals obtuse.
C. caroliniana, Michx. Leaves 1-2 in. long, oblong or oval to spatulate,
ehort-petioled : flowers fewer than in preceding, white or pinkish, veined.
XXIV. MALVACEAE. Mallow Family.
Herbs or shrubs (trees in the tropics) with alternate, mostly simple
leaves which have stipules: flowers perfect and regular, 5-merous,
often subtended by a calyx-like involucre, the petals 5; stamens
many, united in a column which closely surrounds the several styles;
ovaries several, connivent into a ring or sometimes united into a com-
pound pistil, in fruit making 1-seeded 1-loculed more or less indehis-
cent carpels or a several-loculed capsule. About 60 genera and 700
species. Representative plants are mallow, hollyhock, abutilon, hibis-
cus, althea, okra, cotton.
a. Anthers borne only at the top of the stamen-tube.
b. Fruits 1-seeded, forming a ring at the base of the styles.
c. Involucre of 3 bracts 1. Malva ■
cc. Involucre of 6-9 bracts 2. Althaea
bb. Fruit of several-seeded carpels 3. Abutilon
aa. Anthers borne all along the side of the stamen-tube 4. Hibiscus
1. MALVA. Mallow.
Herbs, with a 3-leaved involucre like an extra calyx; petals obcordate;
carpels many in a ring, separating at maturity, 1-seeded and indehiscent:
leaves usually nearly orbicular in general outline.
M. rotundifdlia, Linn. Common mallow. Cheeses. Fig. 248. Trailing
biennial or perennial, rooting; leaves orbicular, indistinctly lobed, toothed:
flowers small, white or pinkish, clustered in the axils. Yards and roadsides;
from Europe. A common weed.
2. ALTHEA. Marsh Mallow.
Differs from Malva chiefly in having a 6-9-cleft involucre.
A. rosea, Cav. Hollyhock. Figs. 222, 223, 263. Tall perennial, with
angled or 5-7-lobed cordate leaves, and large flowers in many colors. China.
3. ABUTILON. Indian Mallow. Fig. 182.
Mostly shrubs, often with maple-like leaves, and no involucre to the
flower: ovaries and fruits several-seeded. Contains conservatory plants.
Fig. 520.
MALVACEAE — GERANIACE^E 373
A. striatum var. Thompsonii, Veitch. Spotted flowering maple.
Shrub: leaves 3-5-lobed but more typically 5-7-lobed, green: flowers
drooping, on long solitary axillary peduncles, bell-shaped, veiny-orange or
red. A conservatory and house plant. Several forms are in cultivation,
probably cultural variations from the tropical American type.
A. Theophrasti, Medic. Velvet leaf. Indian mallow. Stout
annual, 3 or 4 ft., densely pubescent: flowers yellow, erect, on
peduncles shorter than the long petioles: leaves large, roundish
heart-shaped, taper-pointed, and velvety: calyx 5-cleft; carpels
12-15, united, pubescent, beaked, 2-valved, with 3-9 seeds in.
each cell. August to October. Weed, from Asia.
4. HIBISCUS. Rose Mallow.
Herbs or shrubs, with an involucre of many narrow 520. Garden
bracts: stamen-column anther-bearing most of its length:
styles, 5, united: pod 5-loculed, loculicidal: flowers large and showy.
H. syriacus, Linn. Althea of cultivated grounds. Rose of Sharon.
Shrub 10 ft.: leaves wedge-ovate and 3-lobed: flowers showy, in various
colors, in the leaf-axils in summer and fall, often double. Asia.
XXV. GERANIACE.E. Geranium Family.
Herbs, chiefly with simple leaves: flowers perfect, in most genera
nearly regular (but sometimes very irregular), 5-merous; stamens as
many or twice as many as the sepals, hypogynous; ovary single, the
locules usually as many as the sepals: fruit capsular. A most diverse
family, often divided into several. There are about 20 genera and 700
species. Common examples are geranium, pelargonium, nasturtium,
balsam, jewel-weed or touch-me-not, oxalis.
A. Flowers regular or very nearly so.
B. Leaves simple (often deeply lobed).
c. Anther-bearing stamens 10 1. Geranium
cc. Anther-bearing stamens about 7 2. Pelargonium
bb. Leaves compound 3. Oxalis
aa. Flowers very irregular.
B. Flower with one very long spur 4. Tropseolum
bb. Flower hanging by its middle, with a short hooked spur.5. Impatiens
1. GERANIUM. Cranesbill.
Small herbs with forking stems and 1-3-flowered peduncles: sepals and
petals 5; glands on the torus 5, alternating with the petals; stamens 10,
usually all of them with perfect anthers: fruit 5 1-seeded carpels separat-
ing from the axis from the base upwards and curling outwards.
G. maculatum, Linn. Common wild cranesbill. Fig. 195. Perennial, 1-2
ft., hairy erect: leaves orbicular, deeply 5-7-parted: petals entire, hairy
on the claw: flower rose-purple, 1 in. across. Common; spring.
374 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
G. Robertianum, Linn. Herb Robert. Annual or biennial, 1 ft. or some-
times less, somewhat hairy, spreading: leaves 3- or 5-divided into pinnatifid
divisions: fls. J^ in. or less across, pink-red. Moist places; common.
2. PELARGONIUM. Geranium of gardens.
Somewhat fleshy, strong-scented plants, differing from Geranium in
having a somewhat 2-lipped corolla, and stamens with anthers less than 10.
P. hortorum, Bailey. Garden geranium. Fish geranium. Fig. 39. Stem
somewhat succulent and hairy: leaves orbicular or reniform, crenate-lobed,
often with bands of different colors: flowers in umbel-like clusters, deflexed in
bud of many colors, often double. South Africa, but of hybrid origin.
P. peltatum, Ait. Ivy-leaved geranium. Trailing: filaments 10, some
being sterile: petals pink or white, nearly equal: leaves more or less peltate,
nearly or quite smooth, 5-angled or -lobed.
P. fragrans, Willd. Nutmeg geranium. Stems somewhat shrubby,
and the branches straggling, thick, and softly haiiy: leaves small, rounded,
very downy, fragrant: flowers small, white.
P. graveolens, Ait. Rose geranium. Somewhat shrubby: filaments 10,
some sterile: leaves divided palmately, the 5 or 7 lobes more or less toothed,
revolute and rough-edged: petals not equal, but 2 upper larger: flowers
umbelled, small, pinkish-lavender, veined with darker: plant very fragrant.
3 OXALIS. Ox-alis. Wood-sorrel.
Low often tuberous herbs with small flowers which have no glands on
the torus-disk: leaves digitate, of 3 or more leaflets, usually mostly radical:
flowers (opening in sun) with 5 sepals and petals and 10 somewhat mona-
delphous stamens, the alternate ones shorter: pod 5-loculed, often opening
elastically. The following have 3 obcordate leaflets, closing at night.
O. stricta, Sav. Common yellow oxalis. Fig. 300. Stem leafy and branch-
ing: peduncles bearing 2-6 small yellow flowers. Common in fields.
O. Acetosella, Linn. Wood-sorrel. Scape 2-5 in. high, from a creeping
rootstock: flowers white and pink-veined. Deep woods.
O. violacea, Linn. Scape 5-10 in. high with an umbel of several bright
violet flowers, from a scaly bulb. Woods South, and a common window-
garden plant.
4. TROP-dEOLUM. Nasturtium of gardens.
Tender, mostly climbing herbs (by means of leafstalks), with one of the
5 petals extended into a long, nectar-bearing yellow spur: petals usually 5,
with narrow claws, often bearded; stamens 8, of different shapes; carpels
3, indehiscent in fruit. The following (from Peru) have peltate orbicular
leaves (Fig. 140).
T. ma jus, Linn. Climbing nasturtium. Tall-climbing: flowers yellow,
red, cream-white, and other colors; petals not pointed.
T. minus, Linn. Dwarf nasturtium. Fig. 211. Not climbing: petals
with a sharp point.
GERANIACE^E — SAPINDACE^E
375
5. IMPATIENS. Touch-me-not. Jewel-weed.
Soft or succulent tender herbs with simple alternate or opposite leaves
and very irregular flowers: sepals 3 to 5, usually 4, one of them produced
into a large curving spur; petals apparently 2, but each
consisting of a united pair; stamens 5: fruit 5-valved,
elastically discharging the seeds (whence the names "Ini-
patiens" and "touch-me-not").
I. Balsamina, Linn. Garden balsam. Erect and stout,
1-2 Y2 ft.: leaves lanceolate, toothed: flowers in the axils,
of many colors, often full double.
I. biflora, Walt. (/. fulva, Nutt.). Orange jewel-weed. T
' , .. , ' „ . . , . Impatiens biflora.
Fig. 521. I all branching plant (2-4 ft.) with alternate
oval or long-oval blunt-toothed long-stalked leaves: flowers Y\ in. long,
horizontal and hanging, orange-yellow with a red-spotted lower lip, the
upper lip less spotted and of one piece, the 2 green sepals at the apex of
the pedicel closely appressed to the tube, the tail of the spur curled under
the spur: pod opening elastically when ripe, throwing the
seeds (the 5 valves quickly curling from above down-
wards). Common in swales.
I. pallida, Nutt. (I. aiirea, Muhl.). Yellow jewel-weed.
Fig. 522. Leaves usually stronger-toothed, the teeth usu-
ally ending in sharp points: flowers 1 in. long and much
broader than those of /. biflora, clear yellow, the upper lip
of two parts, the lower also of 2 parts and nearly hori-
zontal, the 2 sepals at apex of pedicel large and not closely
522. appressed, tail shorter: pods as in the other. Less common
Impatiens pallida, than the other, but often growing with it.
XXVI. SAPINDACE.E. Soapberry or Maple.
Trees or shrubs, of various habit: flowers polypetalous or apeta-
lous, often inconspicuous, 4- or 5-merous: stamens 10 or less, borne
on a fleshy ring or disk surrounding the single 2-3-loculed pistil: fruit
a pod or samara. A various family, largely tropical. Genera about 75
and species about 600-700. Maple, box-elder, buckeye, horse-chest-
nut, bladder-nut, are familiar examples.
a. Herb: climbing by hook-like tendrils among the
flowers in the cluster: fruit an inflated pod 1. Cardiospermum
aa. Trees and shrubs.
b. Stature of trees (or tall shrubs).
c. Leaves simple (more or less palmately lobed)
or (in 1 species) 3-5 pinnatcly compound:
fruit a samara (with 2-winged seeds) 2. Acer
cc. Leaves digitately compound, 5-9 leaflets 'A. MscuLut
bb. Stature of shrubs: leaves pinnately 3-7 compound:
fruit a large bladdery pod 4. Staphylea
376 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
1. CARDIOSPERMUM. Balloon-vine. Heart-seed.
Vines climbing by axillary, hook-like tendrils among flower-clusters:
leaves alternate, biternate, leaflets toothed: flowers dioecious, or some per-
fect; sepals 4, 2 of them smaller; petals 4, irregular, each with an appendage
at inner base; stamens 8, filaments un-
equal; style short, 3-cleft; ovary triangular,
3-celled, 1 ovule to each cavity: capsule
membranous, much inflated.
C. Halicacabum, Linn. Climbing
or spreading herb, delicate and slender:
leaflets ovate-lanceolate, acute, cut and
toothed: flowers small, white: fruit large,
balloon-like, decorative; seeds black with
523, '524 white scar, hard, round. Cultivated.
Acer saccharinum. Acer rubrum. Summer.
2. ACER. Maple. Box-elder.
Trees or shrubs, with opposite lobed or parted leaves (pinnate in box-
elder): flowers small and greenish or reddish, in early spring and often
from winter buds, in box-elder dioecious, in true maples perfect (or imperfectly
diclinous); calyx about 5-cleft; petals 5 or none; stamens usually 3-8: fruit
a samara with 2 seeds and 2 wings. Two shrubby woods maples are common
in some parts of the country.
a. Maples: leaves simple, palmately lobed.
b. Flowers from lateral winter buds, preceding the leaves: fruit
maturing very early.
A. saccharinum, Linn. (A. dasycdrpum, Ehrh.). While or silver maple.
Fig. 523. Flowers greenish, with no petals: leaves very deeply 5-lobed,
silvery white beneath, the narrow divisions lobed and toothed: fruit with
large spreading wings, downy when young. Common along streams and in
low grounds; much planted. There is a cut-leaved form known as Wier's
maple, popular as a lawn tree. Wood white. Linnaeus thought it to be the
sugar maple, hence his name "saccharinum."
A. rubrum, Linn. Red, soft, or swamp maple. Fig. 524. Tree usually
of only medium size: flowers red, with narrow-
oblong petals: leaves rather small, not deeply
3-5-lobed, whitish beneath, the lobes serrate
and toothed: fruit with'nearly parallel or slightly
spreading wings, not downy. Low grounds.
bb. Flowers in clusters, with the leaves, some
or all on shoots of the season. 525. Acer saccharum.
A. saccharum, Marsh. (A. saccharinum of some). Sugar, hard, or rocA:
maple. Figs. 143, 525. Flowers greenish, drooping, on long pedicels, the
petals none and the calyx hajry at the top: leaves bright green, firm, cordate-
orbicular in outline, 3-lobed and the side lobes again lobed, all lobes and
MAPLES 377
teeth ending in points, the basal sinus broad and open: wings of fruit some-
what spreading. Commonest of maples East.
A. nigrum, Michx. Black sugar maple. Fig. 526. Foliage dark and limp,
the lobes broad and shallow, little toothed and with only blunt points, the
basal sinus nearly or quite closed: wings of fruit nearly parallel, large.
Eastern Central States; by some regarded as a form of A. saccharum.
A. plantanoides, Linn. Xorway maple. Figs. 79, 80, 157, 323-330. Flowers
late, in umbel-like clusters, yellowish green, large, with both sepals and
petals: leaves large and heavy, 3-5-lobed and much toothed, all parts ending
in points: fruit with wide-spreading wings. Europe. Commonly planted:
has milky juice.
A. Pseudo-platanus, Linn. Sycamore maple. Tree from Europe, and
many varieties cultivated: leaves broad, 3-7-lobed, glabrous above, whitish
and downy below; lobes acute, unequally toothed: racemes terminal, droop-
ing; flowers yellowish-green; ovaries woolly: fruit downy, the wings rather
spreading.
bbb. Flowers appearing after the leaves, in racemes: large bushes or
bushlike small trees in cool woods and ravines.
A. pennsylvanicum, Linn. Striped maple. Moose-wood. Bark smooth-
ish, light green, striped: flowers greenish, in ter-
minal drooping loose racemes: leaves simple,
thin, 3-lobed near apex, the lobes acuminate,
with finely toothed margin all around: fruit
greenish, smooth, with large, widely diverging
wings. Small tree.
A. spicatum, Lam. Mountain maple. Shrub, 526 Acer nigrum
5-10 ft., usually forming clumps: bark green,
not striped: flowers appearing after leaves, in dense racemes, upright,
compound, small, greenish: leaves slightly 3-5-lobed, coarsely serrate: fruit
with narrow, somewhat divergent wings.
aa. Box-elder: leaves pinnate.
A. Negundo, Linn. {Negundo aceroides, Moench). Box-elder. Tree with
green glaucous twigs and leaf-bases covering the buds: flowers in long
racemes, dicecious, with 4-5-cleft calyx and no corolla, and 4-5 stamens, the
sterile flowers on long, slender pedicels: leaves pinnate, with 3-5 ovate-
pointed toothed leaflets: fruit with somewhat incurving wings. Common;
much planted in cold and dry regions west.
3. jESCULUS. Horse-chestnut. Buckeye.
Trees: leaves opposite, on long petioles, palmately compound, 5-7-folio-
late: flowers irregular, in a terminal panicle, some often imperfect, most of
them with some imperfect pistils and stamens; calyx 5-toothed; corolla
irregular, with 4 or 5 clawed petals; stamens 5-8, usually 7: fruit a leathery
capsule, smooth or spiny, 2-3-valved, each valve containing, usually, 1 seed
only; seed large, with shiny brown coat and a large, round, pale scar; not
edible.
378 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
M. Hippocastanum, Linn. Common horse-chestnut. Fig. 277. Buds
noticeably large and resinous: leaf-scars large, horseshoe-shaped: leaves
large, palmately compound, usually with 7 leaflets; leaflets obovate, abruptly
pointed at tip: corolla of 5 petals, white, spotted with purple and yellow;
stamens long, exserted: fruit prickly. Blooms June to July.
M. rubicunda, Loisei. Red horse-chestnut. Small, round-headed tree,
cultivated: leaflets 5-7: petals 4, broad, on slender claws, rose-red; stamens
usually 8.
EL. glabra, Willd. Ohio buckeye. Tall tree, native in woods and along
river banks, west of Alleghanies: bark rough and ill-scented when peeled or
bruised: leaflets 5, oval or oblong, acuminate: flowers small, in short panicle;
petals 4, narrow, on claws, nearly equal, erect, pale yellow; stamens longer
than petals: fruit prickly at first. April, May.
EL. octandra, Marsh. Sweet buckeye. Large tree, rarely shrubby: bark
dark brown, scaly: leaflets usually 5, sometimes 7: flowers yellow; calyx
oblong; petals 4, very unequal, long-clawed, connivent, longer than sta-
mens: fruit glabrous. Rich woods West and South. April and May.
EL. Pavia, Linn. Red buckeye. Shrub or small tree, 3-10 ft., found in
fertile soil West and South: flowers red; calyx tubular; petals 4, unequal,
longer than the stamens: fruit nearly smooth.
4. STAPHYLFA. Bladder-nut.
Upright shrubs with opposite leaves, pinnately compound, with 3-7 leaf-
lets, stipulate: flowers small, white, in drooping clusters; sepals, petals and
stamens 5; styles 2-3: capsule a large bladdery pod, 2-3-lobed, 2-3-celled,
each cell several-seeded.
S. trifolia, Linn. Shrub 6-10 ft., in thickets, in moist soil: leaflets 3,
ovate, acuminate, serrate, stipules deciduous: flowers bell-like, white, in
clusters at ends of branchlets.
XXVII. POLYGALACE.E. Milkwort Family.
Herbs or shrubs, with leaves mostly simple, entire, without stipules,
and flowers irregular and perfect. Represented by the genus
POLYGALA. Milkwort.
Mostly herbs, with bitter juice: flowers very irregular, some often cleisto-
gamous; sepals 5, unequal, 2 of them winged and colored (petal-like); petals
3, usually united into a tube, the middle petal hooded or crested, or other-
wise appendaged; stamens 6 or 8, the filaments usually monadelphous, but
the sheath split, more or less connate, within or hidden in the middle petal;
ovary 2-celled. The irregularity of the flowers makes some of the species
conspicuous, but others have very minute flowers, difficult to examine.
P. paucifolia, Willd. Fringed polygala. Flowering wintergreen. The
most striking of the common milkworts, the flower being large (about 1 in.
long) and showy, rose-purple, with a fine, fringed crest on the central corolla
PEA FAMILY 379
lobe: plant low, 3-4 in. high, branching, from a creeping roots tock, with
oval petiolate leaves clustered near the tips of the stems, the lower leaves
scale-like: there are small, whitish and fertile (cleistogamous) flowers on the
rootstock. In moist, rich woodland. East and North.
P. Senega, Linn. Seneca snakeroot. Flowers small in terminal, slender,
spike-like racemes: stem erect, 8-15 in., simple and leafy: leaves lanceolate,
alternate: flowers white or greenish, on very short pedicels; corolla with
small crest. Perennial.
XXVIII. LEGUMINOS^E. Pulse, or Pea Family.
Herbs, shrubs, or trees, mostly with pinnately compound alter-
nate leaves: flower papilionaceous in the species described below:
fruit typically a legume. A vast family and widely dispersed, with
many tropical species. Genera about 400, and species about 6,500.
By some authors, the species with papilionaceous flowers are separated
into the family Papilionacea?, and those of the acacia tribes, with
regular flowers, as the Mimosaceae. Familiar leguminous plants are
pea, bean, lupine, clover, alfalfa, vetch, wistaria, locust, red-bud.
a. Shrubs, twining 1. Wisteria
aa. Trees, or erect shrubs.
B. Leaves once or twice pinnately compound: flowers
in racemes: often large trees.
c. Flowers truly papilionaceous, rather large and
showy, usually fragrant: leaves with sharp
spines or prickles often in place of stipules 2. Robinia
cc. Flowers small, greenish and inconspicuous, not
truly papilionaceous: tree usually armed with
large pronged thorns 3. Gleditsia
bb. Leaves simple, entire: corolla not truly papilionaceous:
fls. in umbel-like clusters, before the leaves 4. Cercis
aaa. Herbs.
B. Plant climbing by tendrils.
c. Calyx leafy -lobed 5. Pisum
cc. Calyx not leafy-lobcd.
D. Style flattened, bearded down 1 side 6. Lathyrus
dd. Style slender, with a tuft of hairs at apex only,
or about the upper part 7. Vicia
bb. Plant not tendril-bearing: leaves compound.
d. The leaves 3-foliolate (sometimes simple in No. 9).
E. Leaves digitatcly compound.
F. Stamens diadelphous (9 and 10), and the
flowers in heads, or spikes 8. Trifolium
ff. Stamens 10, distinct: flowers in racemes 9. Baptisia
380 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
ee. Leaves pinnately compound (terminal 1-
stalked, and the stalk jointed), 3 leaflets.
f. Flowers small, in a long raceme.
g. Pod straight, exceeding calyx: flowers
small, in very slender racemes 10. Melilotus
gg. Pods curved or coiled: flowers, small to
medium, in heads or short spikes 11. Medicago
ff. Flowers medium to large, clustered at the
ends of the raceme.
G. Keel of the corolla coiled into a spiral .... 12. Phaseolus
gg. Keel curved but not coiled 13. Vigna
dd. The leaves more than 3-foliolate, or digitately
compound.
e. Digitately compound, 5-7 leaflets 14. Lupinus
ee. Pinnately compound.
f. Even-pinnately compound: many leaflets:
flowers yellow 15. Cassia.
ff. Odd-pinnate (sometimes 3 leaflets) of 5-7
leaflets: flowers purplish or lavender 16. Apios
1. WISTERIA.
Tall shrubby twiner, producing long, dense racemes of showy flowers:
leaves pinnate, with several or many leaflets: 2 upper cal^x-teeth shorter:
standard large and roundish: pod knotty, several-seeded.
W. chinensis, DC. Wistaria. Popular climber for porches, from China,
with large drooping racemes of bright blue (sometimes white) pea-like
flowers in spring and summer.
2. ROBINIA. Locust.
Trees or large shrubs with compound, odd-pinnate leaves, with stipules
or stipular spines, the base of the leaf-stalk covering the next year's bud:
flowers showy, pea-like, hanging in axillary racemes; calyx 5-cleft; standard
of the corolla large, turned back, inclosing side petals in bud.
R. Pseudo-Acacia, Linn. Common black locust. Tree, native West and
South, everywhere introduced and valuable for timber. Bark nearly black,
very rough: stiff spines at base of each leaf: leaflets 9-19, ovate or oval,
somewhat mucronate at tip, on short stalks: racemes 3-5 in. long, from
axils, pendulous, slender and loose, the flowers white, very fragrant: pod
smooth, 4-7-seeded.
R. viscosa, Vent. Small tree, native to southern states: cultivated: leaf-
stalks, branchlets and pods glandular-viscid (clammy): prickles short:
flowers roseate, in dense, erect racemes. April to June.
R. hispida, Linn. Rose acacia. A straggling shrub, to 10 ft.: branches,
stalks, and pods bristly with flexible red spines: flowers pink, handsome, in
loose pendulous racemes. Native of southern mountains. Cultivated. May
to June.
PEA FAMILY 381
3. GLEDfTSIA. Honey Locust.
Trees, thorny with stout branching spines on branches and usually on
trunk: leaves abruptly pinnate, frequently bi-pinnate, and all gradations
often on same leaf: flowers in axillary, spicate racemes, greenish, inconspicu-
ous, some imperfect, not papilionaceous; calyx-tube short, 3-5 cleft; petals
3-5, nearly equal, inserted on calyx-tube; stamens 3-10, distinct, inserted on
petals: fruit a large, leathery, flat pod, elongated, containing 1 to many
G. triacanthos, Linn. Large tree with hard and heavy wood: pods 6-18
in. long, an inch or so wide, twisted or hoop-like, filled with sweetish pulp
between the several to many smooth, shiny seeds.
4. CERCIS. Redbud.
Small trees with simple, rounded, heart-shaped leaves and tiny stipules
soon falling: flowers roseate-purple, in numerous small clusters along
branches, even on trunk, before leaves, thus giving the tree a striking
appearance; calyx 5-toothed, campanulate; corolla irregular, not papil-
ionaceous; petals 5 and standard inclosed by wings; stamens 10, distinct:
legume oblong, flat, many-seeded, margined on one edge.
C. canadensis, Linn. Redbud. Judas tree. Native small tree of middle
and southern states, 10-30 ft. high, irregularly branching: bark smooth and
dark. Cultivated as ornamental tree, April, May.
5. PiSUM. Pea.
Slender herbs, climbing by tendrils which are homologous with leaflets:
leaves pinnate, with 1-3 pairs of foliar leaflets, and very large, leafy stipules:
lobes of calyx leafy; flowers large, white, or pink, on axillary peduncles: pod
a typical legume, several-seeded.
P. sativum, Linn. Garden pea. Figs. 206, 310. Smooth and glaucous: leaf-
lets usually 2 pairs, broad-oval: peduncles 2- or more-flowered. Old World.
6. LATHYRUS. Veitchling.
Much like Pisum, differing chiefly in very technical characters, but best
told in general by the narrow leaflets and pods, and not leafy calyx.
L. odoratus, Linn. Sweet pea. Figs. 177, 245. Annual, the stem hairy:
leaflets one pair, narrow-oval or oblong: flowers 2 or 3 on a long peduncle,
very fragrant, in many colors. Southern Europe.
L. latifolius, Linn. Everlasting pea. Fig. 272. Perennial of long dura-
tion, smooth, the stems winged: leaflets one pair, long-oval: flowers many
in a dense cluster on long peduncles, rose-purple and white. Europe.
7. VICIA. Vetch. Tahe.
Herbs, mostly trailing or climbing by tendrils from the ends of pin-
nately compound leaves: leaflets usually many, entire or emarginate:
stipules half -sagittate: flowers in axillary racemes or pairs; calyx somewhat
oblique, 5-toothed; wings adhering to keel; style slender, bent, hairy or with
hairy ring beneath stigma: pods flat, 2-valved, 2- to several-seeded.
382 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
V. americana, Muhl. Perennial, smooth: leaflets 10-14, oblong, blunt:
peduncles 4-8-flowered: flowers purplish-blue, lA~2A in. long. Moist soil.
V. Cracca, Linn. Perennial, more or less pubescent, with weak stems:
leaflets 12-24, oblong to linear, mucronate: racemes many-flowered, 1-sided,
spike-like, on axillary peduncles; flowers blue to purple, M-J^ in. long.
Dryish soil.
V. sativa, Linn. Spring vetch. Annual, rather pubescent, not climbing:
leaflets, 5-7 pairs, oblong or obovate, to linear, obtuse or retuse or mucro-
nate: flowers in pairs, from axils, nearly sessile, violet-purple, zA-\ in. long:
pod smooth, linear, 5-10-seeded. Cultivated or wild; from Europe.
V. villosa, Roth. Hairy or winter vetch. Diffuse, very hairy: flowers
showy in long axillary racemes, deep purple: seeds small and black. Culti-
vated and escaped. Europe. Annual and biennial, perhaps sometimes
perennial.
8. TRIFOLIUM. Clover.
Annual or perennial herbs with digitate leaves of 3 leaflets (all 3 leaflets
joined directly to top of petiole): flowers small, with bristle-form calyx-
teeth, in dense heads: fruit a 1- to few-seeded little pod which does not
exceed the calyx.
a. Flowers sessile in the dense heads.
T. pratense, Linn. Common red clover Figs. 85, 173. Erect,
1-2 ft., with oval or obovate leaflets, which have a pale spot
or band near the center and usually a notch at the end: flowers
rose-red, honey-sweet, the heads closely surrounded by leaves.
Europe, but common everywhere in the North.
T. medium, Linn. Medium red clover. Larger, the stem less
straight, the leaflets oblong, entire and with a spot: head stalked
above the uppermost leaves. Otherwise like the last.
T. arvense, Linn. Rabbit-foot clover. Annual; 5-10 in.,
erect: flowers sessile in dense, cylindrical heads, which become
very soft and grayish fur-like, from the silky plumose calyx-
Trifoiium teeth; corolla insignificant, whitish. Dry, sandy soils; intro-
incarnatum. duced from Europe.
aa. Flowers short-stalked in the heads.
T. hybridum, Linn. Alsike clover. Slender, from a prostrate base, 1-3
ft.: leaflets obcordate: head small and globular, light rose-colored. Europe.
T. repens, Linn. White clover. Small, the stems long-creeping and
sending up flowering stems 3-12 in. high: leaflets obcordate: heads small,
white. Common; native, also European.
T. incarnatum, Linn. Crimson clover. Fig. 527. Stout, hairy, erect
plant, 1-23^ ft., with obovate-oblong leaflets and brilliant crimson flowers
in a long-stalked head. Europe; now frequently cultivated.
T. refiexum, Linn. Buffalo clover. Annual or biennial, pubescent, ascend-
ing 8-18 in. : standard purple, keel and wings whitish : leaflets oval or obovate,
finely toothed. Most common in central states, from western New York.
527.
LEGUMINOS.E
383
T. procumbens, Linn. Low hop clover. Annual, Blender, procumbent
>r upright to 6 or 12 in.: flowers yellow, turning brown and dry when old,
finally reflexing; standard striate; heads small, rounded, 20 40-flowered:
leaflets wedge-shaped and notched at end, terminal one stalked, stipules
ovate. June. Dry soil, introduced.
T. agrarium, Linn. Hop clover. Larger: leaflets ovate-
oblong, the terminal one not stalked, and stipules narrow
and joined for half their length to the petiole. Introduced.
9. BAPTISIA. False Indigo.
Perennial herbs: leaves palmately 3-foliolate, with
stipules (or, simple, sessile, exstipulate, perfoliate leaves):
flowers racemed; calyx 4-5-toothed; standard erect,
rounded, the sides rolling back; keel and wings oblong,
nearly straight; stamens 10, distinct: pod stalked in a
persistent calyx, pointed, inflated, many-seeded. Plants
usually blackened in drying.
B. tinctoria, R. Br. Bushy, erect to 2 ft., somewhat
glacuous: leaves sessile or nearly so, with tiny deciduous
stipules; leaflets small, entire, wedged-ovate: racemes
many, terminal, loosely few-flowered; flowers yellow, about
x/2 in. long, papilionaceous. Dry soil in woods.
10. MELILOTUS. Sweet Clover.
Tall, erect annuals or biennials, with sweet-scented
herbage and small white or yellow flowers in numerous
open racemes: leaflets, 3, oblong: pod ovoid, somewhat exceeding the calyx,
1-2-seeded.
M. alba, Desr. White sweet clover. Bokhara clover. Fig. 184. Two
to 5 ft. tall, smooth: leaflets truncate: flowers white, the standard longer than
other petals. Europe; common on roadsides.
M. officinalis, Lam. Yellow sweet clover. Fig. 528.
Leaflets obtuse: flowers yellow. Less common than the
other.
11. MEDIC AGO. Medick.
Clover-like plants with small flowers in heads or
short spikes and toothed leaflets: particularly distin-
guished by the curved or coiled pod.
M. sativa, Linn. Alfalfa. Lucerne. Figs. 21, 246,
529. Erect perennial, with ovate-oblong leaflets and
short spikes or dense racemes of blue-purple flowers.
Europe. Grown extensively for forage, being made into hay and also
ground into "alfalfa meal."
M. lupulina, Linn. Black medick. Trailing clover-like plant, with obovate
leaflets and yellow flowers in heads or very short spikes: pod black when
ripe. Europe; common weed East.
528. Melilotus
officinalis.
529. Medicago sativa.
384
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
12. PHASEOLUS. Bean.
Tender herbs, often twining, the flowers never yellow, and the pinnate
leaves of 3 leaflets: flowers usually in clusters on the joints of the raceme or
at the end of the peduncle, the keel (inclosing the essential organs) coiling
into a spiral: fruit a true legume.
P. vulgaris, Linn. Common bean. Figs. 1, 308, 309,
311, 312, 322, 530. Annual: twining (the twining habit
bred out in the "bush beans"): leaflets ovate, the lateral
ones unequal -sided : flowers white or purplish, the racemes
shorter than the leaves: pods narrow and nearly
straight. Probably from tropical America.
P. lunatus, Linn. Lima bean. Fig. 531. Annual: tall-
twining (also dwarf forms): leaflets large: flowers whit-
ish, in racemes shorter than the leaves: pods flat and
curved, with a few large flat seeds. South America.
P. multiflorus, Willd. Scarlet runner bean. Perennial
in warm countries from a tuberous root, tall-twining:
leaflets ovate: flowers bright scarlet (white in the "White Dutch Runner
bean") and showy, the racemes exceeding the leaves: pod long and broad
but not flat. Tropical America; cultivated for ornament and for food.
530.
Phaseolus vulgaris,
13. VfGNA. Cowpea.
Differs from Phaseolus chiefly in technical characters, one
of which is the curved rather than coiled keel of the flower.
V. sinensis, Endl. Cowpea. Black pea. Stock pea. v*»
Figs. 273, 532. Long-trailing or twining, tender annual: leaf-
lets narrow-ovate; flowers white or pale, 2 or 3 on the apex of
531. Phaseolua
lunatus.
a very long peduncle, the standard rounded; pod slender
and long, cylindrical: seed (really a bean rather than pea)
small, short-oblong. China, Japan; much grown South for forage, and
used also as cover-crop.
14. LUPiNUS. Lupine.
Low herbs: leaves palmately compound, 5-15 foliolate, rarely simple:
flowers showy, in terminal spikes or racemes: calyx
decidedly 2-lipped: standard round, sides rolled back-
ward: keel incurved, sickle-like: wings lightly united
above keel: stamens monadelphous, with 3 alternate
anthers, different in size and shape from others: pod
oblong, flattened, often knotty.
L. perennis, Linn. Perennial, somewhat downy:
stem erect to 1 or 1J^ ft.: leaflets 7-11, large, radiat-
ing, nearly sessile, oblanceolate, mucronate; stipules
small: flowers blue or whitish, in loose racemes: pod
linear-oblong, hairy, 5-6-seeded. Sandy soil. May to
June.
LEGUMINOS^ — ROSACEA 385
15. CASSIA. Senna. Fig. 247.
Our herbs with odd-pinnate, compound leaves and yellow flowers: sepals
5, nearly equal; corolla not papilionaceous, nearly regular; petals 5, stamens
5-10, some anthers usually imperfect: pod often curved, many-seeded.
C. marilandica, Linn. Smooth perennial, 3-4 ft.: leaflets 6 '■> pairs, lance-
olate-oblong, mucronate, with a gland at or near base of petiole: stipules
deciduous: stamens 10, 3 imperfect, with deformed anthers, the anthers
black: flowers showy yellow, short, axillary racemes. Summer.
10. APIOS. Groundnut.
Perennial, twining herb, with edible underground tubers: leaves pin-
nately 3-7-foliate: flowers in short, dense, often branching axillary racemes:
calyx rather 2-lipped: standard broad and reflexed: keel strongly incurved,
pushing into the standard, and finally coiled or twisted.
A. tuberosa, Moench. Flowers brownish purple, sweet -scented, in dense
racemes about 1-3 in. long: no tendrils: juice milky. Summer. In low,
moist ground and shady woods.
XXIX. ROSACEA. Rose Family.
Herbs, shrubs and trees, much like the Saxifragacese: leaves
alternate, mostly with stipules (which are often deciduous): flowers
mostly perfect and polypetalous, the stamens usually perigynous,
mostly numerous (more than 20); pistils 1 to many: fruit an achene,
follicle, berry, drupe, or accessory. A very mixed or polymorphous
family, largely of temperate regions, of about 75 genera and 1,200
species. By some writers, divided into three or four families. Common
rosaceous plants are rose, strawberry, apple, pear, plum, peach, cherry,
blackberry, raspberry, spirea, cinquefoil.
a. Herbs.
b. Torus not enlarging.
c. Carpels many, in a head.
D. Style deciduous 1. Potentilla
dd. Style persistent on achene, usually jointed and
plumose • 2. Geum
cc. Carpels 2: calyx prickly and lobes closing over
the fruit: 1 or 2 achencs 3. Agrimonia
bb. Torus becoming fleshy: flowers directly from the
crown or root 4. Fragaria
AA. Shrubs or trees.
b. The ovary 1, superior: fruit a drupe 5. Prunus
bb. The ovaries more than 1.
c. Fruit 1-seeded drupes aggregated, or achenes.
Y
386 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
d. Ovaries many, free from calyx and torus, be-
coming drupelets 6. Rubus
dd. Ovaries 5-8: shrubs not prickly: leaves simple:
flowers yellow: fruit achenes 7. Kerna
cc. Fruit achenes inside a hollow torus 8. Rosa
ccc. Fruit a pome: ovaries usually 5, immersed in the
torus.
d. Petals oblong-spatulate: carpels 3-5-celled, but
appearing about 10-celled 9. Amelanchier
dd. Petals rounded : ovaries 5.
E. Pome with 2-seeded carpels 10. Pyrus
ee. Pome with many-seeded carpels 11. Cydonia
eee. Pome with 1-5 stony kernels 12. Crataegus
cccc. Fruit 2-8 dry follicles, each several-seeded 13. Spiraea
1. POTENTILLA. Five-finger. Cinquefoil.
Herbs (sometimes shrubby) with flat deeply 5-cleft calyx and 5 bracts
beneath it, and 5 obtuse, mostly yellow or white petals; stamens many: fruit
an achene, of which there are many in a little head on the small, dry torus:
leaves compound.
P. norvegica, Linn. An erect (1-2 ft. tall) very hairy and coarse annual,
with 3 obovate, or oblong serrate leaflets and small flowers in which the yel-
low corolla is usually not so large as the calyx. Common weed.
P. canadensis, Linn. Common five-finger. Trailing, strawberry-like
with 5 narrow leaflets, but the lateral ones deeply lobed: flowers solitary,
on axillary peduncles, bright yellow. Fields; common.
P. argentea, Linn. Perennial, with stem prostrate, branching above,
white-woolly: leaflets 5, wedge-oblong, green above, white-pubescent beneath,
with a few large, incised teeth, and margins revolute: flowers small, cymose,
yellow; stamens about 20. June to September, in dry soil.
P. fruticosa, Linn. Stem erect (1-2 ft.), shrubby, diffusely branched:
leaves pinnate, with 5-7 sessile leaflets, margins entire, revolute: flowers
axillary; petals yellow, orbicular, and longer than calyx, 1 in. broad.
Marshy and wet ground. June to September.
2. GfiUM. Avens.
Perennial, erect herbs, with odd-pinnate or lyrate leaves, with stipules:
flowers resembling those of Potentilla; calyx 5-cleft with 5 alternate
bracts; stamens, many: achenes numerous, aggregated on a conical recep-
tacle, with long persistent styles jointed, or bent, or plumose.
G. rivale, Linn. Stems erect, 1-2 ft., several-flowered: root-leaves
lyrate, and irregularly pinnate, petioled: stem-leaves few, usually of 3
leaflets, or 3-lobed: flowers few, large, nodding, the calyx purplish, the
petals clawed, erect, yellowish purple; styles purplish, jointed and bent in
middle, stigmas plumose: fruit stalked in the calyx. May to July. Bogs.
G. canadense, Jacq. From 2-3 ft., with stem erect, branching, smooth
or downy: root-leaves of 3-5 leaflets, or simple with smaller leaflets at base:
ROSE TRIBES
387
533. Fragaria vesca.
stem-leaves few, simple, lobed, or 3-divided or toothed and short-petioled:
flowers whitish, the petals not longer than sepals: head of fruits sessile in
the calyx: styles jointed and bent near middle, the lower part hooked: torus
bristly. Late spring and summer.
G. virginianum, Linn. Differs from preceding in being hirsute: root-
leaves various, but pinnate, with a very large
rounded terminal leaflet; the upper leaves mostly ^-
3-parted: flowers white or pale yellow: receptacle ^aS*
not bristly; heads of fruits on short, stout, hairy
stalks. Low ground. Summer.
3. AGRIMONIA. Agrimony.
Perennial, erect herbs, with alternate odd-pin-
nately compound leaves, and slender, spike-like
racemes, with yellow flowers: leaves with small seg-
ments interposed, and large dentate stipules: calyx-
tube contracted at the throat with a 5-cleft limb, and bristly on upper
part; petals 5; stamens slender, 5-15, carpels 2, styles terminal: fruit dry,
included in the prickly calyx-tube.
A. gryposepala, Wallr. Spicate raceme terminating the stem (6 in. to 2 ft.
high) , petals yellow and twice longer than the calyx. Dryish soils. Summer.
4. FRAGARIA. Strawberry.
Low perennials with 3 broad-toothed leaflets and a few flowers on radical
peduncles: torus enlarging in fruit, usually becoming fleshy.
F. vesca, Linn. Fig. 533. Small, very sparsely hairy, the leaves thin
and rather light green, very sharply toothed: flower-clusters overtopping
the foliage, small and erect, forking: fruit slender and pointed, light colored
(sometimes white), the achenes not sunk in the flesh. Cool woods; common
North.
F. virginiana, Duch. Common field strawberry.
Fig. 534. Stronger, darker green, loose-hairy, the
leaves with more sunken veins and larger and firmer:
flower-cluster slender but not overtopping the leaves,
in fruit with drooping pedicels: fruit globular or
broad-conical, with achenes sunk in the flesh; light
colored. Very common.
F. chiloensis, Duch. Garden strawberry. Fig.
291. Low and spreading but stout, the thick leaves
somewhat glossy above and bluish white beneath,
rather blunt-toothed: flower-clusters short, forking,
the pedicels strong and long: fruit large and firm, dark colored, with
sunken achenes. Chile.
5. PRUNUS. Peach. Plum. Cherry.
Trees and shrubs, mostly floweriim in early spring: sepals, petals and
stamens borne on the rim of a saucer-shaped torus, the calyx with 5 green
534. Fragaria virginiana.
388
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
spreading lobes and the petals 5 and obovate; pistil 1, sitting in the bottom
of the flower, the ovary ripening into a drupe: leaves alternate.
a. Peach and apricot: flowers solitary from lateral winter-buds, usually
appearing before the leaves.
P. Persica, Stokes. Peach. Fig. 535. Small tree, with oblong-lanceolate
pointed serrate leaves and solitary fuzzy fruits on
last year's wood. China. The nectarine is a
smooth-fruited form.
P. armeniaca, Linn. Apricot. Figs. 69, 536.
Leaves ovate to round-ovate, serrate: fruits solitary,
on last year's shoots or on spurs, smooth or nearly
535. Primus persica. so. China.
aa. Plums: flowers in umbel-like clusters: fruit large and smooth, usually
with a distinct suture (or "crease") on one side and covered with a
"bloom," the stalk short.
P. domestica, Linn. Common plum. Figs. 209, 289. Small tree, usually
with young shoots downy: leaves thick and relatively
large, dull dark green, ovate, oval or obovate, very rugose
or veiny, somewhat pubescent beneath, coarsely and un-
evenly serrate : flowers large: fruits various, usually thick-
meated and with heavy "bloom." Europe, Asia.
P. americana, Marsh. Wild plum of the North. Fig.
537. Twiggy small tree, often thorny, the young shoots
usually not downy: leaves obovate, dull green, abruptly
pointed, coarsely toothed or jagged, not pubescent be-
neath: fruit small, red or yellow, tough-skinned and glau-
cous, the pit large and flattened. Common in thickets; improved forms are
in cultivation. Including P. nigra, perhaps distinct.
P. angustifolia, Marsh. Chickasaw plum. Mountain cherry. Fig. 538.
Smaller, the young growth smooth and zigzag and usually reddish: leaves
lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, often trough-shaped, shining, finely serrate,
cherry-like: fruit a small thin-fleshed shining plum on a long pedicel.
Delaware, south; also in cultivation.
aaa. Cherries: flowers in umbel-like clusters: fruit
small and nearly globular, early-ripening,
usually without a prominent suture and
"bloom," the stalk slender.
P. Cerasus, Linn. Sour cherry. Round-headed
tree, with flowers in small clusters from lateral buds:
leaves hard and stiffish, short-ovate or obovate,
grayish green, serrate: fruit small, sour. Europe.
P. Avium, Linn. Sweet cherry. Fig. 539. Straight
grower, the "leader" prominent in young trees, with
flowers in dense clusters from lateral spurs: leaves
Prunus
armeniaca.
Fim
537. Prunus americana.
PRUNUS — RUBUS
389
538. Prunus anguatifolia.
oblong-ovate, dull and soft, on the yourm growth hanging: fruit usually
rather large, sweet. Europe.
aaaa. Wild cherries, with small, scarcely edible fruits:
flowers umbellate or racemed.
P. pennsylvanica, Linn. Wild red cherry. Pin or bird cherry. Small
tree, 20-30 ft. high, with red-brown,
peeling bark: flowers small, white, on
long pedicels in umbel-like clusters,
from lateral scaly buds, in early spring,
before or with the leaves: fruit very
small, globose, red, smooth, with thin,
sour flesh.
P. virginiana, Linn. Choke cherry.
Small tree or shrub, 5-20 ft., with
grayish spotted bark: leaves thin, oval
or obovate, abruptly acute at tip,
sharp-serrate: flowers white, in short
racemes, terminating leafy branches, appearing after leaves in late spring:
fruit small, globose, red changing to dark crimson (nearly black), very
astringent: usually found along banks and in thickets.
P. serotina, Ehrh. Wild black cherry. Tree, 50-80 ft., with black, rough
bark and reddish brown branches: leaves thickish, oblong or oblong-lanceo-
late, acute or tapering at tip, serrate with incurving or bluntish teeth: flow-
era later than preceding, white, in elongated, drooping or spreading, termi-
nal racemes: fruit deep purple or black (M in. in diameter) with a sweetish,
bitter taste.
6. RUBUS. Bramble.
Shrubs, usually thorny, the canes or shoots dying after fruiting, with
alternate digits tely compound leaves: flowers white, in clusters, with
5-parted calyx and 5 petals : ovaries many, ripening into coherent drupelets.
a. Raspberries: drupelets or berry separating from the torus.
R. occidentalis, Linn. Black raspberry. Figs. 142,
290. Canes long and thorny, glaucous, rooting at the
tips late in the season: leaves of mostly d ovate
doubly-toothed leaflets: flowers in close, umbel-like
clusters: fruits firm, black (sometimes amber-color).
Woods, and common in cultivation.
R. aculeatissimus, C. A. Meyer. Red raspbi try.
Canes erect and weak-prickly, more or less glaucous,
leaflets oblong-ovate: flowers in racemes: fruits soft,
red. Woods, and cultivated.
R. odoratus, Linn. Flowering raspberry. Flowering "midberry." Shrubby
and erect, branching, 3-5 ft., not prickly, but rather bristly and sticky-
hairy: leaves large, 3-5-lobed: flowers large, 1-2 in. broad, in terminal
539. Prunus Avium,
not rooting at tips.
390 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
corymbs, the petals orbicular and purplish rose (rarely whitish): fruit red,
ripe in August, flattened, sweetish but scarcely edible. Common in woods.
aa. Blackberries: drupelets adhering to the torus (the torus forming
the "core" of the berry).
R. allegheniensis, Porter (R. rillosus of some). Common blackberry.
Tall, very thorny: leaflets 3 or 5, ovate and pointed, toothed, hairy beneath:
flowers large, in open racemes: fruit cylindrical and firm, black when
ripe. Woods, and cultivated.
R. villosus, Ait. (R. canadensis of some). Northern dewberry. Trail-
ing and rooting at tips, prickly : leaflets 3-7, ovate-acuminate or oblong-ovate,
toothed: flowers 1-3, on erect, short peduncles, large: fruit like a small and
shining blackberry. Sterile fields, and in cultivation.
R. trivialis, Michx. Southern dewberry. Fig. 170. Long-trailing, very
thorny and bristly: leaves 3-5, more or less evergreen, mostly lance-oblong
and small, strong-toothed: flowers 1-3: fruit black. Sands, Virginia, south;
also in cultivation.
7. KERRIA. Globe Flower. "Japan Rose."
Shrubby plants with calyx of 5 acuminate, nearly distinct sepals; petals
5 (or flowers double); ovaries 5-8, smooth, globose: leaves simple, ovate,
acuminate, doubly serrate, with stipules: flowers terminal on branches, soli-
tary or a few together.
K. japonica, DC. Bush 3-8 ft. with green winter twigs: flowers orange-
yellow, usually double: leaves sometimes variegated. Late May and June.
Cultivated.
8. ROSA. Rose.
More or less thorny erect or climbing shrubs with pinnate wing-petioled
leaves, and flowers with 5 calyx-lobes and 5 large, rounded petals: pistils
many, becoming more or less hairy achenes which are inclosed in a hollow
torus (fruit becoming a hip, Fig. 292). Most of the garden roses are too
difficult for the beginner: they are much modified by the plant-breeder.
R. Carolina, Linn. Swamp rose. Tall, often as high as a man, the few
spines usually somewhat hooked: stipules (petiole wings) long and narrow:
leaflets 5-9, narrow-oblong and acute, finely serrate: flowers rather large,
rose-color. Swamps.
R. virginiana, Mill. Usually low, with stout hooked spines: stipules
rather broad; leaflets about 7, smooth and mostly shining above: flowers
large, rose-color. Moist places.
R. humilis, Marsh. Three feet or less tall, with straight, slender spines:
stipules narrow; foliage usually less shining. Dry soils.
R. rubiginosa, Linn. Sweet briar. Eglantine. Erect, 4-8 ft., curving,
armed with stout recurved prickles, with weaker ones intermixed: leaflets
5-9, ovate or oval, coarsely and doubly serrate and resinous or glandular,
pubescent beneath, very aromatic: flowers small, pink or white, solitary,
single or double. Naturalized from Europe and in cultivation.
ROSACEA 391
9. AMELANCHIER. Service Berry. June Berry.
Small trees or shrubs, with smooth, grayish bark: leaves simple, peti-
oled, serrate: flowers white, in racemes, or rarely solitary; calyx-tube 5-
cleft; petals 5; stamens many, short, inserted on calyx-throat; ovary
inferior, apparently 10-celled, with 1 ovule in each cavity; styles 5, united
below: fruit a berry-like pome, 4-10-celled.
A. canadensis, Medic. Shadbush. Small tree or bush 5-50 ft. high,
with snowy white flowers in very early spring before the foliage: leaves
ovate to oblong, sharply serrate, acute at apex, base cordate, soon smooth;
stipules long and silky-hairy: fruit red or purple pomes, on slender pedicels,
6weet and edible. Woods, common.
10. PYRUS. Pear. Apple.
Small trees or shrubs with alternate leaves, and flowers in clusters in
spring; flowers 5-merous: ovaries usually 5, immersed in the torus, the
styles free.
a. Leaves simple: pear and apple.
P. communis, Linn. Pear. Figs. 61, 62, 65, 66, 67, 118, 119, 196, 293.
Leaves ovate, firm and shining, smooth, close-toothed: fruit tapering to the
pedicel. Europe.
P. Malus, Linn. Apple. Figs. 294-295. Leaves ovate, soft - hairy be-
neath, serrate: fruit hollowed at the base when ripe. Europe.
P. coronaria, Linn. Wild crab. Bushy tree to about 20 ft., somewhat
thorny: leaves ovate-triangular to heart-shaped, cut-serrate, or somewhat
lobed, soon smoothish: flowers large, strikingly fragrant, rose-colored, few
in a corymb or cluster: pome flattened at the ends, long-stemmed, indented
at the attachment to stalk, green, becoming yellowish, fragrant but sour.
Open glades, from New York, west and south.
P. ioensis, Bailey. Prairie crab. Pubescent: leaves oblong or ovate,
notched or parted along the sides, the petioles short: pome globular or
oblong, short-stemmed, with light dots. Mostly west of Great Lakes.
aa. Leaves compound: mountain-ashes. (Sorbus.)
P. americana, DC American mountain-ash. Tree or large shrub, native
to mountain woods in the East, but sometimes cultivated: leaves odd-pin-
nately compound, with 13-15 leaflets that are lanceolate, taper-pointed, ser-
rate, bright-green above: flowers numerous, small, white, in compound, flat
cymes; styles 3-5: berry-like pomes globose, bright red, or orange, about the
size of peas.
P. Aucuparia, Ehrh. English mountain-ash. Rowan. Leaves pubescent
on both sides when young, the leaflets blunt: fruit larger than that of pre-
ceding, about Y2 in. in diameter.
11. CYDONIA. Quince.
Small tries or shrubs: flowers and leaves much as in Pyrus: ovary 5-
celled, with many seeds in each: fruit a pome, usually hollowed at top end,
globose, or pyriform.
392 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
C. vulgaris. Pers. Quince. Six to 15 ft. high, with crooked branches;
flower solitary, large, pale pink or roseate, on shoots of the season: leaves
oblong-ovate, acute at apex, with obtuse base, entire. A small tree grown
for its large yellow fruits.
C. japonica, Pers. Japan quince. Shrub, 3-6 ft., cultivated for hedges
and flowers: branches armed with short, straight spines: leaves glabrous
and shining, acute at the end, serrulate, the stipules conspicuously reniform:
flowers in axillary clusters, nearly sessile, crimson or scarlet. Fruit globose,
fragrant.
12. CRAT^GUS. Hawthorn. Figs. 164-167.
Large bushes or small trees, much branched, the wood tough and hard,
usually very thorny: flowers white or pink, in dense umbel-like clusters;
petals 5, entire; stamens 5-10 to many: fruit a small red or yellow drupe
containing large bony stones: leaves simple, mostly toothed or lobed. Many
species wild in North America, and some cultivated; too difficult of determi-
nation for the beginner. The wild hawthorns are amongst the most deco-
rative plants in the American landscape.
13. SPIR^A. Spirea. Fig. 193.
Hardy perennial herbs and many ornamental shrubs: leaves alternate:
flowers white or roseate, usually small but many; calyx 5-cleft, short and
open; petals 5; stamens many: fruit of about 5 follicles, not inflated. A
large and very interesting group of flowering plants, mostly with white
bloom. Following are small shrubs:
S. salicifdlia, Linn. Meadow-sweet. Glabrous or nearly so, erect to 3
or 4 ft., stem often purplish: leaves simple, oblong-ovate to lanceolate,
serrate, with stipules deciduous: flowers in terminal erect panicles, white
or pinkish-tinged, small, with pods (follicles) 5, smooth, many-seeded.
Moist or swampy ground. Summer.
S. tomentosa, Linn. Hardhack. Erect, 2-4 ft. high, with pubescent
stems, rusty or hairy: leaves simple, oblong or ovate, serrate, woolly on
lower surface, without stipules: flowers in terminal thyrse-like dense panicles,
pink or purple (rarely white), the follicles 5, pubescent or woolly: pastures
and low grounds. Late summer.
S. trilobata, Linn. Bridal wreath. Large bush with long recurving
branches and bearing a profusion of showy flowers in flat-topped clusters:
leaves round-ovate, crenately cut and 3-lobed. S. Van Houttei is an
improved form. The forms of this species-group are the most popular
cultivated spireas.
S. hypericifolia, St. Peter's wreath. From 3—6 ft., leaves obovate-
oblong or wedge-shaped, obscurely toothed or lobed : flowers white, in many
small lateral sessile clusters, on short branches. Cultivated.
S. Thunbergii, Sieb. Compact bush with very narrow leaves, sharply
serrate and very light green: flowers umbellate, small, white. Handsome
species from Japan.
SAXIFRAGES 393
XXX. SAXIFRAGACE^:. Saxifrage Family.
Herbs or shrubs of various habit, with opposite or alternate leaves
that usually do not have stipules: flowers with ovary mostly inferior,
5-mcrous, the stamens usually 10 or less (in a few eases as many as
40); pistils 10 or less, either separate or the carpels united, tin- fruit
a follicle, capsule or berry. A polymorphous family comprising some
600 species in about 75 genera. Comprises saxifrage, mitre-wort,
hydrangea, mock orange, currant and gooseberry.
A. Herbs.
b. Stamens twice as many as petals,
c. Petals entire: stamens usually 10.
d. Flowers in cymes or panicles (rarely solitary):
capsule 2-beaked: ovary usually 2-celled 1. Saxifraga
DD. Flowers in racemes: ovary 1-celled: capsule
2-beaked. with 1 beak the longer and larger. . . .2. Tiarella
cc. Petals with edges fringed or cleft 3. Mitella
bb. Stamens (fertile) 5, or equal in number to the petals:
clusters of sterile stamens opposite each petal 4. Parnassia
aa. Shrubs.
B. Leaves opposite.
c. Stamens 8 or 10.
d. Flowers all alike: sepals 5 5. Deutzia
dd. Flowers usually of 2 kinds: the marginal ones
enlarged and neutral, apctalous 6. Hydrangea
cc. Stamens many: petals 4 or 6, large, white 7. Philadelphia
bb. Leaves alternate 8. Ribcs
1. SAXIFRAGA. Saxifrage.
Herbs, with root-leaves in rosette: flowers perfect, small, whitish, in
cymes or panicles, on leafy stems or leafless scapes; sepals 5, more or less
united; petals 5, entire inserted on calyx-tube; stamens mostly 10; styles
2 and capsule 2-beaked, or of nearly separate divergent pods.
S. virginiensis, Michx. Little perennial herb with spatulate or obovate,
petioled, crenate, thick leaves: scape 3-12 in., erect, viscid-pubescent,
bearing many small, white flowers in a loose cyme, the petals exceeding the
calyx. In early spring, on moist banks and rocks.
2. TIARELLA. False Mitrewort.
Perennials, with small white flowers in racemes: calyx white, eampan-
ulate, 5-lobed; petals 5, entire on claws; stamens 10, with long filaments
from the calyx-tube; ovary 1-celled, nearly superior; styles 2, long and
slender: capsule with two very unequal beaks.
T. cordifolia, Linn. Scape slender, pubescent, leafless or with 1 or 2
leaves: stoloniferous from rootstocks: leaves cordate, lobed or toothed,
petioled, slightly hairy or downy beneath: flowers white, in short raceme.
Spring. Handsome.
394 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
3. MITELLA. Mitrewort. Bishop's Cap.
Delicate little perennials, with small, white flowers in a raceme or spike,
the basal leaves heart-shaped or reniform : scape with 2 opposite leaves, or
1 or none: calyx short, 5-cleft, adherent to base of ovary; petals 5, white
edges daintily fringed, inserted on calyx; stamens 5-10, with short fila-
ments, on petals; styles 2, short.
M. diphylla, Linn. About 1 ft. tall: root-leaves in a cluster, cordate,
ovate, somewhat 3-5-lobed, toothed, hairy: scape rather hairy, with 2
opposite nearly sessile leaves near middle: flowers tiny, many, white. May
to early June, in rich woods.
M. nuda, Linn. Very delicate and slender: scape usually leafless: basal
leaves reniform, crenate: flowers few, greenish, very small, pedicelled; not
common. Damp, cold woods, northward. Late spring and early summer.
4. PARNASSIA. Grass of Parnassus.
Low, glabrous perennials, belonging mostly to marshy or wet situations:
root-leaves in rosettes, rounded, entire; stem-leaves 1 or few, alternate:
flowers solitary, terminal, on a scape-like stem, white or greenish; calyx
5-lobed to near base; fertile stamens 5, alternating with the 5 whitish
petals, a cluster of sterile filaments at base of each petal; ovary superior
1-celled, with 4 parietal placenta?, and usually 4 stigmas.
P. caroliniana, Michx. One flower with sessile petals, white, with green-
ish veins, 1-1 J^ in. broad: root-leaf thickish, ovate or cordate, 1 leaf usually
near base of scape: 6-15 in. high. Wet places. Summer.
5. DEtTTZIA.
Shrubs, having opposite, simple, exstipulate leaves: flowers panicled or
racemed, numerous, white or pinkish: calyx -lobes 5; petals 5 to many; sta-
mens 10, 5 long and 5 short, the filaments flat, commonly with 3 prongs,
the middle prong antheriferous; ovary inferior, styles 3-5.
D. gracilis, Sieb. & Zucc. Grows to 2 or 3 ft.: flowers many, white, single
or double: leaves oblong-lanceolate, sharply serrate, green and smooth.
June. Cultivated from Japan.
D. scabra, Thunb. Tall, pubescent: leaves ovate or oblong-ovate, finely
crenate or serrate: flowers pinkish. Later-blooming than preceding, and
much larger. China and Japan.
6. HYDRANGEA.
Shrubs, with opposite, stalked exstipulate leaves, and flowers of two
kinds in terminal corymbs or cymes, the outer ones usually sterile, often
apetalous, consisting merely of a showy, flat or spreading 5-lobed calyx, the
fertile flowers small, with calyx-tube 4-5-toothed; petals 4 or 5: stamens 8-
10, filaments slender; ovary inferior, 2-celled (rarely 3- or 4-celled) ; styles 2-4.
H. arborescens, Linn. Leaves ovate, obtuse or cordate at base, acumi-
nate, serrate, green on both surfaces, nearly or quite smooth: flowers in
flat cymes, often all fertile, but sometimes with many large, white, sterile
flowers. Along streams. June to July.
SAXIFRAGE FAMILY 395
H. Hortensia, DC. Smooth, with large, toothed, bright green oval
leaves and flowers nearly all neutral, pink, blue or whitish, in great round-
ish clusters. China and Japan. Cultivated in greenhouses.
H. paniculata, Sieb. Somewhat pubescent, with oblong-ovate, long-
pointed, dull, sharp-toothed leaves, and whitish flowers in great elongated
panicles. Japan. The common hydrangea of lawns.
7. PHILADELPHUS. Mock Orange (from the flowers). Syringa.
Shrubs with showy corymbose or paniculate white flowers and opposite
simple leaves: petals 4 or 5; stamens 20 or more; ovary 3-5-loculed, becom-
ing a capsule.
P. coronarius, Linn. Tall shrub with erect branches: leaves oblong-
ovate and smooth: flowers cream-white, fragrant, in close clusters, in late
spring. Europe.
P. grandiflorus, Willd. Tall, with long recurving branches: leaves ovate-
pointed and somewhat downy beneath: flowers pure white, scentless, in
loose clusters. Virginia, south, and planted.
8. RIBES. Gooseberry and Currant.
Low shrubs, often prickly, with alternate digitately lobed leaves:
flowers small; sepals 5 and petal-like, on the ovary; petals and stamens 5,
borne on the calyx: fruit a small globular berry.
a. Gooseberries: flowers 1-3: usually spines below the leaves.
R. oxyacanthoides, Linn. Small bush, with long, graceful branches and
very short thorns or none: leaves thin, orbicular-ovate, about 3-lobed,
the edges thin and round-toothed: flowers on very short peduncles, the
calyx-lobes longer than the calyx-tube, the ovary and berry smooth, the
fruit reddish or green. Swamps North; probable parent of Houghton and
Downing gooseberries.
R. Grossularia, Linn. English gooseberry. Stiffer and
denser bush, with firm and thickish more shining leaves,
which have revolute margins: ovary downy and the large
fruit pubescent or bristly. Europe; parent of the large-
fruited gooseberries.
R. Cynosbati, Linn. Tall, open prickly bush, with
thickish bluntly 3-lobed downy leaves and long peduncles
bearing 3 or more flowers with calyx-lobes shorter than
the tube: leaves rounded and 3-lobed: fruit dull purple,
either prickly or smooth. Common in dry places. 640. Ribes.vulgare.
aa. Currants: flowers in long racemes: no spines.
R. vulgare, Lam. Red and white currant. Fig. 540. Erect bush, with
broad-cordate 3-5-lobed leaves with roundish lobes and not strong-smelling:
racemes drooping, the flowers greenish and nearly flat open: berries (cur-
rants) red or white. Europe.
R. nigrum, Linn. Black currant. Stronger bush, with strong-scented
396
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
leaves and larger oblong or bell-shaped flowers with bracts much shorter
than the pedicels: berries black and strong-smelling. Europe.
R. floridum, L'Her. (R. americanum, Marsh.). Wild black currant.
Fig. 541. Straggling bush, with heart-shaped 3-5-lobed doubly serrate some-
what scented leaves: flowers in long racemes, whitish, with bracts longer
than the pedicels: fruit black, scented. Woods.
R. aureum, Pursh. Golden, buffalo, or flowering currant. Fig. 542.
Large bush, with racemes of long-tubular yellow very
fragrant flowers: fruit blackish. Missouri, west, but com-
mon in gardens for its flowers.
XXXI. ONAGRACE.E. Evening Primrose Family.
Mostly herbs: leaves various, alternate or opposite,
without stipules: flowers perfect, usually 4-parted, with
calyx-tube joined to ovary and often prolonged, the
' 13e3 margin 4-lobed, lobes valvate in the bud, usually
reflexed in flower: petals 4 (2-9), on throat of calyx-
tube: stamens as many or twice as many as petals: style 1, slen-
der, the stigma 4-lobed (sometimes 2-lobed); ovary 2-4-celled.
More than 300 species and 40 genera, of wide distribution.
a. Calyx-tube much prolonged beyond the ovary.
b. Lobes generally reflexed: fruit a dry capsule, dehiscent.. 1. Oenothera
bb. Lobes large and spreading: calyx-tube highly colored:
fruit a-4-celled berry: flowers drooping 2. Fuchsia
aa. Calyx-tube not much prolonged.
B. Stamens 8; petals 4 3. Epilobium
bb. Stamens 2; petals 2 4. Circaa
1. OENOTHERA. Evening Primrose.
Herbs, stems usually erect: leaves alternate: flowers brightly colored,
regular, axillary or in terminal spikes; calyx-tube prolonged beyond ovary,
the 4 lobes usually reflexed, sometimes soon falling; petals 4;
stamens 8; stigma 4-lobed; capsule usually narrow and long,
4-celled, many-seeded.
(E. biennis, Linn. Common evening primrose. Figs. 276, 415.
Stem erect, 2-5 ft., hairy and leafy: leaves lance-oblong,
somewhat repandly-toothed ; flowers pure yellow, fragrant, in
l»r terminal, leafy spikes, not remaining open in broad sunshine:
calyx-tube 2 to 3 times longer than ovary and lobes reflexed ;
petals obcordate: pod oblong, bluntly 4-angled. A very com-
mon biennial of roadside and pasture, opening quickly at
542. Ribes nightfall,
aureum. (E. fruticosa, Linn. Sundrops. Biennial or perennial: stem
mONKTVOF
ONAGRACE.E 397
erect, 1-3 ft., leafy, more or less hairy: flowers yellow, 1-2 in. in diameter,
in corymbed racemes, open in daytime: pod decidedly 4-angled and 4-
ribbed, rather downy, shortly stalked. Dry soil.
CE. pumila, Linn. Resembles preceding, but smaller, 5-12 inches high:
corolla yellow, about Yi hi. across: pod smooth, 4-angled, sessile or short-
stalked. Dry soil.
2. FUCHSIA. Figs. 172, 183, 205.
Herbs or shrubby plants (some trees): leaves opposite, or 3 in a whorl:
flowers drooping, axillary; calyx-tube colored, extended beyond ovary;
margin 4-lobed, spreading; petals 4 on throat of calyx; stamens 8, project-
ing; style long: fruit a 4-celled berry. A number of species of these orna-
mental plants in cultivation. Mainly native to South America.
F. magellanica, Lam. Smooth and tender: leaves simple, toothed,
slender-petioled: flowers hanging on long peduncles from leaf axils; calyx
red, lobes long, exceeding the tube and the petals; petals blue or purple or
red, obovate, notched, convolute about the bases of the long filaments and
style. The common window-garden fuchsias (F. speciosa) have descended
from this species, more or less hybridized with others.
3. EPILOBIUM. Willow-herb.
Mostly perennials, with leaves nearly sessile, alternate or opposite:
flowers white or purple, spicate, racemed, or solitary; calyx -tube little
if any longer than ovary, limb 4-cleft; petals 4; stamens 8; stigma 4-lobed:
fruit linear, 4-sided, dehiscent by 4 loculicidal valves, many-seeded: seeds
with tuft of long, silky hair attached to tip.
E. angustifolium, Linn. Purple fireweed. Stem simple, erect, 4-7 ft.:
lower leaves alternate, lanceolate, nearly entire: racemes long, terminal,
showy ; flowers large, about 1 in. across, reddish purple. Common in woods.
4. CIRCjEA. Enchanter's Nightshade.
Low, delicate, and insignificant perennial herbs, with creeping root-
stocks: leaves opposite, very thin, petioled: flowers very small, in terminal
and lateral racemes; calyx-tube slightly prolonged beyond ovary; parts of
the flower in 2's. Damp, shady places. Summer.
C. Lutetiana, Linn. Stem erect, 1-2 ft. tall, pubescent: leaves ovate,
slightly repand-toothed: flowers white or pink, about Kin. in diameter, on
slender pedicels, bractless: fruit small, round, 2-celled, bristly. The com-
mon species in damp, shady places in summer.
XXXII. UMBELLfFEILE. Parsley Family.
Herbs, mostly strong-scented and with compound alternate leaves
"with petioles expanded or sheathing at the base: flowers small, mostly
perfect) 5-merous, epigynous, in umbels or umbel-like clusters; stamens
5: fruit consisting of 2 carpels, which are dry and seed-like and
398 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
indehiscent. Oil-tubes, in the form of stripes, 1 or several in the
intervals of the ribs on the fruits, also sometimes under the ribs and
on both faces of the fruit, are characteristic features of the Umbel-
liferae. A well-marked natural family of about 1,500 species in about
160 genera. Some of the species are poisonous. Here belong parsley,
parsnip, carrot, celery, caraway, sweet cicely. Rather difficult for
the beginner.
a. Fruits bristly 1. Daucus
aa. Fruits not bristly.
b. The fruits winged.
c. Wing single, surrounding the margin: flowers
yellow 2. Pastinaca
cc. Wing double on margin: flowers white 3. Angelica
bb. The fruits wingless.
C. Fruit long and slender, tapering at base: no appar-
ent oil-tubes: flowers white 4. Osmnrrhiza
cc. Fruit ovate or orbicular.
D. Plant low and delicate: blooms in earliest spring:
stem with 1 or 2 leaves, if any 5. Erigenia
dd. Plant tall: stems leafy.
E. Axis not splitting in two when the carpels
fall from it 6. Apium
ee. Axis splitting in two when the carpels or ' 'seeds' '
fall. Leaf-segments filiform, flowers white.. .7. Carum
1. DAfrCUS. Carrot.
Annuals or biennials, bristly, slender and branching, with small white
flowers in compound umbels, the rays of which become inflexed in fruit: the
fruit oblong, ribbed and bristly.
D. Carota, Linn. Carrot. Figs. 194, 410. Leaves pinnately decompound,
the ultimate segments lanceolate: outer flowers with larger petals. Europe;
cultivated for the root, and extensively run wild.
2. PASTINACA. Parsnip.
Tall, smooth biennials of strict habit and with pinnately compound
leaves: flowers yellow, in compound umbels with scarcely any involucres:
fruit oval, very thin, wing-margined.
P. sativa, Linn. Parsnip. Flowering stem 2-4 ft. tall, grooved, hol-
low: leaflets ovate or oblong, sharp-toothed. Europe; cultivated for its
roots and also run wild.
3. ANGELICA.
Strong, tall, perennial weeds, with great compound leaves and large
umbels of small white flowers, with involucre and involucels none, or only a
few small bracts: fruit ovate or oval, flattened, with rather broad, marginal
wings: oil-tubes many.
UMBELLIFERiE 399
A. atropurpurea, Linn. A groat weed, 3-8 ft. tall, in moist, rich soil or
swampy ground, with stem stout, smooth, strong-scented, often purple:
leaves large, 3-compound, on petioles with broad, inflated bases: umbels
large, flowers greenish white.
4. OSMORRHIZA. Sweet Cicely.
Herbs, 1-2 ft. or more, perennial, glabrous or pubescent, from thick-
clustered, aromatic roots: leaves 2 or 3 times pinnately compound;
leaflets variously toothed, — the whole leaf fern-like: flowers many, small,
white, in compound, rayed umbels: fruit linear to linear-oblong, attenuate
at base, short-beaked, compressed, with 5 bristly ribs: no oil-tubes.
O. Claytdnii, Clarke. Stout, downy, 1-2 or 3 ft.: style conical, shorter
than the ovary.
O. longistylis, DC. Glabrous or nearly so, otherwise much like the pre-
ceding: style slender and about as long as the ovary: root aromatic.
5. ERIGENiA.
Little, glabrous perennial, early flowering: simple stem, springing from
a rounded tuber: leaves finely compound: flowers in small clusters, in
leafy bracted umbels, small, white; calyx-teeth wanting; petals obovate or
spatulate: fruit nearly orbicular, compressed on sides, glabrous, notched
at both ends.
E. bulbosa, Nutt. Harbinger of spring. A delicate and pretty but incon-
spicuous plant, 4-10 in. high, springing from the ground in earliest
spring, on sunny slopes of woodlands. The little white petals and brown or
purplish anthers give a "pepper-and-salt" appearance.
6. APIUM. Celery.
Annuals or biennials, with large pinnate leaves: flowers white, in small
umbels: fruit small, usually as broad as long, each carpel 5-ribbed: axis,
from which the carpels fall, not splitting in two.
A. graveolens, Linn. Celery. Biennial, smooth: leaflets 3-7, wedge-
shaped or obovate, the lower ones about 3-divided, round-toothed, Europe:
cultivated for its petioles, which have become greatly enlarged. Many
cultivated forms.
7. CARUM. Caraway.
Slender and erect, smooth annual and biennial herbs with pinnate
leaves: flowers white, in compound umbels provided with involucres: axis
bearing the carpels, splitting in two at maturity.
C. Carui, Linn. Caraway. Stem furrowed, 1-2 ft.: leaves cut into
thread-like divisions: flowers white. Europe. Cultivated for its fruits,
known as "Caraway seed," and also run wild.
C. hortense, Hoffm. (C. Petroselinum, Benth. Petroselinum hortense,
Hoffm.). Parsley. One to 3 ft. : leaflets ovate and 3-cleft, often much cut or
"curled" in the garden kinds: flowers yellowish. Europe. Grown for its
foliage, used for garnishing and flavoring.
400 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
CC. GAMOPETALM.
XXXIII. LABIATE. Mint Family.
Herbs, usually of aromatic scent, with 4-cornered stems and oppo-
site usually simple leaves: flowers typically 2-lipped; stamens 4
in 2 pairs, or only 2; ovary deeply 4-lobed, forming 4 indehiscent
nutlets in fruit. A well-marked family of some 2,700 species, dis-
tributed in about 150 genera, of both temperate and tropical regions.
To this family belongs the various mints, as peppermint, spearmint,
catnip, hyssop, thyme, pennyroyal, savory, rosemary, sage, hore-
hound, balm, basil. Flowers mostly in whorls in the axils of leaves or
bracts, sometimes forming interrupted spikes.
a. Stamens 2.
b. Calyx nearly equally toothed.
c. Lobes 5: throat hairy 1. Monarda
cc. Lobes 4-5: throat naked 2. Lycopus
bb. Calyx 2-lipped.
c. Throat naked within 3. Salvia
cc. Throat hairy: plants very pungent-scented 4. Hedeoma
aa. Stamens 4.
b. Corolla scarcely 2-lipped: lobes nearly equal.
c. Border of corolla 44obed: upper lobe broadest and
emarginate 5. Mentha
cc. Border of corolla 4-lobed, with a deep fissure be-
tween the 2 upper lobes 6. Teucrium
bb. Corolla strongly 2-lipped.
c. Calyx 2-lipped.
d. Lips of calyx toothed: flowers in dense terminal
spikes or heads 7. Prunella
dd. Lips of calyx entire, the upper humped, or
appendaged: flowers axillary in bracts or leaf
axils, solitary or racemed 8. Scutellaria
cc. Calyx nearly or quite regular.
D. Upper pair of the stamens the longer 9. Nepeta
dd. Upper pair of the stamens the shorter.
E. Stamens' short, included in the tube of the
corolla 10. Marrubium
ee. Stamens long, projecting from the corolla-tube. 11. Leonurus
1. MONARDA. Horse-mint.
Rather stout, mostly perennials, with flowers in close terminal heads:
calyx tubular, 15-nerved, hairy in the throat, the teeth nearly equal: corolla
strongly 2-lipped, the upper lip erect, the lower spreading and 3-lobed.
M. fistulosa, Linn. Two to 5 ft., in clumps: leaves ovate-lanceolate:
THE MINT FAMILY 401
flowers in a clover-like flattish head: calyx slightly curved: corolla about
1 in. long, purple. Common in dry places.
M. didyma, Linn. Oswego tea. Bee balm. Stem 4-angled and branch-
ing: leaves petioled, shortly ovate to lanceolate, those about the terminal
head tinged with red: not very common wild, but cultivated.
2. LYCOPUS. Water Hoarhound.
Low perennials, with stolons or suckers, much like the mints (Mentha)
and growing in similar moist or shady places: not aromatic: flowers small,
white clustered in leaf axils: calyx bell-shaped, 4- to 5-toothed: corolla
campanulate, with 4 nearly equal lobes: fertile stamens 2, the other 2 rudi-
mentary or wanting: flowers small, white or purplish, bracted and whorled
in axillary clusters.
L. virginicus, Linn. Stem 6 in. to 2 ft., obtusely 4-angled, green or
often purplish: stoloniferous: leaves oblong or ovate-lanceolate, serrate,
except at base, short-petioled or nearly sessile. In moist places. Summer
3. SALVIA. Sage.
Annuals or perennials, mostly with large and showy flowers: calyx and
corolla 2-lipped: upper lip of corolla large and usually arched, entire or
nearly so, the lower lip spreading and 3-lobed: stamens 2, short, the anther
locules separated by a transverse bar.
S. officinalis, Linn. Common sage. Erect low perennial, with gray
pubescent foliage: leaves oblong-lanceolate, crenulate, very veiny: flowers
blue, in spiked whorls. Europe; used for seasoning.
S. splendens, Sell. (S. cocclnea of gardens). Scarlet sage. Tender peren-
nial from Brazil, but much cultivated for its bright scarlet floral leaves,
calyx, and corolla: leaves ovate-pointed.
4. HEDEOMA. Mock Pennyroyal.
Low, aromatic-fragrant herbs, with small bluish flowers in loose axillary
clusters, often forming terminal racemes or spikes: calyx tubular, 13-nerved,
swollen on lower side, hairy in throat, 2-lipped; corolla 2-lipped, upper lip
erect, flat, emarginate, the lower spreading and 3-cleft, 2 perfect stamens;
2 shorter sterile stamens sometimes present.
H. pulegioides, Pers. Small animals of pungent fragrance and taste,
with slender stem (i 12 in. tall, erect, branching, pubescent: leaves ovate
to oblong, about 1 in. long, few-toothed, petiolate: whorls few-flowered, the
corolla bluish, pubescent. In dry fields and woods. Summer.
5. MENTHA. Mint.
Low perennials: calyx with 5 similar teeth: corolla nearly or quite regu-
lar, 4-cleft: stamens 4, equal: flowers in heads or interrupted spikes, pur-
plish or white.
M. piperita, Linn. Peppermint. Straggling, 1-3 ft. tall, the plant dark
colored (stems purplish): leaves ovate, oblong, or narrower, acute, sharply
serrate: flowers light purple, in thick spikes 1-3 in. long. Europe.
402
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
M. spicata, Linn. (M. vlridis, Linn.). Spearmint. Fig. 543. Erect and
smooth, 1-2 ft., green: leaves lanceolate and sharply serrate: flowers whitish
or tinted, in long, interrupted spikes. Europe. Along roadsides, and
cultivated.
M. canadensis, Linn. Wild mint. One to 2 ft., pubescent: leaves lanceo-
late: flowers tinted, in whorls in the axils of the leaves. Low grounds.
6. TEUCRIUM. Germander.
Perennial herbs (or shrubs) with small, pinkish, rather irregular flowers,
in terminal bracted spikes (or heads) or verticillate in the upper axils of the
stem-leaves: calyx 5-toothed, 10-nerved: corolla 5-lobed, with 4 upper lobes
oblong, somewhat equal, and turned forward, the lowest lobe large, rounded:
stamens 4, in 2 pairs, projecting from a deep fissure between the 2 upper
lobes of the corolla.
T. canadense, Linn. Erect, pubescent, 1-3 ft.: leaves
ovate-lanceolate, irregularly serrate, short-petioled: bracts
under the flowers linear-lanceolate, about as long as calyx:
spike long and slender, the few odd-looking purplish or
pinkish flowers in crowded verticels. Damp ground. Late
summer.
7. PRUNELLA. Self-heal.
Low, usually unbranched perennials without aromatic
odor: calyx about 10-nerved, 2-lipped: corolla 2-lipped, the
upper lip arched and entire, the lower one 3-lobed: sta-
mens 4, in pairs, ascending under the upper lip.
P. vulgaris, Linn. Self-heal. Three to 10 in. tall, with
ovate or oblong, usually slightly toothed leaves: flowers
small, violet (rarely white), in a dense, oblong, clover-like
head or spike. Common in grassy places; often a weed in
lawns.
543. 8. SCUTELLARIA. Skullcap.
Mentha spicata. . .
Perennials, bitter, not aromatic: flowers solitary or in
pairs, axillary or in bracted spike-like racemes; calyx bell-shaped, 2-lipped,
the lips closed in fruit, the upper one appendaged on the back (at maturity
the calyx splits to the bottom, the upper lip usually falling off); corolla-
tube elongated, curved and ascending, swollen above the throat, 2-lipped,
the upper lip arched and notched: stamens 4, ascending in pairs under
the upper lip, the upper pair shorter.
S. laterifolia, Linn. Mad-dog skullcap. Smooth, 1-2 ft. high: stem
nearly or quite erect, much branched, slender, leafy: leaves thin, ovate-
lanceolate, pointed, serrate, petioled: flowers blue (rarely white), small,
J£~H in. long, in axillary, 1-sided racemes (some terminal). Wet, shaded
places. Summer. Several related species grow in bogs and along slow
streams, but most of them will not be likely to attract the attention of the
beginner, although all are odd or interesting.
MINT AND VERVAIN FAMILIES 403
9. NEPETA. Catmint.
Perennials, mostly sweet-scented : calyx nearly equally 5-toothed ; corolla
2-lippod, the upper lip erect and somewhat concave, the lower 3-lobed:
stamens 4, in pairs under the upper lip, the outer pair the shorter.
N. Cataria, Linn. Common catmint or catnip. Figs. 213, 414. Erect,
2-3 ft., pubescent: leaves cordate-ovate, crenate, grayish: corolla tinted:
flowers in interrupted spikes. Introduced from Europe.
N. hederacea, Trev. (N. Glechoma, Benth.). Ground ivy. Gill-over-the-
ground. A weed from Europe, but familiar almost everywhere: creeping,
with rounded, crcnately margined, petioled leaves: flowers bluish purple,
small.
10. MARRUBIUM. Horehound.
Erect perennials, with white- woolly aspect: calyx nearly equally 5-10-
toothed, the teeth very sharp: corolla 2-lipped, the upper lip erect and
notched, the lower one spreading and 3-lobed: stamens 4, included in the
corolla-tube. There are a number of Old World species, but only the
following seems to have run wild in this country:.
M. vulgare, Linn. Common horehound. Leaves broad-ovate and
crenate: flowers small, white, in dense whorls. Europe, but common.
11. LEONURUS. Motherwort.
Erect perennials with green aspect: calyx about equally 5-toothed, the
teeth becoming spine-like; corolla 2-lipped, the upper lip somewhat arched
and entire, the lower spreading and 3-lobed: stamens 4, ascending under the
upper lip: nutlets 3-angled.
L. Cardiaca, Linn. Common motherwort. Tall: leaves rounded and
lobed: corolla purple, the upper lip bearded; flowers in axillary whorls.
Introduced from Europe. Common. Other introduced species may now and
then be found.
XXXIV. VERBENACE.E. Vervain Family.
Herbs, shrubs or trees: leaves opposite or whorled (in our spe-
cies), exstipulate: flowers monopetalous, often irregular, in bracted
cymes or panicles; calyx free trom the ovary, 4-5-cleft; corolla some-
times regular, buc often more or less 2-lipped: stamens 4 (rarely
2), in unequal pairs, inserted on corolla, alternate with lobes; style
1; ovary mostly 2- to 4-celled (not lobed), with style from summit:
fruit dry or drupe-like. About 1,200 species, mostly tropical.
VERBENA. Vervain.
Herbs with simple, opposite, serrate or pinnately-lobed leaves: flowers
usually sessile, bracted, in terminal spikes: corolla salver- pr funnel-foriu;
with border somewhat unevenly 5-cjeft,
404 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
V. urticaefdlia, Linn. Perennial, common coarse weed in waste ground:
4-6 ft. tall: leaves oval, coarsely serrate, stalked: flowers minute, white, in
slender spikes.
V. angustifdlia, Michx. A perennial, roughish weed, with stems 6 in.
to 2 ft., mostly simple, leafy: leaves sessile, narrow-lanceolate, tapering to
sessile base: flowers small, in spikes; corolla purple: fruits overlapping on
spike. Dry fields.
V. stricta, Vent. Perennial, hoary-hairy: stem 1-3 ft., very leafy: leaves
obovate or oblong, serrate and nearly sessile: spikes thick and densely
flowered; flowers blue-purple, rather larger than in other common Ver-
vains, XA in. across, but few open at one time. Westward.
V. hastata, Linn. A common, rather pubescent weed of the waysides:
stem 2-6 ft. tall, branching, with many slender spikes of the small, bracted,
blue-purple flowers, few flowers in bloom at one time: leaves lanceolate,
acuminate, petioled.
V. canadensis, Brit. One of the species from which the garden Ver-
benas have come: stems rather prostrate and creeping: flowers in a corymb
or peduncled spike and showy, of various colors and considerable size: leaves
on petioles, ovate in outline, but pinnately cut or 3-parted. Wild from
Indiana west.
XXXV. SCROPHULARIACEjE. Figwort Family.
Herbs (trees in warm countries), of various habit: flowers perfect,
irregular, usually imperfectly 5-merous: corolla usually 2-lipped and
personate: stamens 4 in 2 pairs, inseried on the corolla, with some-
times a rudiment of a fifth: ovary single, 2-loculed, ripening into a
several- or many-seeded capsule. About 160 genera and 2,000 species.
Representative plants are figwort, snapdragon, toad-flax, foxglove,
mullein, pentstemon, monkey-flower or musk-plant.
a. Corolla very shallow and nearly regular 1. Verbascum
aa. Corolla very irregular, often personate.
b. Flowers with long spur 2. Linaria
bb. Flower spurless, but saccate or swollen at the base. . 3. Antirrhinum
bbb. Flowers not spurred, saccate, or much swollen.
c. Stamens 5, but the fifth sterile, often a scale only.
d. Sterile filament a little scale on the upper side
of the corolla: flowers small and dull-colored... 4. Scrophularia
dd. Sterile filament elongated: corolla 2-lipped.
E. Filament shorter than the others: the 2 lips
of the corolla but slightly open: seeds
winged 5. Chelone
ee. Filament about the same length as the others:
corolla lip open: seeds wingless 6. Pentstemon
SCKOPHULARIACE^E
405
ddd. Sterile filament, not conspicuous: corolla almost
2-parted, the middle lobe of the lower lip
keeled, inclosing the 4 stamens 7. Collinsia
cc. Stamens plainly 4.
d. Corolla 2-lipped: calyx 5-angled: flowers not
drooping 8. Mirmdus
dd. Corolla slightly 2-lipped, irregularly 5-lobed
flowers drooping 9. Digitalis
ddd. Corolla with upper lip narrow and erect, much
longer than the lower, and keeled: anther-
sacs are not alike: floral leaves colored like
petals 10. Castilleja
ccc. Stamens 2 (or 2 others rudimentary or wanting).
d. Corolla 2-lipped 11. Gratiola
dd. Corolla rotate, lobes unequal 12. Veronica
1. VERBASCUM. Mullein.
Tall biennials, with alternate decurrent leaves: calyx
and corolla 5-parted, the latter shallow and nearly or quite
SS^i *H*»j> rotate ; stamens 5, some or all of the filaments woolly.
V. Thapsus, Linn. Common mullein. Fig. 147. Two
to 5 ft., stout and usually unbranched, white- woolly : leaves
oblong and acute felt-like: flowers yellow in a very dense
spike. Weed from Europe.
V. Blattaria, Linn. Moth mullein. Slender and branch-
Linaria vulgaris. inK> green and nearly smooth: leaves oblong, serrate, often
laterally lobed, somewhat clasping: flowers yellow or
cream-colored, in a loose raceme. Weed from Europe.
2. LINARIA. Toad-flax.
Low herbs, of various habit: corolla personate, the throat nearly or
entirely closed, spurred from the lower side: stamens 4: capsule opening
by apical pores.
L. vulgaris, Mill. Toad-flax. Butter-and-eggs. Figs.
227, 281, 544. Common perennial weed (from Europe), 1-
2 ft., with linear leaves and yellow flowers in racemes.
L. Cymbalaria, Mill. KenHworth ivy. Fig. 545. Trail-
ing: leaves orbicular, 5-7-lobed: flowers solitary on long
peduncles, lilac-blue. Europe; very common in
greenhouses and sometimes runs wild.
L. canadensis, Dumont. Common annual
or biennial in dry or sandy soil: flowering sterna
slender and erect, generally simple and few-
leaved: also prostrate shoots, more leafy: leaves
narrow, flat, entire, sessile, opposite or whorled:
flowers small, blue, in a terminal, loose, slender
raceme. 545. Linaria Cymbalaria.
406 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
3. ANTIRRHINUM. Snapdbagon.
From Linaria differs chiefly in having no spur, but only a swelling at the
base of the corolla.
A. majus, Linn. Snapdragon. Fig. 243. Erect biennial or perennial:
leaves oblong, smooth, entire: flowers erect or ascending, 2 in. long, purple
or white, in a raceme with downy axis. Europe.
4. SCROPHULARIA. Figwort.
Herbs perennial, rank and generally ill-smelling, with opposite leaves,
and very odd-looking small, greenish-purple flowers, in simple or compound
loose terminal cymes: calyx deeply 5-parted: corolla irregular, with a globu-
lar tube, the limb 5-lobed, 4 upper lobes erect, but the lower one hori-
zontal or reflexed: stamens 5, 4 fertile, in two pairs, the fifth sterile and a
mere rudiment at the top of the corolla-tube.
S. marilandica, Gray. Smooth, 3-6 ft., much branching, in thickets and
damp woods, blooming in late summer and early fall; stems 4-angled: leaves
ovate, oblong or lanceolate, coarsely toothed, 3-9 in. long, on slender petioles :
flowers small, dull-colored.
5. CHELONE. Turtlehead. Snakehead.
Smooth, erect perennials, with opposite, serrate and stalked leaves:
flowers large, sessile, white or rose-tinged, of curious shape, in the upper
leaf axils, forming a terminal spike: calyx 5-parted, segments acute,
bracted at base: corolla irregular, with inflated and elongated tube con-
cave underneath, the limb 2-lipped, but lips only slightly open, the upper
lip broad, usually emarginate, lower lip 3-lobed, bearded within: stamens 5,
the fifth sterile and smaller, the filaments woolly.
C. glabra, Linn. Two to 4 ft. high, in swamps and by brooks or in
wet places. Late summer.
6. PENTSTEMON. Beard-tongue.
Perennial herbs, with opposite leaves, the upper sessile or clasping:
flowers showy: calyx 5-parted: corolla irregular, with tube more or less
inflated and 2-lipped, the lower lip 3-lobed: stamens 5, 4 in 2 pairs each
bearing an anther, the fifth filament conspicuous but sterile, sometimes
longer than the others and bearded: fruit a globose capsule with many wing-
less seeds.
P. hirsiitus, Willd. (P. pubesccns, Ait.). Stems hairy, rather viscid above,
1-2 ft.: leaves narrow-oblong to lanceolate, minutely toothed or entire;
panicle open: corolla about 1 in. long, 2-lipped, with a bearded palate in
the throat, dull bluish violet or purplish. Dry situations. May to July.
7. COLLINSIA. Innocence. Blue-eyed Mart.
Pretty little annuals or biennials, branching and diffuse with opposite
or verticillate leaves, and irregular flowers, blue and white, on pedicels,
whorled or solitary in the axils of the upper leaves: corolla 2-lipped with
the upper lip 2-cleft, the lower lip 3-cleft, with the middle lobe keeled and
SCROPHULARIACEiE 407
saccate, inclosing the 4 stamens and the style: a fifth stamen reduced to a
more rudiment.
C. verna, Nutt. Stem 8-16 in., branching: leaves small, various, the lower
ovate, the upper more lanceolate and clasping, margins crenate or toothed:
flowers on long peduncles, in whorls of 4-6: corolla %-% in., twice longer
than calyx: 3 lower petals sky-blue or pink, upper 2 petals, white. An
extremely attractive plant in woods, blooming April to June.
s. MIMULUS. Monkey-flower.
Small herbs with opposite leaves, with usually showy solitary flowers on
axillary peduncles: calyx 5-angled and 5-toothcd: corolla tubular, the 2-
lobed upper lip erect or spreading; stamens 4; stigma 2-lobed.
M. ringens, Linn. Wild monkey-flower. Erect perennial, with square
stem and oblong or lanceolate clasping serrate leaves: flowers blue or light
purple, somewhat personate. Wet places.
M. luteus, Linn. Monkey-flower. Tiger-flower.
Fig. 540. Annual, with ovate serrate leaves: flowers
large, yellow, blotched with brick-red or brown.
Western America, and commonly cultivated. To
gardeners often known as M. tigridioldes.
9. DIGITALIS. Foxglove.
Stem simple and strict: leaves alternate: flowers
with a long expanding tube and a very short in-
distinctly lobed limb, the throat wholly open:
stamens 4.
D. purpurea, Linn. Common foxglove. Usually
biennial, tall and stout (2-4 ft.): leaves oblong,
nearly or quite entire, rough and downy: flowers many, drooping, in a
long, erect raceme, 2 in. long, white to purple and spotted inside. Old
garden plant from Europe.
10. CASTILLEJA. Painted Cup.
Herbs, at least partially parasitic on roots of other plants: flowers ses-
sile in leafy, often brilliantly colored, bracts; calyx tubular, 2-4-cleft; corolla
very irregular, tubular, the tube included in the calyx, the upper lip very
long, arched and keeled, enfolding 2 pairs of stamens; lower lip short,
3-lobed. Late spring and summer. Four or 5 species in our territory.
C. coccinea, Spreng. Annual or biennial, 8-12 in., with very striking
inflorescence of scarlet or yellow 3-cleft bracts surrounding the flowers.
Damp meadows or thickets, not common but conspicuous.
11. GRATtOLA. Hedge Hyssop.
Low, mostly perennial herbs, found in damp situations: leaves opposite:
peduncles axillary, 1-flowered each; calyx 5-parted, segments scarcely
equal; corolla 2-lipped, upper lip emarginate or 2-cleft, lower 3-lobed:
fertile stamens 2.
546. Mimulua luteus.
408 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
G. virginiana, Linn. Stems branching, or creeping at base, more or
less viscid, 4-6 in. tall: leaves oblong or lanceolate, few-toothed, sessile:
flowers with yellowish corolla, J£— J^ in. long: sterile filaments not present.
Wet places. All summer.
12. VER6NICA. Speedwell.
Ours herbs with leaves mostly opposite or whorled, blue or white flowers
solitary or in racemes from the leaf-axils, or terminal; corolla wheel-shaped,
the border irregularly 4-lobed; stamens 2, inserted on corolla-tube, with
slender long filaments: ovary 2-celled, style slender: capsule flattened,
notched at apex, 2-celled, few- to numerous-seeded.
V. americana, Schw. Perennial, weak and decumbent at base, rooting
at nodes, finally erect: leaves opposite at base, mostly petioled, thickish.
oblong to lance-ovate, serrate racemes axillary, opposite, 2-3 in. long: flowers
small, pale blue, on slender pedicels: capsule swollen, many-seeded. Com-
mon in and about brooks and swampy ground. June through summer.
V. officinalis, Linn. Little pubescent prostrate perennial, 6 in. to 1 ft.,
in dry fields and woods: leaves wedge-oblong, or obovate, short-petioled,
serrate: racemes spike-like, longer than leaves; flowers pale blue. July.
V. peregrina, Linn. Annual, glabrous, erect, 4-9 in., branched: lower
leaves thick, oval, toothed, petioled; others sessile, entire: flowers very small,
whitish, axillary and solitary: capsule orbicular, slightly notched. A common
weed. April to June.
V. serpyllifolia, Linn. Perennial, creeping; leaves small, rounded,
almost entire: flowering stems smooth, simple, ascending 2-6 in.; flowers
very small, in terminal racemes; corolla pale blue or whitish with purple
stripes, exceeding calyx. Common in lawns and grassy fields. May, through
summer.
XXXVI. SOLANACE^. Nightshade Family.
Herbs or shrubs, with alternate often compound leaves: flowers
perfect and regular, 5-merous, mostly rotate or open-bell -shaped
in form and plaited in the bud; stamens 5, often connivent around
the single 2-loculed pistil, borne on the corolla: fruit a berry or cap-
sule (the latter sometimes 4-loculed by a false partition), the seeds
borne on a central column. Some 70 genera and 1,500 species. Com-
mon representatives are nightshade, potato, tomato, husk tomato,
tobacco, jimson-weed, petunia.
a. Fruit a fleshy berry.
b. Fruiting calyx bladdery-inflated and wholly inclosing
the fruit; anthers not connected, opening length-
wise I. Physalis
BB. Fruiting calyx not inflated.
SOLANACE.E 409
c. Stamens with anthers equaling or exceeding the
filaments.
D. Anthers separate or barely connected, opening
at the top 2. Solanum
dd. Anthers united, opening lengthwise 3. Lycopersicum
cc. Stamens with anthers much shorter than filaments. 4. Capsicum
aa. Fruit a capsule.
b. Calyx 5-parted to near base 5. Petunia
bb. Calyx toothed, not deep-parted.
c. Pod usually prickly, large 6. Datura
cc. Pods not prickly, small 7. Nicotiana
1. PHtfSALIS. Ground Cherry.
Herbs, flowering through the summer: flowers solitary, nodding on
axillary peduncles: leaves alternate or often somewhat paired, margins
entire or sinuate: calyx enlarging after flowering, and finally inclosing the
pulpy berry as a much-inflated papery sac; corolla yellowish or white, often
with dark center, wheel-shaped, with short tube, the border obscurely
5-lobed, plaited in bud.
P. virginiana, Mill. Perennial by rootstocks, viscid: fruiting calyx
pyramidal, closed, more or less 5-angled and indented at base: berry reddish
yellow, edible, not filling the loosely inflated calyx: corolla yellow, nearly
an inch in diameter, with brown center, and edge 5- to 10-angled: anthers
yellow. Open places, in rich soil. Summer.
P. pubescens, Linn. Low annual, more or less pubescent and clammy:
stem generally diffuse in branching, 9-18 in. tall, often somewhat swollen at
nodes: corolla small, about J*j in. across, yellow or greenish, with a dark,
spotted center; anthers purple: the green or yellow berry does not fill the
closed, 5-angled calyx. In low or damp places.
2. SOLANUM. Nightshade.
Perennials or annuals: calyx and corolla 5-parted, the latter rotate;
Btamens 5, exserted, the anthers separate and opening by a pore in the top:
berry 2-loculed.
a. Plants not prickly.
S. tuberosum, Linn. Potato. Figs. 24, 45, 242. Low, diffuse-growing
perennial, producing stem-tubers on slender underground rootstocks: leaves
pinnate, the leaflets differing in size and ovate: flowers bluish: berries globu-
lar, yellowish green. Warm temperate elevations of tropical America. The
"Irish," "white" or "round" potato.
S. nigrum, Linn. Common nightshade. Branchy annual, 1-2 ft., nearly
smooth: leaves ovate, wavy-margined: flowers small, white: berries small,
black. Waste places.
S. Dulcamara, Linn. Bittersweet. Fig. 424. Tall, loosely climbing: leaves
cordate-ovate, sometimes 3-lobed, often with 2 or 4 small leaflets at the base:
flowers email, violet-purple: berries oval, red. Perennial. Common.
410
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
547. Capsicum annuum.
aa. Plants prickly.
S. Melongena, Linn. Eggplant. Guinea squash. Fig. 288. Stout annual
with large, ovate, somewhat angled pubescent leaves: flower large, purplish,
the calyx prickly: fruit a very large purple or white berry (often weighing
several pounds). India.
3. LYCOPERSICUM. Tomato.
Differs from Solanum chiefly in having the anthers
united at their tips by a membrane and opening by
lengthwise slits.
L. esculentum, Mill. Common tomato plant. Tall,
hairy, strong-smelling herb, with pinnate leaves, the
leaflets ovate and unequal -sided and of different sizes:
flowers small, yellow, in short forked racemes: fruit a
large red or yellow berry. South America.
4. CAPSICUM. Red Pepper.
Erect, branchy, smooth herbs: stamens with slender filaments which
are much longer than the separate anthers, the
latter opening by lengthwise slits: fruit globular,
long or irregular, firm.
C. annuum, Linn. Common red pepper. Fig.
547. Annual or biennial, with ovate entire leaves:
flowers white, with very short-toothed or trun-
cate calyx: fruit very various in the cultivated
varieties. Tropical America.
5. PETUNIA. Petunia.
548. Petunia nyclaginiflora.
Clammy-hairy diffuse herbs: calyx-lobes leaf-
like and much longer than the tube; corolla funnelform, showy, the stamens
not projecting: fruit 2-loculed, capsular. South America.
P- nyctaginiflora, Juss. White petunia. Fig. 548. Corolla white, very long-
tubed: leaves oval-oblong, narrowed into a petiole.
P. violacea. Lindl. Fig. 549. Weaker and more
diffuse: corolla purple or rose, the tube short and broad:
leaves ovate or oval, nearly or quite sessile. The gar-
den petunias are mostly hybrids of the 2 species.
6. DATURA. Jamestown-weed or Jimson-weed.
Very strong bushy herbs, with large, long-tubular,
short-lived flowers from the forks of the branches:
stigma 2-parted: fruit a globular usually prickly cap-
sule, opening by 4 valves.
D. Stramonium, Linn. Fig. 275. Annual, 3-5 ft.,
the stem green: leaves ovate, sinuate or angled: corolla
white. Tropics; common weed.
D. Tatula, Linn. Stem and corolla purple.
549. Petunia.
Very near the original
P, violacea.
SOLANACE.E — CONVOLVULACE^E
411
ez.
7. NICOTlANA. Tobacco.
Tall herbs, with large usually pubescent leaves:
corolla funnelform or salverform, the tube usually long:
stigma not lobed: pod 2-4-valved, not very large, s^>
contained within the persistent calyx.
N. Tabacum, Linn. Tobacco. Robust annual, 4-6
ft., with very large ovate decurrent entire leaves and
rose-purple panicled flowers. Tropical America.
N. aluta, Link & Otto (N. affini* of gardens). Fig.
550. Slender but tall (2-4 ft.) plant with clammy-
pubescent herbage: leaves lanceolate or obovate,
entire: flowers white, with very slender tube 5-6
in. long, the limb unequal. Brazil; common in
gardens.
550. Nicotiana alata.
XXXVII. CONVOLVULACE.E. Convolvulus Family
Herbs, mostly twining, with alternate chiefly simple leaves: flow-
ers regular, 5-merous, the tubular or trumpet-shaped corolla mostly
twisted in the bud, the stamens 5 and borne on the corolla; ovary
commonly 1-, mostly 2-loculed, with 2 ovules in each locule, becom-
ing a globular capsule in fruit (which is sometimes 4-loculed by the
insertion of a false partition). The family contains between 30 and
40 genera, and nearly 1,000 species. Common convolvulaceous plants
are morning-glory, cypress vine, sweet potato, bindweed, dodder.
A. Plants with normal foliage.
B. Stigma 2-3-lobed, knobbed: calyx not bracted 1. Ipomoea
bb. Stigmas 2, thread-form: calyx sometimes inclosed by 2
leafy bracts '. 2. Convolvulus
aa. Plants leafless, parasitic 3. Cuscuta
1. IPO M <E A. Morning-glory.
Mostly twining, with showy flowers on axillary peduncles:
corolla with a long tube and a flaring limb; pistil 1, with one
style, and the stigma 2-3-lobed: fruit a capsule, with 1-seeded
locules.
a. Leaves compound, with thread-like divisions.
I. Quamoclit, Linn. Cypress vine. Fig. 551. Leaves pin-
nate: flowers solitary, red, small, narrow-limbed, with pro-
jecting style and stamens. Tropical America, but run wild
South; also cultivated. Annual.
aa. Leaves simple or deeply lobed, broad.
551. Ipomcea '« Bdna-N6x, Linn. White moon/lower. Fig. 552. Tall:
Quamoclit. leaves heart-shaped, or angled or lobed: flowers 1 to few,
412
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
white, opening once at night, with a slender tube and a large limb 4-6 in.
across. Tropical America. Perennial.
I. purpurea, Roth. Morning-glory. Fig. 240. Leaves
broadly cordate-ovate, entire: flowers 2-4, large and fun-
nel-shaped, 2-3 in. long, purple to streaked and white.
Tropical America. Annual.
I. hederacea, Jacq. Leaves heart-shaped, 3-5-lobed:
flowers 1-3, rather smaller than those of /. purpurea.
Tropical America. Annual.
I. Batatas, Poir. Sweet potato. Fig. 204. Creeping:
leaves heart-shaped to triangular, usually lobed: flowers
(seldom seen) 3 or 4, light purple, funnel-form, 1^ in. long.
Tropics; grown for its large edible root-tubers.
552. Ipomoea
Bona-Nox.
2. CONVOLVULUS. Bindweed.
Herbs (or shrubs) twining or erect: flowers large, on axillary peduncles;
sepals 5; corolla funnelform or bell-form, limb entire, 5-angled or 5-lobed;
stamens inserted on corolla-tube, included; style 1; stigmas 2, long; ovary
and pod 2-celled, 4-seeded.
C. sepium, Linn. Rutland beauty. Perennial: twining or trailing stem:
leaves heart-shaped or arrow-shaped, auricles often toothed: flowers axil-
lary and solitary on a peduncle; calyx with 2 large bracts at base, inclosing
it; corolla morning-glory-like, white or pink, >£-2 in. long, margin quite
entire. Wild in low grounds. Summer.
C. arvensis, Linn. Bindweed. Perennial, nearly glabrous, prostrate or
climbing: leaves entire arrow-shaped, with basal ears acute-lobed, but vari-
able: calyx not bracted at base; corolla pink, nearly white, small,
not over 1 in. long. Europe. Bad weed. May to September.
3. CUSCUTA. Dodder.
Parasitic twiners without foliage (leaves reduced to scales):
flowers in clusters, the calyx and corolla with 4-5 lobes: fruit 2-
loculed, 4-seeded.
C. Gronovii, Willd. (Fig. 553), is the commonest species,
twining its slender coral-yellow stems over coarse
herbs in swales: corolla bell-shaped, the tube longer
than the blunt and spreading lobes.
XXXVIII. BORRAGINACE.E. Borage Family.
Generally rough herbs, with round sterns, leaves
usually alternate and hairy, exstipulate: inflores-
cence commonly 1-sided, in coiled terminal racemes,
straightening as flowers open; lobes of calyx 5: lobes
of corolla 5, usually regular; stamens 5, on corolla-
553. Cuscuta |]'
Gronovii.
BORRAGINACEiE 413
tube; ovary deeply 4-lobed, with style in center; stigmas 1 or 2: fruit
usually 4 separate 1-seeded nutlets at bottom of persistent calyx.
About 1,500 species and 80 genera.
A. Ovary entire, style terminal: fruit dry nutlets (2 or 4).l. Heliotropium
aa. Ovary deeply 4-parted, or 4-divided, the style rising
from the center.
B. Corolla and stamens regular.
c. Fruits (nutlets) bur-like, prickly or spiny.
d. Nutlets oblique, fixed by apex, or laterally,
to style, covered all over by hooked prickles. 2. Cynoglossum
dd. Nutlets erect, fixed by base or side to the
central column: prickles in 1 or more rows
on the surface 3. Lappula
CC. Fruits (nutlets) not armed with prickles.
D. Nutlets attached laterally to the .receptacle:
flowers rather large 4. Mertensia
dd. Nutlets attached by bases to receptacle.
E. Flowers not bracted, in racemes 5. Myosotis
ee. Flowers bracted, in racemes 6. Lithospermum
bb. Corolla irregular: stamens unequal 7. Echium
1. HELIOTROPIUM. Heliotrope.
Perennial or annual herbs (or shrubs) with white or purplish, small
flowers in 1-sided spikes: flowers alternate, usually entire; stamens short,
anthers nearly sessile; style short, with conical stigma; ovary 4-celled:
fruit, 4 nutlets or two 2-celled nutlets.
H. peruvianum, Linn. Common garden heliotrope. Pubescent or rough,
often rather shrubby: leaves lance-ovate to oblong, short-petioled, veiny
and wrinkled: flowers very fragrant, white to lilac.
2. CYNOGL6SSUM. Hound's Tongue. Stick-tight.
Tall, coarse, usually rough and unpleasantly scented hairy weeds, with
large entire alternate leaves: flowers small, inconspicuous, in racemes or
forked cymes, some bracted; corolla short, nearly wheel form, with 5 con-
verging, blunt scales closing the throat; ovary deeply 4-parted, with style
from center: fruit of bur-like nutlets, covered with hooked prickles.
C. officinale, Linn. A coarse, pubescent, troublesome dock-like weed
from Europe, dull green, smelling like mice, grows to 1 or 2 ft., leafy to
the top: leaves softly pubescent, lance-oblong, mostly sessile: corolla dull
reddish purple, not % in. across: nutlets margined. Biennial.
C. virginianum, Linn. Stem stout, 2-3 ft. tall, bristly hairy, leafless
above: leaves oblong oval with clasping bases: flowers pale blue, bractless,
on short pedicels in terminal short spikes: nutlets not margined. Perennial.
3. LAPPULA (Echinospermum). Stick-seed. Bur-seed.
Annual or biennial weeds in dry soils, grayish with hairs: leaves alter-
nate, narrow, entire: flowers small, blue or white, in terminal, leafy-bracted
414 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
racemes: corolla with 5 scales in throat: nutlets erect, bearing 1-3 rows of
stout prickles, and fixed by side to the central column.
L. virginiana, Lehm. A troublesome biennial or annual weed of thickets
and open woods, 2-4 ft., slender and branching: leaves thin, oblong-ovate,
tapering at both ends: flowers small, whitish or bluish, on pedicels, in
racemes 1-3 in. long, reflexing in fruit: nutlets small, globose, covered
with barbed prickles.
4. MERTENSIA. Lungwort.
Perennial, usually glabrous herbs, with leaves entire, pale green and
often dotted, the radical ones many-veined and the stem-leaves sessile:
flowers in terminal racemes; calyx short, 5-cleft; corolla funnelform or
trumpet-shape, often with 5 small folds in throat, and stamens inserted
between; style long and slender: nutlets erect, smooth, finely wrinkled.
M. virginica, DC. Leaves entire, obovate, sessile on stem: flowers large,
trumpet-shaped, 1 in. long, spreading or hanging on slender pedicels, light
blue or pinkish; corolla-throat not crested, limb entire. Perennial. Rich
soil. May, June.
5. MYOSOTIS. Forget-me-not.
Low, usually villous herbs, with stems erect or reclining, branching:
leaves small, alternate, entire: flowers small in bractless racemes; corolla
salver-form, 5-lobed, lobes spreading, rounded with appendages at base:
nutlets smooth or hard, fixed by base. Several species.
M. scorpioides, Linn. (M. palustris. With.). True forget-me-not. A
favorite garden perennial introduced from Europe, but also escaped to field
and moist spots: racemes 1-sided: leaves lance-oblong, obtuse: calyx open in
fruit, the lobes shorter than the tube: corolla light-blue, with yellow center.
M. laxa, Lehm. Flowers smaller, paler, on long pedicels: calyx-lobes
long: habit lax. Swamps.
M. arvensis, Hoffm. Hairy: leaves lance-oblong, acute: calyx closing in
fruit and beset with minutely hooked bristles. Fields, native.
6. LITHOSPERMUM. Gromwell. Puccoon.
Hairy herbs with roots usually red: leaves alternate, entire: flowers in
leafy-bracted racemes or spikes; calyx-segments 5, narrow; corolla funnel-
or salver-form, 5-lobed, sometimes crested in throat; stamens 5, with short
filaments, included on corolla-throat; stigma 2-lobed: nutlets 4, smooth
or wrinkled, usually stony.
L. arvense, Linn. Rough weed from Europe, 8-12 in.: leaves small, lan-
ceolate to linear: flowers insignificant: corolla white, hardly as long as calyx,
without appendages in throat: nutlets roughly wrinkled, dull gray.
L. Gmelinii, Hitchc. (L. hirtum, Lehm.). A rough, native perennial, with
simple stem, 8 in. to 2 ft., on dry, sterile ground: leaves lanceolate or linear,
hairy: flowers densely crowded in short terminal leafy racemes: corolla bright
orange-yellow, showy, longer than calyx, with, little appendages in throat,
§nd woolly. June,
BORRAGINACEiE — HYDROPHYLLACEjE 415
L. canescens, Lehm. Puccoon. Not so rough as preceding, but hoary,
6-18 in. high: flowers yellow axillary smaller and corolla-throat appendaged,
hut not bearded. Grows in open woodlands and fields, Canada to Alabama
and West.
7. ECHIUM. Viper's Bugloss.
Stout and coarse herbs: leaves alternate, entire: flowers rather large,
usually blue or purplish, in spicate or panicled racemes; calyx-segments 5,
narrow; corolla irregular, with 5 unequal lobes, short-tubed, and throat not
bearded; stamens 5, unequal, and long-exserted; stigmas 2 or 2-lobed:
nutlets 4, erect, rough-wrinkled.
E. vulgare, Linn. Stems 1-3 ft. erect, leafy, very bristly hairy: leaves
lanceolate, sessile on stem, 4-8 in. long: flowers bright purplish, chang-
ing to bright blue in 1-sided spikes. Biennial; early summer. Naturalized
from Europe, and becoming a showy but troublesome weed in places.
XXXIX. HYDROPHYLLACE.E. Waterleaf Family.
Mostlv hirsute or scabrous herbs, with good-sized mostly alter-
nate, simple or compound leaves: flowers regular, 5-parted, in 1-sided
cymes, spikes or racemes; ovary superior, 1-celled, with 2 parietal
placentae, or apparently 2-celled; styles 2 or 2-cleft: capsule usually
loculicidally 2-valved. Nearly 200 species, but only 1 genus frequent
in northeastern states.
HYDROPHYLLUM. Waterleaf.
Perennial, usually found in rich, low woods: leaves large, petioled:
cymes more or less coiled: calyx often with small appendages at the notches
of the lobes; corolla bell-shape, 5-cleft, usually convoluted in bud and bear-
ing 5 folds or scales inside the tube; style and stamens (with hairy filaments)
projecting. In shady places, these interesting plants make heavy masses
of foliage.
H. macrophyllum, Nutt. A hoary-hairy plant, about 1 ft. tall, branching:
leaves pinnately cut: flower-cluster on long stout peduncle: corolla white
or bluish, about 1 in. across: sepals not appendaged at base: stamens longer
than corolla.
H. appendiculatum, Michx. Hairy, 1-1 ^ ft. tall: leaves large, mostly
5-lobed or angled, some of the lower ones pinnately parted: flower clusters
loose ; corolla blue ; sepals appendaged at bases, bristly hairy ; stamens not
much if any longer than corolla.
H. canadense, Linn. About 1 ft. high, smoothish: leaves all rounded,
with 5-9 shallow lobes, and heart-shaped bases, or with small leaflets on the
petioles: corolla white or purplish. //. virginicum, Linn., is closely allied,
but has pinnately divided leaves.
416 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
XL. POLEMONIACE.E. Phlox Family.
Herbs, mostly annuals or perennials: flowers regular, in terminal
clusters, 5-parted, with corolla monopetalous; stamens on corolla-
tube, alternate with lobes; ovary 3-celled; style simple and 3-lobed:
capsule 3-celled, with 3, mostly loculicidal, valves. About 200 species
in several genera. Phlox is the leading genus.
a. Leaves entire, mostly opposite: stamens unequally in-
serted on tube of the corolla 1. Phlox
aa. Leaves pinnately compound, alternate: stamens equally
inserted on the corolla-tube 2. Polemonium
1. PHLOX. Fig. 241.
Erect or diffuse herbs, stems leafy: leaves without stipules, entire,
mostly sessile, opposite, or alternate above: flowers of different colors, in
terminal clusters; corolla salver-form, tube long; stamens 5, unequal,
included in tube. P. Drummondii is annual; the others perennial.
P. paniculata. Linn. Stems 2-4 ft. high, usually stout and in clumps:
leaves ovate-lanceolate, or oblong: flowers on short pedicels in many-flow-
ered panicled cymes, terminal, white to various pinks and reds; calyx-teeth
sharp-pointed; lobes of corolla rounded and entire.
P. maculata, Linn. One to 2 ft. high: stem spotted with purple: lower
leaves the heavier, lanceolate-linear; upper taper-pointed with a heart-
shaped sessile base: panicle elongated, pyramidal, of many pink-purple
flowers; calyx-teeth less pointed than in preceding: corolla-lobes entire.
All summer. This and the preceding species are the originals of the common
perennial phloxes of gardens.
P. divaricata, Linn. Ascending or diffuse to 1 ft., or more, terminating
in loose corymb, rather sticky -pubescent: leaves ovate-oblong or broad-lan-
ceolate, rounded at base, acute at tip, sessile, pubescent: corolla large, gray-
ish blue or lilac, the lobes notched; calyx-teeth slender and longer than
tube. Moist woods. Spring.
P. subulata, Linn. Ground or moss pink. Stems creeping, tufted, much
branched and leafy, forming a moss-like carpet over the ground: leaves
about y$ in. long, rigid, linear to awl-shaped, spreading in clusters: flowers
3-6 in depressed clusters, white to pinkish-purple; lobes of corolla shorter
than tube. Spring.
P. Drummondii, Hook. From Texas, now the common annual phlox in
gardens: stems branching, spreading, about 1 ft. high, rather downy-clammy:
flowers showy, in corymbs; various colors and patterns on the corolla and
lobes variously notched.
2. POLEMONIUM.
Perennial herbs, with alternate pinnately compound leaves: calyx com-
panulate, segments erect over fruit; corolla bell-form or rotate; stamens
POLEMONIACE.E — ASCLEPIADACE.E 417
slender, declined, hairy at base, inserted on corolla base. The following
native perennials are often cultivated.
P. reptans, Linn. Greek valerian. Stems rather weak, diffusely branch-
ing (not creeping), 6 in. to \l/$ ft.: leaves smooth, of 7-13 leaflets, occa-
sionally a simple one: leaflets lance-ovate or oblong, about 1 in. long, with
entire margins: flowers nodding, light blue corolla .'5 times as long aa
calyx, not over } 2 in. broad.
P. Van Briintiae, Hrit. Jacob's ladder. Tall, erect to 1-3 ft., smooth or
hairy: leaflets 9-17, lanceolate, crowded: flowers bright blue, in erect
long panicles; stamens and style longer than corolla-lobes; corolla 1 in.
broad.
XLI. GENTIANACE.E. Gentian Family.
Generally smooth herbs, with bitter, colorless juice (tonic proper-
tics): entire leaves mostly opposite, sessile and without stipules:
flowers regular, solitary or in clusters; calyx persistent; corolla mono-
petalous, with 4-8-lobed margin, and with 4-8 stamens, inserted
on tube: capsule 2-valved, many-seeded. Some 600 species, many
very showy.
GENTlANA. Gentian.
Herbs in low woods and damp grounds, flowering mostly in autumn:
flowers solitary or in clusters and showy, usually blue; corolla tubular,
lobes 4-7, open or closed, some having a membranous fold in each of the
notches of the limb; stamens 4-7: style short or wanting.
G. crinita, Froel. Fringed gentian. Annual, in moist soil, blooming in
September and October: distinguished by the beautiful flowers, solitary and
terminal on erect stems (stems about 1 ft. tall), pure blue, lJ^-2 in. long,
funnelform, with 4 spreading lobes, having the margins cut into a fringe
all around: leaves clear green, lanceolate, acute, sessile.
G. procera, Holm. Similar to the preceding, but smaller and corolla
less fringed: leaves linear.
G. Andrewsii, Griseb. Closed gentian. Perennial: stems simple, smooth,
to about 1 ! 2-2 ft.: leaves ovate to lanceolate, with narrow base: flowers
in terminal, sessile clusters: corolla blue with notched folds or appendages
on the margin, never opening.
XLII. ASCLEPIADACE.E. Milkweed Family.
Perennial herbs or shrubs, often vines, with milky juice: leaves
opposite or sometimes whorled, exstipulatc: flowers generally in umbels,
regular and 5-parted, but very peculiar in the structure and connection
of stamens, stigma and pollen: hood-like appendages are borne be-
hind the anthers, forming a corona about the stigma; stamens 5 with
418 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
very short filaments, and mostly monadelphous; the anthers press
against the fleshy 5-angled stigma, and the pollen coheres in waxy or
granular masses, 1 or 2 to each anther-sac: fruit of 1 or 2 follicles:
seeds bearing long silk (Fig. 303). About 2,000 species and 200 genera.
ASCLfiPIAS. Milkweed. Silkweed.
Erect perennial herbs, with mostly opposite, thick simple leaves and
flowers in simple umbels: calyx and corolla each with 5 lobes, bent down-
ward, leaving the crown of 5 hood-like appendages, each bearing a horn,
conspicuously surrounding the stamens; filaments generally united, and
the anthers adherent to the fleshy stigma; anther 2-celled and each cell con-
taining a firm, waxy, elongated mass of pollen; adjacent pairs of the pollen-
masses are connected and suspended from one of 5 glands resembling a pair
of saddle-bags. The flower is peculiarly adapted to insect-pollination, the
pollen-masses being carried on the feet of insects.
A. tuberosa, Linn. Butterfly weed. Pleurisy root. About 2 ft., with most
conspicuous erect clusters of brilliant orange flowers: leaves irregularly scat-
tered on stems, or alternate, linear or lance-oblong, hairy, sessile: pods
nearly erect, finely pubescent. Dry fields and hillsides. Summer.
A. incarnata, Linn. Swamp milkweed. Fig. 271. A handsome milk-
weed of wet grounds: stems leafy, 2-5 ft.: leaves lanceolate or lance-oblong,
acuminate, rather smooth, opposite: flowers rose-colored to white, sweet-
scented, in somewhat paniculate umbels: follicles erect, smooth.
A. syriaca, Linn. (A. Corniiti, Decne.). Common milkweed. Fig. 303.
Stems 3-4 ft. high, stout, very milky, usually simple, leafy: leaves large,
oblong, downy beneath, stiff, 4-8 in. long, opposite, short-petioled : flowers
Yi in. long, greenish-lavender to lavender, with strong, sweet, but unpleasant
odor: pods rough or warty.
A. purpurascens, Linn. Purple milkweed. Stems erect, 1-3 ft., leafy,
simple or branching: leaves oblong or ovate-oblong to elliptical, pointed,
short-petioled, 3-6 in. long: flowers large (*/£ in.), dull purple: pods smooth.
A. variegata, Linn. Stems simple, smooth, leafy: leaves oval to lance-
oval, opposite or whorled, petioled, pale beneath, umbels on downy pedun-
cles: corolla white, hoods roundish, sometimes purplish. Dry woods.
A. quadrifolia, Jacq. Stem 1-2 ft., nearly smooth, and leafy below:
1 or 2 whorls of 4-ovate, taper-pointed, petioled leaves near middle and
above or below a pair of smaller ones: umbels few, loose-flowered; flowers
small, crown white; corolla white, tinged with pink. Slender.
XLIII. APOCYNACE.E. Dogbane Family.
Herbs and woody plants, some of the commoner ones resembling
milkweeds, in having milky, acrid juice, and seeds crested with silky
hairs, but filaments distinct, pollen granular, and corolla twisted
(rather than volvate) in the bud: hairs: leaves chiefly opposite, entire,
APOCYNACE.E 419
simple, without stipules: flowers regular and monopetalous, solitary
or in cymes, 5-parted; ovary of 2 free carpels; stigmas united. About
1,000 species and 120 genera.
a. Herbs erect: flowers in terminal cymes or corymbs 1. Apocynum
aa. Half shrubby, trailing or erect plants: flowers solitary in
axils 2. Vinca
AAA. Cultivated house and garden shrubs: erect: leaves oppo-
site, or whorled in 3's 3. Nerium
1. AP6CYNUM. Dogbane.
Upright branching herbs, with reddish, fibrous bark: flowers small,
white or pink, in terminal corymbs: leaves opposite, entire, acuminate:
corolla bell-shaped, 5-lobed, with 5 small, triangular scale-appendages
within the tube, each alternating with one of the 5 stamens attached at
base of tube; ovaries 2, distinct; stigma 2-lobed: pods long, .slender and
full of seeds which are tufted with silky hairs at one end.
A. androsaemifolium, Linn. Smooth plants, 2-4 or 5 ft. tall, with
branches widely spreading; stems usually purplish: leaves 2-4 in. long,
ovate-acute, short-petioled: corolla small, % in. long, bell-form, with lobes
spreading or recurving, the tube exceeding the calyx. A very common
weed along hedge-rows, in light woodlands and clearings.
A. cannabinum, Linn. Indian hemp. More erect: leaves oblong or
oblong-ovate: flowers erect, with the corolla-lobes scarcely spreading, the
tube about the length of the calyx. Banks and shores.
2. VINCA. Periwinkle.
Herbs, creeping or erect, and more or less woody: leaves mostly ever-
green and opposite: flowers solitary, axillary, 5-parted; style 1; follicles 2,
erect, slender.
V. minor, Linn. Pcriirinkle. Myrtle (improperly). A familiar trailing
plant of the garden, lawns and cemeteries, growing in shady places, and
spreading by creeping stems: leaves evergreen, oblong-ovate, shiny: flowers
solitary in axils, blue (rarely white), the corolla salver-form, about 1 in.
across. Spring and early summer.
V. rosea, Linn. Erect, often 20-30 in. high, rather woody at base:
leaves ovate, obtuse, on long petioles: flowers large, on slender axillary
pedicels, white, white with rose eye, or plain rose-color; blooming all season
when grown in the house or conservatory, or all summer in the garden.
Tropics.
3. NfiRIUM. Oleander.
Shrubs from warm climates, much cultivated in windows and green-
houses: leaves lanceolate, leathery and stiff: flowers in terminal cymes,
white or pink, single or double; corolla large, 1-2 in., salver-form, the
throat bearing 5 fringed or toothed scales; ovary of 2 carpels; stamens 5,
the anthers tipped with awn-like bristles.
420 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
N. Oleander, Linn. Common oleander. Leaves lanceolate: flowers large,
rose-color or white, not fragrant, with crown segments not fringed.
N. odorum, Soland. Sweet oleander. Flower fragrant, and bearing
crown segments which are more fringed, and long anther appendages.
XLIV. OLEACE.E. Olive Family.
Trees or shrubs: leaves simple or pinnately compound, opposite:
flowers various, but regular; calyx free from ovary, usually small and
4-lobed, or none; corolla regular, 4-parted, or of 4 distinct petals, or
none; stamens 2, with separate filaments inserted on petals, or hypogy-
nous: ovary 2-celled; style 1, if any.
A. Shrubs or very small trees: leaves simple: flowers perfect.
B. Flowers yellow 1. Forsythia
BB. Flowers white or lilac.
c. Fruit a dry pod, loculicidal 2. Syringa
CC. Fruit berry-like.
d. Flowers practically polypetalous; petals long,
narrow; flowers drooping 3. Chionanthus
dd. Flowers gamopetalous; corolla-tube funnel-
form, 4-lobed ; flowers erect 4. Ligustrum
aa. Large forest trees: leaves pinnately compound: flowers
imperfect, mostly dioecious: fruit a samara 5. Fraxinus
1. FORSfTHIA.
Ornamental shrubs from the Orient, with opposite simple or trifoliolate
leaves: flowers perfect, the deciduous calyx and the bell-shaped corolla in 4
parts; stamens 2 on base of corolla; style short: pod 2-celled, many-seeded.
F. viridissima, Lindl. Strong hardy shrub, with green branches covered
with showy yellow flowers, separate on pedicels in early spring before
leaves appear: leaves simple, lance-oblong: corolla-lobes narrow-oblong and
spreading; style twice as long as stamens.
F. suspensa, Vahl. Branches slender and drooping: corolla-lobes larger
and more spreading and style shorter than in preceding: leaves simple,
broadly-ovate, also frequently trifoliolate on same bush.
2. SYRlNGA. Lilac.
Common ornamental shrubs, usually tall, with leaves simple, entire,
opposite: many small fragrant flowers in close terminal panicles or thyrses;
calyx 4-toothed; corolla salver-form, tube long; limb 4-lobed; stamens 2, on
summit of corolla-tube: fruit a 4-seeded flattened pod, 2-valved; seeds flat-
tened, somewhat winged or margined. No native species. The name Syringa
is sometimes popularly applied to Philadelphus.
S. vulgaris, Linn. Common lilac. Fig. 72, Well-known bushy shrub from.
OLEACE.E 421
eastern Europe: flowers purple, lilac to white, in dense upright thyrses, very
fragrant: leaves heart-shaped, entire, smooth.
S. persica, Linn. Persian lilac. Less bushy, and more slender than
the common lilac: leaves lance-ovate, the bases tapering: and pale lilac
or white flowers in loose clusters appearing later.
3. CHIONANTHUS. Fringe-tree.
Shrub or small tree with opposite, simple, entire, petioled leaves: flowers
in large loose axillary rather drooping panicles; calyx small, persistent;
corolla white, with 4 long, narrow petals, scarcely united at base; stamens
2-4, but scarcely adherent to corolla base: drupe usually 1-seeded. A hand-
some bush.
C. virginica, Linn. Native to moist southern woods, but cultivated
for ornament: leaves oval to oblong, 3-5 in. long: panicles with some leafy
bracts; flowers conspicuous, in spring, appearing with leaves; petals 1 in.
long.
4. LIGUSTRUM. Privet. Prim.
Stiff shrubs or very small trees: leaves simple, entire, firm and thickish,
short-pet ioled, opposite: flowers small, white, in terminal thyrses or pan-
icles: calyx small, minutely toothed or truncate; corolla funnelform, 4-lobed,
spreading; stamens 2, inserted on corolla-tube; ovary 2-celled: fruit a
1-4-seeded, black berry.
L. vulgare, Linn. Leaves thick, elliptic-lanceolate, abundant, persistent,
but deciduous: flowers M in. wide and white; calyx smooth: berries black.
Eastern Europe. Used mostly for hedges.
5. FRAXINUS. Ash. Figs. 92, 141.
Deciduous tree, some of them valuable for timber: leaves odd-pinnate,
petiolate: flowers small, insignificant, dioecious (polygamous in some species),
racemed or panicled — the American species apetalous, appearing before or
with the leaves; calyx 4-toothed, small, seldom wanting; stigma 2-cleft:
fruit a flat 1- (or 2-) celled key, winged. Several species are native in
North America.
F. americana, Linn. White ash. Forest tree, 40-80 ft., with rough,
blackish bark, and gray, smooth branches: leaflets 5-9, ovate or lance-oblong
and acuminate, entire or sparingly serrate, pale or downy beneath, smooth
above, the lateral leaflets stalked: flowers mostly dioecious, apetalous; calyx
present in fertile flowers, and persistent: fruit with lanceolate wing at apex,
base nearly cylindrical, the key 1 J>-^— 2 in. long.
F. pennsylvanica, Marsh. Red ash. A smaller tree than the white ash:
young shoots and leaf petioles and lower leaf surfaces velvety-pubescent:
calyx persistent on fertile flowers: fruit narrow, flattened at base, the edges
dilated into the oblanceolate wing.
F. excelsior, Linn. European ash, often planted: leaflets 9-13, ovate-
lanceolate or oblong, acute, serrate: fruit oblong, often notched at end.
422 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
XLV. PRIMULACE^. Primrose Family.
Low herbs with leaves radical or opposite: flowers perfect, reg-
ular, 5-parted, monopetalous; stamens 5, inserted in corolla-tube, each
opposite a lobe; style and stigma 1; ovary 1-celled, superior, with
3 central placentse. About 300 species in some 25 genera.
a. Plants with all leaves basal: flowers on a scape.
B. Corolla-lobes spreading 1. Primula
bb. Corolla-lobes reflexed.
c. Several flowers on the scape; stamens protmding. . .2. Dodecatheon
cc. One flower on the scape; stamens included 3. Cyclamen
aa. Plants with leafy stems 4. Lysimachia
1. PRfMULA. Primrose. Cowslip (of England). Auricula.
Low perennials herbs, with radical leaves: flowers in an involucrate
umbel in most species, terminal on a scape; calyx 5-cleft; corolla salver-
shaped, with 5 spreading lobes, entire or notched; stamens 5, with short
filaments included in corolla-tube, often of different lengths: capsules
ovoid, opening by valves or teeth at the top. Native species rare, but a
number of exotic primroses are much cultivated.
P. sinensis, Sabine. Downy greenhouse plant: flowers in umbels, large
and showy, of different colors, single or double; calyx large and inflated:
leaves cordate, 7-9-lobed, on long petioles. China.
P. obconica, Hance. Leaves ovate-cordate: scapes a foot high, bearing
pink, purplish or whitish flowers in large clusters, the petals obconical and
notched at the end; tube twice longer than the shallow-spreading calyx.
The hairs on this plant are poisonous to some persons. Greenhouses. China.
P. Forbesi, Franch. Baby primrose. Scapes many and very slender,
6-12 in., loosely hairy, bearing small lilac or rose flowers in successive
whorls on slender pedicels: leaves small and crowded at the crown, oblong,
somewhat sinuate-toothed. Greenhouses. China.
P. Polyantha, Hort. Polyanthus. Hardy primulas, grown in borders for
the early spring bloom, of hybrid origin: leaves upright, oblong, tapering into
a winged petiole, shallowly toothed, rugose beneath: flowers not much over-
topping the leaves, tubular, with spreading limb, in shades of yellow and red.
2. DODECATHEON.
Smooth perennial herbs: leaves radical, simple, oblong or spatulate:
flowers nodding in a terminal umbel on erect, unbranching, leafless scapes,
with involucres of small bracts; calyx 5-cleft, lobes reflexed; corolla-tube
very short, 5-parted, and the segments strongly reflexed; stamens 5, with
short filaments, united at base, the anthers long, acute and uniting at tip,
forming a cone; style exserted.
D. Meadia, Linn. Shooting star. Wild in open woodland in central
states and South and West; also cultivated; resembles Cyclamen in the flow-
ers, which are white or rose-purple, nodding on slender pedicels; scape 6 in.
to 2 ft. high.
PRIMULACE^E — ERICACEAE 423
3. CfCLAMEN.
Glabrous plants from fleshy corm: leaves all basal, rounded, cordate or
ovate: scapes bearing (each) one nodding flower; corolla-limb 5-parted,
lobes turning back; anthers 5, sessile, not exserted. Cultivated as house
plants, flowering in winter.
C. latifolium, Sibth. & Sm. (C. pirsicum). Leaves ovate, crenate-den-
tate, thick, often marked with white: flowers large, white, rose or purple,
sometimes spotted, oblong. The florists' cyclamen.
4. LYSIMACHIA. Loosestrife.
Perennials with leaves opposite or whorled, entire, often glandular-
dotted: flowers yellow, solitary in axils, or panicled; calyx 5-7-parted;
corolla wheel-form; petals 5-7, nearly distinct; stamens 5-7, the filaments
somewhat connate at base. Wild in low grounds.
L. vulgaris, Linn. Erect, 2-3 ft., downy: leaves 3 or 4 in a whorl: flowers
in terminal leafy panicles; corolla-lobes glabrous. Europe. Cultivated
and escaped.
L. quadrifolia, Linn. Erect, 1-2 ft., hairy: leaves lanceolate-ovate, ses-
sile, dotted, commonly 4 in a whorl: flowers yellow, with dark lines, on
Blender pedicels, solitary from axils of upper leaves. Damp soil.
L. nummularia, Linn. Moneywort. Trailing glabrous perennial: leaves
round, opposite, on short petioles: flowers pure yellow, axillary solitary, on
short peduncles; stamen filaments glandular, connate at base. Running wild
in moist places, often a weed in lawns.
XLVI. ERICACEAE. Heath Family.
Plants of various kinds, many of them shrubs or shrubby herbs,
Borne trees, perennial herbs, and parasites: leaves simple and often
evergreen, or scale-like: flowers most perfect; corolla usually mono-
petalous and 4- or 5-cleft; stamens hypogynous, as many or twice
as many as petals, anthers usually opening by terminal pores; style
1; ovary generally as many celled as corolla has lobes. A large family,
represented by heaths, cranberry, azaleas, arbutus, laurel.
A. Shrubs, or creeping shrubby plants.
B. Ovary inferior: fruit a berry.
c. Berry 10-seeded 1. Gaylussacia
cc. Berry many-seeded 2. Vaccinium
BB. Ovary superior.
G. Low creeping or procumbent.
d. Fruit berry-like: leaves aromatic 3. Gaultheria
dd. Fruit dry 4. Epigsea
CO. Shrubs, erect.
E. Corolla broadly open, with 10 little pouches
holding the anthers 5. Kalmia
424 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
ee. Corolla bell-shaped, no pockets: flowers from
terminal, scaly buds 6. Azalea
aa. Parasitic herbs, destitute of green foliage, about the
roots of trees 7. Monotropa
1. GAYLUSSACIA. Low-bush Huckleberry.
Shrubs, low and branching, leaves and branches sometimes with resinous
dots: leaves alternate, entire or serrate: flowers in lateral racemes, small,
white or pink, nodding on bracted pedicels, in late spring; corolla bell-like
or ovoid, with 5 lobes erect or reflexing; stamens 10, usually included;
ovary 10-celled: fruit berry-like, containing 10 little stones, blue or black,
sweet and edible, ripe in late summer.
G. baccata, C. Koch. High-land huckleberry. Shrub, 1-3 ft., with
stiff branches and deciduous entire oval leaves, sprinkled with resinous
dots: flowers, in 1 -sided racemes; corolla white, tinged with pink, cylindrical
or somewhat 5-angled, and contracted at margin: berry black, not glaucous.
G. frondosa, Torr. & Gray. Tangle-berry. Shrub, 1-3 ft., with stiff spread-
ing branches: leaves oblong to obovate, thin, smooth and pale below,
resinous-dotted; corolla white, tinged with pink, short: berry large, dark
blue, with a bloom.
2. VACCINIUM. Blueberry. Cranberry. Bilberry. High-bush
Huckleberry.
Shrubs much resembling Gaylussacia, but the ovary only 4-5-celled,
although appearing to have twice as many cells by false partitions: fruit a
many-seeded berry, generally edible. Fruit ripe in summer and autumn.
V. pennsylvanicum, Lam. Dwarf early blueberry. Shrub, 6-20 in.,
with smooth green warty branches: leaves deciduous, lance-oblong, smooth
and glossy, but edges serrated and tipped with little bristly spines: flowers
in clusters, with corolla cylindrical, white or pink-tinged, 5-toothed; anthers
10, included: berry many-seeded, blue-black with a bloom, edible.
V. corymbosum, Linn. High-bush, or swamp, huckleberry. Blueberry.
Tall bush, with oblong or elliptical leaves: berries blue, sweet, usually
with a thick bloom.
V. macrocarpon, Ait. Cranberry. Creeping, slender, scarcely woody:
leaves small, about J^ in. long, evergreen, oval or oblong and margins
rolled: flowers solitary, on slender erect pedicels, pale pinkish, deeper
colored within, with 4 narrow reflexed segments.
3. GAULTHERIA. Wintergreen. Checkerberry.
Stems procumbent, with leafy branches erect: leaves alternate, evergreen
and tasting spicy and aromatic: flowers white or pink, nodding on axillary
pedicels; corolla oblong or short-cylindrical with 5 short lobes; anthers 10,
awned at top: fruit berry-like, with capsule inside the thickened calyx.
G. prociimbens, Linn. Fig. 22. Leaves oval or obovate, much sought for
their spicy flavor, as well as the edible red, mealy berries, which last all
winter. In low and evergreen woods, 6 in. or less tall.
ERICACEAE 425
4. EPIG^EA. Trailing Arbutus. Mayflower.
Trailing close to the ground, with rusty-hairy stems, and alternate
evergreen rounded leathery leaves: flowers dimorphous, in clusters at ends
of branches, bracted, sessile; sepals 5, persistent but scale-like; corolla salver-
form, with .r> lobes; stamens 10; ovary 5-lobed.
E. repens, Linn. A favorite flower of very early spring, white to pink,
} ■> in. broad, spicy-scented and wax-like, in small clusters from axils of the
rusty leaves. Mostly North.
5. KALMIA. American Latjrel.
Shrubs, native (belonging to East and South), with entire evergreen
leaves: flowers in umbels; corolla open, saucer-like, 5-angled with 10 little
pits in which the anthers of the 10 stamens are caught until mature or
disturbed by insects, when the curved filaments spring upward, discharging
the pollen; style long and slender.
K. latifolia, Linn. Common mountain laurel. Stout shrub, 4-20 ft.,
often forming great patches on wild or rocky hillsides; also cultivated:
flowers about 1 in. across, rosy, or white and red-spotted, in terminal com-
pound corymbs: leaves mostly alternate, thick, acute, green on both sides,
lance-ovate: blooms in early summer. East and North.
K. angustifolia, Linn. Sheep laurel. Lambkill. Low shrub with flowers
about J-2 in. across, crimson or purplish, in lateral corymbs: leaves narrow,
obtuse, short-pctioled, opposite or in 3's, pale beneath. Hillsides.
G. AZALEA. Fig. 220.
Shrubs, with deciduous leaves: flowers showy, in terminal, umbel-like
clusters; calyx minute, 5-parted; corolla cylindrical-tubed; stamens usually
5; style long, slender, exserted. Rhododendron is closely allied, having ever-
green leaves, stamens usually 10, stamens and style usually not exserted.
A. viscosa, Linn. Swamp honeysuckle. Stems 4-10 ft., branching:
leaves obovate, short-petioled, mostly smooth above and downy on under
veins: flowers in summer after the leaves, fragrant, white, 1-2 in. long,
with slender tubes rather sticky-coated, the tube longer than the lobes. A
swamp plant.
A. nudiflora, Linn. Pinxter flower. Shrub, 3-6 ft., in swamps: flowers
before or with leaves, rose-pink or white, fragrant, 1-2 in. across, the tube
about the length of the lobes.
Rhodora canadense, Linn., or Rhododendron Rhodora, Don, of New
England, is a low shrub, 2-3 ft., with fine large (1 in. wide) rose-colored
flowers appearing before leaves.
7. MONOTROPA. Indian Pipe. Pine-sap.
Low herbs, parasitic on roots or saprophytic, no green about them, but
stem bearing small scales: flowers solitary or in racemes; sepals 2, bract-like;
petals 4 or 5, erect or spreading, wedge-shaped; stamens 8-10, hypogynous;
anthers kidney-shaped; ovary 4-5-celled, stigma radiate or disk-like.
M. uniflora, Linn. Indian pipe. Corpse plant. Odd fleshy waxy-
426 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
white little plants, turning black when drying: stem, 3-6 in. high, bent
over at the top with one nodding terminal flower.
M. Hypopitys, Linn. Pine-sap. In oak and pine woods: stems scaly,
white or tawny red, 4-8 in. high, single or in groups: flowers several, small,
rather fragrant, in a scaly raceme.
XLVII. RUBIACE.E. Madder Family.
A large and important family of herbs, shrubs, trees (including
cinchona or Peruvian bark, and coffee): leaves opposite, or in 3's
with stipules between, or apparently whorled without stipules: flow-
ers perfect, sometimes dimorphous (of 2 sorts) or trimorphous;
calyx-tube adherent to ovary, margin 3-6-toothed; corolla regular,
inserted on calyx-tube, and of same number of lobes; stamens of equal
number as corolla-lobes and alternate with them; ovary 1-10-
celled: fruit a capsule, berry or drupe. A large family (some 5,000
species), largely tropical.
a. Leaves 4-8 in a whorl: no apparent stipules: fruit 2
nutlets, bur-like, or sometimes berry-like 1. Galium
aa. Leaves opposite (or whorled), with stipules.
b. Flowers in pairs, axillary: fruit a double berry:
creeping 2. Mitchella
bb. Flowers solitary, or in terminal clusters: not creeping.3. Houstonia
bbb. Flowers in round heads 4. Cephalanthus
1. GALIUM. Cleavers. Bedstraw.
Frail herbs, with square stems, often prickly or rough on angles and edges
of leaves, usually diffusely branching: leaves apparently whorled and with-
out stipules: flowers small or minute, sometimes dioecious, in cymes or
panicles, axillary or terminal; calyx minutely 4-lobed; corolla 3-4-lobed:
stamens 3-^4; ovary 2-celled: fruit small, double, dry or fleshy, berry -like,
indehiscent, or sometimes with only 1 carpel ripening. Many species.
G. asprellum, Michx. Weak, reclining, or nearly erect branching
perennial, the angles of stems with backward-pointing prickles: leaves
small, not 1 in. long, whorled in 4's or 5's on branches, usually 6 on stem;
edges and mid-ribs rough with prickles: flowers tiny, white, numerous,
loosely clustered at end of branches: fruit small, smooth.
G. circaezans, Michx. Wild licorice. Perennial, branching, ascending
stems with leaves in 4's, not prickly: leaves oval to oblong, obtuse, more
or less pubescent, an inch or more long: flowers dull greenish or brownish,
on very short pedicels in branched cymes; fruit on reflexed pedicels, bristly:
root and leaves with sweetish taste. Dry woods. Common.
G. Aparine, Linn. Cleavers. Goose-grass. Annual, stems weak, pros-
trate, scrambling, and diffuse, with backward-pointing barbs on angles:
RUBIACE.E 427
small lanceolate leaves, 6-8 in a whorl, about 1 in. long, rough on edges
and midrib: peduncles axillary, 1-3-flowered; flowers tiny, white or
greenish: fruit a dry little bur, covered with hooked prickles, on erect pedi-
cels. Low ground or thickety woodland.
2. MITCHELLA. Partridge-berry. Squaw-vine.
Trailing, evergreen-leaved herbs: leaves opposite, round-ovate, dark
green, smooth and glossy, entire, on short petioles: flowers small, dimorphous,
in pairs, on a double ovary (2 ovaries united) from leaf-axils; corolla funnel-
form, 4-parted, bearded within, white with pink tips to lobes; stamens and
stigmas 4: fruit a double scarlet berry, with 4 seeds or stones.
M. repens, Linn. A pretty little creeper of woods in the North: flowers
fragrant and delicate, in June, the double scarlet berries found all winter.
3. HOUSTONIA. Bluets.
Low, delicate little herbs, with stems erect, simple or branching: leaves
opposite, entire; stipules entire and short, or a mere line connecting bases
of the opposite leaves: flowers generally dimorphous in respect to anthers
and stigmas, small, solitary or clustered; calyx 4-toothed; corolla tubular,
rotate, 4-lobed; stamens 4 on corolla: fruit a short pod, 2-celled, many-
seeded, opening at the top, upper part free from calyx.
H. caerulea, Linn. Perennial, 3-6 in., the stems erect, very slender, in
tufts, from slender rootstocks: leaves sessile, oblong or spatulate, J4_H im
long, often hairy: flowers blue to white, with yellow centers, solitary on
peduncle. Early spring to summer; very floriferous.
4. CEPHALANTHUS. Button-bush.
Shrubs (or small trees): leaves entire, opposite or verticillate: flowers
small and many, white or yellow, in close round heads, on peduncles; calyx
4-toothed; corolla tubular, with 4 short lobes; stamens 4 on corolla throat;
style long and exserted: fruit small, dry, inversely pyramidal.
C. occidentalis, Linn. Tall shrub with leaves in 2's or 3's, oval-pointed,
petioled, with stipules between: heads of whitish flowers about 1 in. in
diameter. Usually along streams and pond banks.
XLVIII. CAPRIFOLIACE.E. Honeysuckle Family.
Erect or twining shrubs, or sometimes herbs, with opposite mostly-
simple leaves: flowers epigynous, 5-merous, regular or irregular,
tubular or rotate; stamens usually as many as the lobes of the corolla
and inserted on its tube; ovary 2-5-loculed, ripening into a berry,
drupe, or capsule. About 15 genera and 200 species. Characteristic plants
are honeysuckle, elder, viburnum, snowberry, weigela, twin-flower.
a. Corolla long-tubular.
b. Fruit a berry (often 2 together) several-seeded: leaf-
margins entire or wavy edged: sometimes connate 1. Lonicera
428 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
bb. Fruit a linear-oblong capsule, 2-valved, many-seeded:
leaf -margin serrate 2. Diervilla
aa. Corolla shallow, usually rotate.
b. Leaves simple 3. Viburnum
bb. Leaves pinnately compound 4. Sambucus
1. LONICERA. Honeysuckle.
Erect or twining shrubs, with tubular, funnelform, more or less irregular
flowers (often 2-lipped); corolla bulging oh one side near the base; stamens
5: fruit a berry, usually 2 together from 2 contiguous flowers.
a. Erect.
L. canadensis, Marsh. Open, smooth bush, 3-5 ft.: leaves cordate-
oblong, not sharp-pointed, entire: flowers less than 1 in. long, soft yellow,
the lobes nearly equal: berries red. Common in woods. Blooms in very
early spring.
L. tatarica, Linn. Tartarian honeysuckle. Tall shrub (to 12 ft.):
leaves cordate-oval, not long-pointed, entire: flowers pink or red (some-
times nearly white), 2-lipped, all the lobes oblong. Asia, but common
in yards. Spring.
aa. Twining.
L. japonica, Thunb. (L. Halliana of gardens). Fig. 554. Weak twiner,
with oblong or ovate entire nearly evergreen leaves: flowers small, on short
pedicels, fragrant, opening white or blush but changing to yellow. Japan;
much cultivated.
L. Periclymenum, Linn. Probably the commonest of the old-fashioned
climbing honeysuckles (from Old World); strong and woody: leaves oblong-
ovate, not joined by their bases, entire, dark green above and pale beneath:
flowers large, reddish outside and yellow inside, very fragrant, in a dense,
i long-stalked cluster.
L. sempervirens, Ait.
jt'if^f / Trumpet or coral honey-
suckle. Fig. 148. Glabrous
twining shrub, with leaves
evergreen, oblong, entire,
glaucous, upper pairs joined
at base about the stem,
appearing perfoliate: flowers
nearly sessile, in rather
Lonicera Japonioa. f^ distant whorled clusters on
terminal spikes, the corolla
trumpet-shape, tube almost regularly 5-lobed, 1^-2 in. long, scarlet without,
yellowish within; stamens and style not much, if any projecting. Moist or
low ground, often cultivated.
CAPRIFOLIACE.E 429
2. DIERVILLA. Bush Honeysuckle.
Erect, low shrubs or bushes: leaves simple, opposite, ovate or oblong,
acute-pointed, serrate, deciduous: flowers in axillary or terminal cymes, or
solitary; calyx-tube slender, limb of 5 slender, persistent lobes; corolla
funnelform, 5 lobes almost regular; stamens ">; ovary inferior, 2-celled,
1 filiform style: fruit slender 2-celled many-seeded pod, crowned with calyx.
D. Lonicera, Mill. Busby shrub, 1-4 ft.: leaves oval to ovate, taper-
pointed, on short petioles: peduncles terminal or in upper axils, mostly 3-
flowered: corolla slender, tubular, greenish yellow (honey color), not over
:(4 in. long. Hanks. Summer.
D. hybrida, Hort. Weigela. Shrub, 2-8 ft.: leaves oval, acute coarsely
senate, rather rough above and soft below, short-petioled : flowers funnel-
form, 1-1 J 2 in. long; tube downy without; 5-lobed; the limb spreading. A
group of common garden shrubs, derived from 2 or more Japanese species,
with white, pink, or red showy flowers.
3. VIBURNUM. Arrow-wood.
Erect shrubs, with simple leaves and small whitish flowers in broad
cymes: stamens 5; stigmas 1-3: fruit a small 1-seeded drupe.
a. Flowers all alike in the cyme.
V. Lentago, Linn. Sheepberry. Fig. 305. Tall shrub (to 20 ft.): leaves
ovate-pointed, finely and sharply serrate, shining above, on long margined
petioles: fruit l ■> in. or more long, black. Common.
V. acerfolium, Linn. Dockmackir. Arrow-wood. Six ft. or less: leaves
3-lobed and maple-like, downy beneath: cyme small and slender-stalked:
fruit flat and small. Woods.
aa. Flowers larger on the margin of the cyme.
V. 6pulus, Linn., var. americanum, Ait. High-bush cranberry. Erect,
10 ft. or less: leaves 3-lobed and toothed: outer flowers sterile and large:
fruit an acid red edible drupe. Swamps. In cultivation all the flowers have
become sterile, resulting in the "snowball." Compare Figs. 264, 265.
V. tomentosum, Thunb. (V. plicatum of gardens). Japanese snowball.
Leaves not lobed, shallow-toothed, thickish, plicate: heads of sterile flowers
axillary, globular. Japan.
V. alnifolium, Marsh. Hohblebush. About 5 ft., with straggling branches,
often arching to ground and rooting, thus making loops or "hobbles:"
flowers resemble those of wild hydrangea, in flat-topped cymes, with mar-
ginal flowers larger, sterile and showy, white: leaves very large, round or
heart-shaped, finely serrate, petioles and veinlets scurfy: drupes coral-red,
becoming purple, not edible. Cold woods and swamps.
4. SAMBtTCUS. Elder.
Strong shrubs, with pinnate leaves and sharp-serrate leaflets: flowers in
dense corymbose cymes; calyx-teeth very small or none; corolla shallow,
open ; stamens 5 ; stigmas 3 : pith prominent in the stems. Common.
430 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
S. racemosa, Linn. Red elder. Pith and berries red: flowers in spring
in pyramidal clusters: leaflets lanceolate, downy beneath.
S. canadensis, Linn. Common elder. White elder. Pith white: berries
black-purple, in late summer, edible: flower-clusters convex or nearly flat,
in summer: leaflets oblong, smooth.
XLIX. CAMPANULACEjE. Bellflower Family.
Herbs (with us): leaves alternate, simple, without stipules: flow-
ers regular and perfect, mostly bell-shaped corollas, 5-lobed or 5-
angled; calyx 5-lobed; stamens 5, distinct; ovary 2-5-celled; style 1;
stigmas 2-5: fruit a capsule. Some 1,200 or more species.
a. Corolla (of the conspicuous flowers) wheel-shape: early
flowers not opening (cleistogamous) 1. Specularia
aa. Corolla bell-form: flowers all alike 2. Campanula
1. SPECULARIA.
Annual herbs, with erect, angled stems, simple or branching: leaves
entire or toothed: flowers sessile or nearly so, axillary, solitary or clustered,
the early ones cleistogamous and small, the later expanding, light blue,
5-lobed, wheel-shaped corolla; filaments shorter than the anthers.
S. perfoliata, DC. Stems erect, simple or branched, 10 in. to 3 ft. tall,
leafy, the leaves rounded heart-shaped or broadly ovate, with clasping bases:
flowers solitary, 2 or 3 together in leaf-axils. More or less weedy.
S. Speculum, DC. Venus' looking-glass. Low garden annual, with stem
branching diffusely: flowers purplish lilac to rose-colored or white, solitary
and terminal: leaves oblong, crenate.
2. CAMPANULA. Bellflower. Harebell.
Flowers solitary or racemed or spiked, blue or white, not cleistogamous:
calyx 5-lobed; corolla bell-shaped: pod roundish, opening at sides (Fig. 283).
C. aparinoides, Pursh. A weak, reclining, Galium-like perennial, found
among grasses in moist meadows: stem very slender, triangular, angles
bearing rough backward-pointing prickles: leaves small, lance-linear, entire:
flowers very small, about l/i in. long, white, on spreading pedicels.
C. rotundifolia, Linn. Common harebell. Perennial from slender root-
stocks, nearly or quite glabrous, 5-12 in. high: root-leaves rounded or
cordate, often withering before blooming season, the stem-leaves linear to
narrow-lanceolate, entire: flowers few or solitary on slender pedicels, nod-
ding when open; corolla bell-shaped, with pointed lobes, Y^-Yz in. long, blue.
Rocky places, northward.
C. Medium, Linn. Canterbury bell. Cultivated from Europe, annual
or biennial, erect to 3 ft., rather hairy, branching or simple: leaves lanceo-
late, rather coarsely-toothed: flowers 2-3 in. long, single or double, blue;
stigmas 5; sepals leafy-appendaged at base.
LOBELIACE.E — COMPOSITE 431
L. LOBELIACEjE. Lobelia Family.
Herbs: leaves alternate or radical, simple: flowers scattered,
racemed or panicled, often leaf y-bracted ; calyx-tube adherent to
ovary; corolla irregular, monopetalous, 5-lobed, usually split on one
side; stamens 5, usually united, at least by anthers, about the 1
style; stigma 2-lobed: fruit a capsule, loculicidally 2-valved.
LOBELIA.
Flowers often showy, axillary and solitary, or in terminal bracted
racemes; corolla as if 2-lipped; stamens generally unequal, monadelphous, 2
or all of the 5 anthers bearded at the top. Many species.
L. cardinalis, Linn. Cardinal flower. Indian pink. A showy plant
of swampy or moist soil, also cultivated: tall, simple stem, 2-4 ft., with
showy, deep-red flowers (rarely pale colored), about 1 in. long, bracted, in
terminal racemes: leaves sessile, lance-oblong, slightly toothed.
L. Erinus, Linn. The common, pretty, annual trailing or spreading
Lobelia of gardens and greenhouses: flowers many, small, very blue, usually
with white throats (varying to whitish): lower leaves spatulate; upper
narrow, toothed.
L. syphilitica, Linn. Stem erect to 1-3 ft., angular, heavy: leaves
oblong-ovate, irregularly serrate: flowers in terminal, leafy raceme; flowers
intense blue (or white), 1 in. or more long; calyx hairy or hispid, lobes
auricled at base, dentate. Perennial, in low or marshy grounds or along
streams. Late summer.
L. spicata, Lam. Erect smoothish stems, 1-3 ft., sparingly leafy, the
terminal raceme with linear, small bracts: leaves oblong, upper small and
narrow: flowers small, pale blue; calyx-lobes not auricled at base, entire.
Dry, sandy soil.
L. infiata, Linn. Indian tobacco. Erect, 9-12 in., rather hairy, branch-
ing: leaves ovate, toothed: flowers small, H in. long, pale blue, in loose,
racemes, leafy-bracted: capsules inflated, large. Common in fields^ juice
pungent-poisonous.
LI. COMPOSITE. Composite or Sunflower Family.
Mostly herbs, many of them very large, very various in foliage:
flowers small, densely packed into an involucrate head, 5-merous;
the corolla of the outer ones often developed into long rays; stamens
5, the anthers united around the 2 styles: fruit dry and 1-seeded,
indehiscent, usually crowned with a pappus which represents a calyx.
The largest of all phenogamous families, comprising about one-tenth
of all flowering plants, — about 800 genera and 11,000-12,000 species.
Common composites are sunflower, aster, goldenrod, boneset, dahlia,
chrysanthemum, marigold, compass plant, thistles, dandelion, lettuce.
432
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
a. Heads with all flowers strap-shaped (with rays) and
perfect: juice milky: leaves alternate.
b. Flower-heads terminal on leafless, hollow stalk
from radical leaves 1. Taraxacum
bb. Flower-heads terminal on leafy stalks: leaves
parallel-veined 2. Tragopogon
bbb. Flower-heads in corymbs or clusters.
c. Heads never yellow (usually blue or white):
pappus of blunt scales 3. Cichorium
cc. Heads usually yellow (in one case blue).
d. Achenes beaked: pappus copious, white, soft,
hair-like: leaves sometimes bristly or prickly
edged 4. Lactuca
dd. Achenes not beaked.
e. Pappus soft, white: leaves usually auri-
cled and clasping at base, and prickly
on edges and under ribs 5. Sonchus
ee. Pappus stiff, brownish, leaves not spiny. . . 6. Hieracium
va. Heads with tubular and mostly perfect disk flowers,
the rays, if any, formed of the outer strap-shaped
and imperfect flowers: in cultivated species, all
the flowers may become strap-shaped (head
"double"): juice not milky.
B. Fruit a completely closed and bur-like involucre,
containing 1 or 2 small achenes: flowers im-
perfect (see also No. 23).
c. Involucre-bur large, and sharp-spiny 7. Xanthium
cc. Involucre-bur small, not sharp-spiny 8. Ambrosia
bb. Fruit not formed of a closed and hardened in-
volucre (although the involucre may be spiny,
as in Arctium and Cnicus).
c. Pappus none: achenes not awned.
d. The leaves opposite.
e. Leaves simple: flower-heads small: flowers
blue or white 9. Ageralum
ee. Leaves compound: flower-heads large,
various colors, mostly of ray florets 10. Dahlia
eee. Leaves dissected: heads showy 11. Cosmos
eeee. Leaves various: rays usually about 8,
neutral and yellow. (See Coreopsis, 21.)
dd. The leaves alternate.
E. Foliage finely divided.
f. Heads small (about }4 in.): achenes
flattened 12. Achillea
FF. Heads good-sized (about 1 in.): achenes
oblong, angled or ribbed 13. Anthemis
COMPOSITES 433
ee. Foliage leaves entire, toothed, or broad-
lobed.
F. Achenes curved or horse-shoe-shaped.. . . 14. Calendula
ff. Achenes straight.
g. Torus flat or slightly convex 15. Chrysanthemum
GG. Torus conical.
h. Rays yellow: Sowers large, 2-3 in.. .16. Rudbeckia
nu. Rays not yellow: flowers about
1 in. across: plant low 17. Bellis
cc. Pappus of 2 thin early deciduous scales 18. Helianthus
ccc. Pappus a short crown, or achenes awned at the
top with (2 or more) awns.
d. Achenes angled or ribbed, crowned with cup-
like or lobed pappus: foliage strongly
"tansy" scented 19. Tanacetum
dd. Achenes more or less flattened, and awned
at summit, with usually 2 or 4 awns.
e. Awns barbed downward: achenes various,
narrowed at top, and awned, but not
really beaked 20. Bidens
ee. Teeth not downwardly barbed: (some-
times achenes awnless. ) 21. Coreopsis
cccc. Pappus of many bristles.
d. Plant very prickly 22. Cirsium
dd. Plant not prickly.
e. Involucre prickly and bur-like 23. Arctium.
ee. Involucre not bur-like or prickly.
F. Torus bristly (chaff or bracts amongst
the florets) 24. Centaurea
ff. Torus naked.
g. Rays present.
h. Flowers yellow.
i. Leaves all radical: rays numerous
and fertile 25. Tussilago
ii. Leaves on stems, alternate.
J. Heads small, in large clusters
or panicles 26. Solidago
jj. Heads large and broad: leaves
large on stem and in a basal
clump 27. Inula
HH. Flowers not yellow.
I. Scales of the involucre unequal. . .28. Aster
ii. Scales equal in length 29. Erigeron
in. Scales in several rows, more or
less leafy 30. Callistephus
gg. Rays none.
434 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
h. Plants cottony-white, or downy-
looking.
i Heads mostly dicecious.
J. Leaves basal and also on stem:
pappus thickened at summit
and more or less barbed or
plumed 31. Antennaria
jj. Stems leafy: pappus not thick-
ened at summit: some sterile
flowers, usually in center of
the fertile heads 32. Anaphahs
II. Heads not dicecious: outer flowers
pistillate, central perfect 33. Gnaphalium
hh. Plants not cottony-white.
I. Flower-heads showy, spicate or
racemed, rose-purple: leaves
alternate 34. Liatris
ii. Flower-heads small, in cymes or
corymbs,
j. Flowers white or pale purple:
leaves mostly opposite 35. Eupatorium
jj. Flowers purple: leaves alter-
nate 36. Vernonia
1. TARAXACUM. Dandelion.
Stemless herbs, the 1-headed scape short, leafless and hollow: florets
all perfect and strap-shaped: fruit ribbed, the pappus raised on a long beak.
Variable plants.
T. officinale, Weber (T. Dens-leonis, Desf.). Common dandelion. Figs.
8, 302. Perennial, introduced from the Old World: leaves long, pinnate or
lyrate: heads yellow, opening in sun.
2. TRAGOPOGON. Goat's Beard.
Biennials or perennials, stout, smooth, often glaucous, with long, grass-
like leaves clasping the stem: flowers all ligulate, in large solitary heads,
purple or yellow, terminal on long peduncle, with single involucre of many
bracts, which are equal and lanceolate, joined at bases: pappus in one
series, long and plumose: achenes linear, mostly with long slender beaks,
5-10-ribbed or angled: flowers open in early morning, usually closed at
midday. Juice milky.
T. porrifolius, Linn. Salsify. Oyster-plant. Biennial; involucral bracts
much longer than the rays: stems 2-3 ft. high, hollow and thickened
upward: flowers purple. Europe. Cultivated for the edible tap-root. Some-
times wild.
T. pratensis, Linn. Similar to preceding, but flowers yellow and in-
volucral bracts not longer than rays. Europe. Fields and waste places,
eastern and middle states.
COMPOSITES 435
3. CICHORIUM. Chicory.
Tall, branching perennials, with deep, hard roots: florets perfect and
strap-shaped: fruit lightly grooved, with sessile pappus of many small,
chaffy scales.
C. Intybus, Linn. Common chicory. Runs wild along roadsides (from
Europe); 2-3 ft.: leaves oblong or lanceolate, the lowest pinnatifid: flowers
bright blue or pink, 2-3 together in the axils on long nearly naked branches.
4. LACTtTCA. Lettuce.
Coarse weedy plants: stems tall and leafy, simple or branching, car-
rying small panicled heads of insignificant flowers: juice milky: stem-leaves
alternate, entire, or pinnately divided with lobes and margins and under
midrib often spine-tipped: involucre cylindrical, with bracts in 2 or more
unequal rows; flowers all ligulate and perfect, with the ligules truncate and
5-toothed: achenes oval to linear, flattened, 3-5-ribbed on each face,
smooth, abruptly narrowed into a beak: pappus abundant, white or brown-
ish and soft.
L. canadensis, Linn. Common in rich soil, 3-9 ft. tall: leaves smooth,
lanceolate to spatulate, sessile or clasping, margins entire, sinuate, or
runcinately pinnatifid, the radical leaves petiolate — all smooth and glaucous;
flowers pale yellow, in small heads (K~M m- long), the heads more or less
diffusely panicled. Biennial or annual.
L. villosa, Jacq. Three to 8 ft. : leaves ovate to lanceolate, pointed and
serrate, teeth mucronate, sometimes hairy on under midrib, the petioles
winged, more or less sinuate or clasping and arrow-shaped: inflorescence a
panicle of numerous small heads; rays bluish: achenes short-beaked or
beakless: pappus brownish. Biennial or annual.
L. Scariola, Linn. Prickly lettuce. Fig. 86. Glabrous and rather glaucous-
green, with tall, stiff, erect stem, branching, usually somewhat prickly:
leaves oblong or spatulate, dentate or pinnatifid, sessile, or auricled and
clasping, with margins and under midrib spiny: heads small, 6-12-flowered,
but numerous, the rays yellow; involucre narrow, cylindric: achenes flat,
ovate-oblong, with long filiform beak. Europe. A common coarse biennial
weed.
L. sativa, Linn. Garden lettuce. Cultivated for the tender root-leaves
as a salad: flowers yellow on tall small-leaved stems.
5. SONCHUS. Sow Thistle. Milk Thistle.
Coarse, succulent weeds, smooth and glaucous or spiny, with leafy stem,
resembling wild lettuce, but achenes truncate, not beaked, and the flowers
always yellow: involucre bell-shape in several unequal series; rays truncate,
5-toothed. All from Europe.
S. oleraceus, Linn. Annual, from fibrous roots, 1-5 ft., with pale yellow
flowers in heads %-l in. in diameter: leaves various, mostly on lower part
of stem, petiolate or clasping by an auricled base, the lobes acute; in shape
lanceolate to lyrate-pinnatifid, margins spinulous.
S. arvensis, Linn. Perennial with creeping rootstocks: flowers bright
436
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
555. Xanthium
canadenae.
yellow in showy heads: leaves various, but spiny on margins, and generally
with clasping, auricled bases: bracts of the involucre bristly.
S. asper, Hill. Spiny-leaved sow thistle. Annual weed: resembles S.
oleraceus closely, but the clasping auricles are rounded at base, stem-leaves
not so divided and more spiny.
6. HIERACIUM. Hawkweed.
Hairy, or glandular-hispid, or glabrous perennials,
with radical or alternate entire leaves: head of 12-20
yellow or orange ligulate flowers, solitary or panicled;
involucre in one or several series, unequal; rays trun-
cate and 5-toothed: achenes oblong, striate, not
beaked; pappus single or double, delicate, tawny or
brownish, stiff, not plumose. Large number of species
widely spread.
H. venosum, Linn. Rattlesnake-weed. Smooth,
slender, leafless or with 1 or few leaves, 1-2 ft., fork-
ing into a loose, spreading corymb of heads: leaves thin, glaucous, radical
and tufted, or near base on stem, oblong or oval, nearly entire, slightly
petioled or sessile, sometimes purplish or marked with purple veins: achenes
linear, not narrowing upward. Dry woods.
H. aurantiacum, Linn. Orange hawkweed. Devil's paint-brush. A very
bad weed in meadows East, from Europe: hirsute and glandular: leaves
narrow: heads deep orange: achenes oblong, blunt.
7. XANTHIUM. Clotbur.
Coarse homely annual weeds with large alternate leaves: flowers mon-
oecious: in small involucres; sterile involucres composed of separate scales,
in short racemes; fertile involucres of united scales forming a closed body,
clustered in the leaf-axils, becoming spiny burs.
X. canadense, Mill. Common clotbur. Fig. 555.
One to 2 ft., branching: leaves broad-ovate, petioled,
lobed and toothed: burs oblong-conical, 1 in. long,
with 2 beaks. Waste places.
X. spinosum, Linn. Spiny clotbur. Pubescent, with
3 spines at the base of each leaf: bur M in. long, with
1 beak. Tropical America.
8. AMBROSIA. Ragweed.
Homely strong-smelling weeds, monoecious: sterile
involucres in racemes on the ends of the branches, the
scales united into a cup; fertile involucres clustered in
the axils of leaves or bracts, containing 1 pistil, with
4-8 horns or projections near the top. Following are
annuals:
A. artemisiaefolia, Linn. Common ragweed. Figs.
416, 556. One to 3 ft., yery branchy; leaves opposite
556. Ambrosia arte-
misiaefolia.
COMPOSITES 437
or alternate, thin, once- or twice-pinnatifid: fruit or bur globular, with 0
spines. Roadsides and waste places.
A. trifida, Linn. Great ragweed. Three to 12 ft., with opposite 3-lobed
serrate leaves: fruit or bur obovate, with 5 or 6 tubercles. Swales.
9. AGERATUM. Ageratum.
Small diffuse mostly hairy herbs, with opposite simple leaves: heads
small, blue, white or rose, rayless, the involucre cup-shaped and composed
of narrow bracts; torus flattish; pappus of a few rough bristles.
A. conyzoides, Linn. (A. mexichnum of gardens). Annual pubescent
herb, with ovate-deltoid serrate leaves: cultivated (from tropical America)
for small and numerous clustered soft heads.
10. DAHLIA.
Stout familiar garden herbs, tall and branching, from tuberous roots:
leaves opposite, pinnately divided: ray flowers in natural state are neutral
or pistillate and fertile; disk flowers perfect; involucre double, outer scales
distinct and leaf-like, the inner united at base; receptacle chaffy; pappus
none. In the big cultivated dahlias, most of the flowers are rays.
D. variabilis, Desf. Figs. 257, 258. Several feet, with fine large heads
of flowers, colors various; heads solitary: leaves pinnate, leaflets unequal,
3-7, ovate-acuminate, coarsely serrate. Mexico.
11. C6SMOS.
Handsome tall plants, 4-5 ft. high, cultivated for the fine foliage and late
flowers: leaves opposite, very finely dissected, thrice-compound, the leaflets
extremely narrow, and sessile: flower-head with double involucre; the outer
bracts dark green, calyx-like, 8 in number, the inner scales erect, with
recurved tips; ray flowers, usually 8, neutral, white, pink; disk flowers per-
fect, tubular, yellow; receptacle chaffy: achenes flattened, beaked. Mexico.
C. bipinnatus, Cav. Rays 1-2 in. long, crimson, rose or white, the disk
yellow. The commonest species.
C. sulphureus, Cav. Both rays and disk yellow.
12. ACHILLEA. Yarrow.
Low perennial or annual herbs: heads corymbose, many-flowered, white
or rose, with fertile rays; scales of involucre overlapping (imbricated) ; torus
flattish, chaffy; pappus none.
A. Millefolium, Linn. Yarrow. Stems simple below, but branching at
the top into a large rather dense umbel-like flower-cluster: leaves very
dark green, twice pinnatifid into very fine divisions: rays 4-5. Fields
everywhere.
13. ANTHEMIS. Chamomile. Fig. 417.
Strong-scented, branching herbs with finely pinnatifid leaves and
many-flowered heads, solitary on peduncles: ray flowers white or yellow,
pistillate or neutral, the edge of corolla entire or "2-3-toothed: disk flowers
438
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
perfect, fertile, yellow, corolla 5-cleft; receptacle convex, partially chaffy;
involucral bracts small, dry, in several series, outermost shortest: achenes
round or ribbed, smooth: pappus none or a slight border. There are a
number of cultivated plants in this genus.
A. Cotula, DC. May-weed. Annual, bushy, erect, 1-2 ft.: heads ter-
minal, corymbed, 1 in. broad; rays usually white, neutral; disk flowers yel-
low: leaves alternate, mostly sessile, finely pinnatifid. Roadsides. Europe.
14. CALENDULA. Pot Marigold.
Erect, quick-growing annuals, with terminal large yellow or orange heads
with pistillate rays: involucre of many short green scales; torus fiat; pap-
pus none: achenes of the ray florets (those of the disk florets do not mature)
curved or coiled.
C. officinalis, Linn. Common pot marigold. A common garden annual
from the Old World, with alternate entire sessile oblong leaves: 1-2 ft.
15. CHRYSANTHEMUM. Chrysanthemum.
Erect herbs, annual or perennial, with alternate lobed or divided leaves:
rays numerous, pistillate and ripening seeds; torus usually naked, flat or
convex; pappus none.
a. Achenes of ray florets winged.
C. morifolium, Ram. (C. sinense, Sabine). Greenhouse
chrysanthemum. Tall and mostly strict, with lobed, firm and
long-petioled alternate leaves: flowers exceedingly various.
China.
aa. Achenes not winged.
C. Leucanthemum, Linn. Whiteweed. Ox-eye daisy. Fig.
189. Perennial, with many simple stems from each root, rising
1-2 ft., and bearing alternate oblong sessile pinnatifid leaves:
heads terminating the stems, with long white rays and yellow
disks. Fields everywhere in the East, and spreading West.
16. RUDBECKIA. Cone-flower.
beck' hh-ta Perennial or biennial herbs, with alternate leaves and
showy yellow-rayed terminal heads : ray florets neutral ; scales
of involucre in about 2 rows, leafy and spreading; torus long or conical, with
a bract behind each floret: achenes 3-angled, with no prominent pappus.
Strong field plants.
R. hirta, Linn. Black-eyed Susan. Ox-eyed daisy in the East. Fig. 557.
Biennial, 1-2 ft., coarse-hairy, leaves oblong or oblanceolate, nearly entire,
3-nerved: rays as long as the involucre or longer, yellow, the disk brown;
torus conical. Dry fields.
R. laciniata, Linn. Two to 7 ft., perennial, smooth, branching: leaves
pinnate, with 5-7-lobed leaflets, or the upper ones 3-5-parted: rays 1-2 in.
long; torus becoming columnar. Low places.
COMPOSITES 439
17. b£LLIS. Garden Daisy.
Low tufted herbs with many-flowered heads, solitary on scapes: leaves
spatulate, petioled: flowers both radiate and tubular, mostly double, with
margins of the rays various, quilled, and otherwise modified in the cul-
tivated forms: ray flowers white or pink, pistillate; disk flowers yellow,
perfect with tubular corolla, limb 4-5-toothed: achenes flattened, wingless,
nerved near margins.
B. perennis, Linn. English daisy. European garden daisy. Fig. 200.
Flower-head on a scape 3-4 inches high, from radical leaves, %-l in. in
diameter, with numerous linear rays, white, pink, bluish. Europe. Perennial.
Cultivated in gardens or on lawns. April to November.
IS. HELIANTHUS. Sunflower. Figs. 3, 4.
Stout, often coarse perennials or annuals, with simple alternate or
opposite leaves and large yellow-rayed heads: ray florets neutral; scales of
involucre overlapping, more or less leafy ; torus flat or convex, with a bract
embracing each floret: achene 4-angled: pappus of 2 scales (sometimes 2
other smaller ones), which fall as soon as the fruit is ripe.
a. Disk brown.
H. annuus, Linn. Common sunflower. Tall, rough, stout annual, with
mostly alternate stalked ovate-toothed large leaves: scales of involucre ovate-
acuminate, ciliate. Minnesota to Texas and West, but everywhere in gardens.
H. scaberrimus, Ell. Prairie sunflower. Stout perennial (2-6 ft.), rough:
leaves oblong-lanceolate, entire or serrate, rough and grayish, thick and
rigid: heads nearly solitary, with 20-25 rays. Prairies, Michigan, west.
aa. Disk yellow (anthers sometimes dark).
H. giganteus, Linn. Tall, to 10 ft., rough or hairy: leaves mostly
alternate, lanceolate-pointed, finely serrate or quite entire, nearly sessile:
scales linear-lanceolate, hairy; rays pale yellow, 15-20. Low grounds.
H. divaricatus, Linn. Figs. 3. 4, 23, 28. Small for the genus, 1-4 ft.:
leaves opposite, ovate-lanceolate, 3-nerved, sessile, serrate, rough and
thicVish: rays 8-12, 1 in. long. Common in dry thickets.
H. tuberosus, Linn. Jerusalem artichoke. Bearing edible stem-tubers
below ground: 5-10 ft.: leaves ovate to oblong-ovate, toothed, long-petioled:
scales not exceeding the disk: rays 12-20, large. Pennsylvania west, and
cultivated.
19. TANACETUM. Tansy.
Tufted perennials, with finely divided leaves and strong odor: involucre
of overlapping dry scales; torus convex; heads small, nearly or quite rayless,
the flowers all seed-bearing: achenes angled or ribbed, bearing a short
crown-like pappus.
T. vulgare, Linn. Common tansy from Europe, but run wild about old
houses: 2-4 ft.: leaves 1-3-pinnately cut: heads yellow, pappus-crown
5-lobed.
440
THE KINDS OF PLANTS
V
20. BIDENS. Bur-marigold. Beggar's Ticks. Pitchforks.
Annual or perennial, similar to Coreopsis, including weeds known as
Spanish-needles or stick-tights: leaves opposite: flowers mostly yellow;
involucre double, outer scales large and leaf-like; heads many -flowered ;
ray flowers 4-8, neutral, or none; disk flowers perfect, tubular: achenes
flattened or slender and 4-angled, crowned with 2 or more rigid downwardly
barbed awns.
B. frondosa, Linn. Figs. 418, 558.
Smooth or sparsely hairy, 2-6 ft. tall,
branching: leaves 3-5-divided, or
upper simple; leaflets stalked, lanceo-
'■ ' ,'r"> late, serrate: outer involucre longer
^ '^O than head; bracts foliaceous: achenes
\t wedge-ovate, flat, 2-awned. In moist
places. Annual.
B. lsevis, BSP. Smooth branching
annual, 6 in. to 2 ft., usually abundant along
ditches: leaves sessile, simple, lanceolate, acumi-
nate, serrate, the bases sometimes united: outer
involucral bracts exceeding the inner, but shorter
than the yellow, oval or oblong rays: rays about 1
in. long, 8 or 10 in number: achenes small, wedge-
shaped, truncate, prickly on margins, with 2 rigid
downwardly barbed awns.
B. bipinnata, Linn. Spanish needles. Annual:
stem quadrangular, erect, branching freely: leaves
1-3 times pinnate, leaflets lanceolate, pinnatifid:
heads small on slender peduncles; rays short, pale
yellow, 3, 4 or more: achenes smooth, 3-4-grooved,
2- or 6-awned (awns barbed).
21. COREOPSIS. Tickseed.
Low herbs with opposite, sometimes alternate leaves:
heads of tubular and ray flowers solitary, or corymbed on
long peduncles; involucre double, bracts all united at
base, the 8 outer ones usually leafy; the inner erect; re-
ceptacle chaffy; ray flowers neutral, usually yellow; disk
flowers tubular, perfect, yellow or purple; pappus of 2 short teeth or a
crown-like border, or none: achenes flat, often winged, 2-toothed or 2-
armed. A number of rather showy but somewhat weedy plants.
C. tinctoria, Nutt. Calliopsis. Annual or biennial, glabrous, erect, 1-3
ft. : disk flowers dark purple ; ray flowers about 8, yellow with purple bases,
the edges coarsely 3-toothed: leaves alternate, 2 or 3 times pinnately-
divided; the lower petioled, the upper sessile and often entire: heads 1-1 J^
in. wide, on slender peduncles. A favorite in gardens. Ray flowers variable
in shape and coloring.
C. tripteris, Linn. Tall coreopsis. Tall and leafy stems, 4-9 ft. : disk and
COMPOSITES
441
ray flowers all yellow; heads small, numerous, 1-1^ in. broad, eorymhed,.
giving a spicy odor when bruised. Perennial. Weed, common.
C. lanceolata, Linn. Perennial, native and cultivated: nearly or quite
glabrous: leaves oblong or linear, mostly entire, obtuse: heads large, yellow-
rayed, on very long stems.
22. CiRSIUM. Thistle.
Perennial or biennial herbs, with pinnatifid, very prickly leaves: florets
all tubular and usually all perfect; scales of the involucre prickly; torus
bristly; pappus of soft bristles, by means of which the fruit is carried in the
wind. Several species in our territory.
C. lanceolatum, Hill. Common thistle. Figs. 253-255. Strong, branching
biennial: leaves pinnatifid, decurrent, woolly beneath: heads large, purple,
with all the involucre-scales prickly. Europe.
C. arvense, Scop. Canada thistle. Fig. 409. Lower, perennial and a pes-
tiferous weed: leaves smooth or nearly so beneath: flowers rose-purple, in
small, imperfectly dioecious heads, only the outer scales prickly. Europe.
23. ARCTIUM. Burdock.
Coarse biennials or perennials, strong-scented, with large dock-like
simple leaves: head becoming a bur with hooked bristles, the florets all
tubular and perfect; torus bristly; pappus of short, rough, deciduous bristles.
A. Lappa, Linn. Burdock. Common weed from Europe, with a deep,
hard root, and bushy top 2-3 ft. high: leaves broad-ovate,
somewhat woolly beneath, entire or angled.
24. CENTAUREA. Star-thistle. Centaurea.
Alternate-leaved herbs, the following annuals, with single
heads terminating the long branches: heads many-flowered,
the florets all tubular but the outer ones usually much larger
$59. Centaurea Cyanus. At the left is an outer or ray floret; then follow three
details of a disk floret; then follows the fruit.
442 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
and sterile; scales of involucre overlapping; torus bristly: achenes oblong,
with bristly or chaffy pappus. Cultivated.
C. Cyanus, Linn. Corn-flower. Bachelor's button. Figs. 256, 559. Gray
herb: leaves linear and mostly entire: heads blue, rose or white. Europe.
C. moschata, Linn. Sweet sultan. One to 2 ft., smooth: leaves pinnatifid:
pappus sometimes wanting; heads fragrant, white, rose or yellow; large. Asia.
25. TUSSILAGO. Coltsfoot.
Low stemless hairy perennials from rootstocks: scapes simple in early
spring, scaly-bracted, each bearing a single dandelion-like head: leaves
radical, appearing later, orbicular-angled or toothed, white- woolly at first:
ray flowers in several rows, pistillate, fertile; disk flowers tubular, stam-
inate, sterile; involucre nearly simple, or 1-rowed achenes of ray flowers,
cylindrical, 5-10-ribbed; pappus abundant, soft, hair-like, white.
T. Farfara, Linn. Yellow heads in very early spring before the leaves. A
common weed East, found in low, damp places and along cool banks. Europe.
26. SOLIDAGO. Goldenrod.
Perennial herbs, with narrow, sessile leaves: heads yellow, rarely whitish,
few-flowered, usually numerous in the cluster, the ray-florets 1-16 and
pistillate; scales of involucre close, usually not green and leaf -like; torus
not chaffy: achene nearly cylindrical, ribbed, with pappus of many soft
bristles. Of goldenrods there are many species. They are characteristic
plants of the American autumn. They are too critical for the beginner.
27. INULA. Elecampane.
Large and tall coarse perennial herbs, with large, showy yellow flower-
heads 2-4 in. diameter, sunflower-like: leaves large, simple, alternate,
and also radical in clumps: heads contain both perfect tubular, and pistil-
late ray florets, in one row; receptacle not chaffy: achenes 4— 5-ribbed:
pappus in one row, bristles hair-like.
I. Helenium, Linn. Four to 6 ft., rising from a clump of large, ovate,
dock-like leaves on heavy petioles; stem-leaves sessile or clasping: heads
solitary, terminal; involucre bracts ovate, leaf-like, woolly. Weed in damp
pasture and along roadside. Summer.
28. ASTER. Aster. Fig. 252.
Perennial herbs, with narrow or broad leaves: heads with several to
many white, blue or purple rays in a single series, the ray florets fertile;
scales of involucre overlapping, usually more or less green and leafy; torus
flat: achene flattened, bearing soft, bristly pappus. Asters are conspicuous
plants in the autumn flora of the country. The kinds are numerous, and it
is difficult to draw specific lines. The beginner will find them too critical.
29. ERIGERON. Fleabane.
Annual, biennial or perennial erect herbs, with simple, sessile leaves:
heads few- to many-flowered; rays numerous in several rows and pistillate;
COMPOSITES
443
scales of involucre narrow and equal, scarcely overlapping, not green-tipped;
torus flat or convex, naked; pappus of soft bristles.
a. Rays very inconspicuous.
E. canadensis, Linn. Horse-weed. Mare's-tail. Fig. 560. Tall, erect,
weedy, hairy annual, with strong scent: leaves linear and mostly entire or
the root-leaves lobed: heads small and very numerous in a long panicle,
the rays very short.
aa. Rays prominent: common fleabanes.
E. annuus, Pers. Usually annual, 3-5 ft., with spreading
hairs: leaves coarsely and sharply toothed, the lowest ovate
and tapering into a margined petiole: rays numerous, white
or tinged with purple, not twice the length of the involucre.
E. ramosus, BSP. Daisy Jtcabane. Usually annual, with
appressed hairs or none: leaves usually entire and narrower:
rays white and numerous, twice the length of the involucre.
E. pulchellus, Michx. Robin's plantain. Perennial leafy-
stemmed herb, softly hairy, producing stolons or rooting
branches from the base, the simple stems, from a cluster of
rather large, roundish, short-petioled, serrate, root-leaves;
stem-leaves few, entire, sessile and partially clasping: heads
1-7, on long peduncles; rays numerous, linear or spatulate,
purplish or pinkish. April to June.
30. CALLISTEPHUS. China Aster.
50! >. Erigeron
canadensis.
Erect, leafy annuals, with large solitary heads bearing
numerous white, rose or purple rays: scales in several rows or series,
usually leafy; torus flat or nearly so, naked; pappus of long and very short
bristles.
C. hortensis, Cass. Common China aster, now one of the commonest of
garden annuals, in many forms: leaves sessile and coarsely toothed. China.
31. ANTENNARIA. Everlasting.
Perennial little herbs with cottony leaves and stems: flowers dioecious,
in many-flowered small heads, solitary or racemose or clustered (much
resembling Gnaphalium, but distinguished by the dioecious heads); invo-
lucre with dry imbricated bracts in several rows, usually woolly-white or
colored; pappus in a single row, that of the sterile flowers thickened and
plumed at summit. Several confused species, or forms of one species, mostly
in open, dry places.
A. plantaginifolia, Rich. Mouse-ear everlasting. Noticeable on dry
soil and in open places, as white cottony patches: stoloniferous root-leavea
soft white when yountr, later green above but hoary beneath, oval tn spatu-
late, petioled, 3-veined: flowering stem simple scape-like, 4—8 in. high,
bears small, bract-like, appressed leaves, and heads in a small, crowded,
terminal corymb; scales of involucre whitish.
444 THE KINDS OF PLANTS
32. ANAPHALIS. Everlasting.
Cottony-white herbs, very similar to the preceding, but pappus not
thickened at summit, and usually a few perfect but sterile flowers in center
of the head: stem leafy. Perennial.
A. margaritacea, Benth. & Hook. Pearly everlasting. One to 2 ft.:
heads in corymbs at summit, dioecious, but a few imperfect staminate
flowers in the center of the fertile heads: leaves sessile, taper-pointed,
broad-ovate to linear-lanceolate: involucre scale pearly white, rounded.
Common in dry soil.
33. GNAPHALIUM. Everlasting. Cudweed.
Cottony-white herbs, with small head of many whitish flowers, sur-
rounded by involucre of white or colored scales, in many series: flowers all
fertile, outer pistillate, central perfect: no chaff on receptacle; pappus a
row of slender bristles. Common in dry fields.
G. polycephalum, Michx. Common everlasting. Annual, with leaves
lanceolate, margins wavy, upper surface not very cottony: scales of invo-
lucre white or yellowish white, a few perfect flowers in the center of each
head.
G. decurrens, Ives. Biennial or annual, with many perfect flowers in
center of each head: stem erect, 1-2 ft.: leaves lance-linear, both sides
cottony, bases partially clasping and running down the stem.
34. LlATRIS. Blazing Star. Button Snakeroot.
Perennial herbs, with simple erect stems from tuberous or corm-like
roots: leaves entire, alternate, rather rigid, sometimes vertical on the stem,
and resinous-dotted: flowers few to many, in racemed or spicate heads;
flowers all alike, rose-purple, tubular; corolla 5-lobed, lobes long and
slender; pappus of many hair-like bristles, plumose or barbed: achene
slender, tapering to base: involucral bracts in several rows, unequal.
L. scariosa, Willd. Stem stout, 2-5 ft. tall: leaves lanceolate, the lower
long-petioled, the upper more linear and rigid : heads few to many, 30-40-
flowered, about 1 in broad: scales of involucre numerous, with rounded
tips; often colored and rather rough on the margins; flowers bright purple.
Dry soil.
L. pycnostachya, Michx. Heads 3-15-flowered: flowers rosy-purple on a
spike 3-4 ft. high: flowers begin to open at top of the spike and continue
opening downward: scales with purplish tips. A western species, cultivated;
very showy.
35. EUPATORIUM. Thoroughwort.
Erect perennials, with simple leaves: heads small and rayless, clustered,
all the florets perfect; scales not leafy; torus flat or low-conical, naked:
achene 5-angled: pappus a single row of soft bristles. Low grounds.
E. purpureum, Linn. Joe Pye weed. Tall, with purplish stem and lan-
ceolate-toothed leaves in whorls of 3-6: heads flesh-colored, in dense
corymbs. Swamps, growing 3-10 ft.
I
COMPOSITES 445
E. perfoliatum, Linn. Boneset. Thoroughwort. Fig. 171. Two to 4 ft.,
hairy: leaves opposite and sessile, lanceolate: flowers white, in clusters.
36. VERNONIA. Ironweed.
Coarse perennial herbs, with tall strong leafy stems: leaves alternate
(seldom opposite), sessile: flowers 15 to many in a head, heads corymbed,
all tubular, perfect, purple (rarely white or pink); involucre shorter than
flowers, with several series of scales; receptacle not chaffy; pappus double,
the inner scries bristle-like, the outer of short, small, scale-like bristles:
achenes cylindrical, several-ribbed.
V. novaboracensis, Willd. A coarse weed, 3-6 ft.: heads about Yi in-
long: bracts of involucre, some or all, with slender long or awned flexxious
points, brownish purple: leaves many, rough, lanceolate or lance-oblong,
2-9 in. long, serrulate, sessile, all along stem: flowers deep purple in
spreading, flat-topped cymes: achenes somewhat hairy. Late summer.
V. fasciculata, Michx. Tall, coarse weed, 3-10 feet, with deep purple
flowers in heads (20-30-flowered), corymbed; involucre campanulate,
scales usually obtuse, not awn-like. Summer and autumn.
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
Numbers in parenthesis refer to paragraphs
Aborted: crowded out, (316).
Abronia, Fig. 18.
Abutilon, 372, Figs. 182, 520.
Acacia, leaf, 108, Fig. 103.
Accessory buds: more than one in an axil,
(88).
Accessory fruit: other parts grown to the
pericarp, (311), 161.
Acclimatization: adaptation to a climate
at first injurious, (367).
Acer, 376, Figs. 523-526.
Acetic acid, 271.
Achene: dry, indehiscent, one-seeded
pericarp, (313).
Achillea, 437.
Acorn, 155, 178.
Acorus, 328.
Actsea, 359.
Acuminate: taper-pointed, (211).
Acute: sharp-pointed, (211).
Adder's-tongue, 331; fern, 198, Fig. 36S.
Adiantum, 323.
Adventitious buds: those appearing on
occasion, (54, 124).
.Ecidia, 191. /Ecidiospore, 191.
Aerial roots, 10, Figs. 12-14.
-Esculus, 377.
Ageratum, 437.
Aggregate fruit: one formed by the co-
herence of pistils that were distinct
in the flower, (321).
Agrimonia, 387.
Agrimony, 169, 387.
Ailanthus, leaf-scars, 37, Figs. 57; seeds,
168.
Air-plants, 11.
Alcanin, 273.
Alder. 345.
Aleurone grains, 275, Fig. 445.
Alfalfa, 3, 7, .9, 94, 137, 172, 251, 383,
Figs. 21, 246, 529; nodules on root, 7S.
Alga;, 181, 183, 185, 201, 207, 263, 266.
Alkaloids, 271.
Almond, 61, 251, 271; bud, 39, Fig. 68.
Alnus, 345.
Alpine plants, 229.
Alsike clover, 382.
Alternate leaves, 47.
Alternation of generations, 182, 201.
Althea, 148, 372, 373.
Alyssum, 160, 367, 368, Fig. 519.
Amaranth, 170, Fig. 411.
AmaryllidaceK, 335.
Ambrosia, 436, Figs. 416, 556.
Amelanchier, 391.
Amoeba, 206. Amoeboid, 266.
Ampelopsis, leaves of, 100, Fig. 155.
Amphibious, 208.
Aniylo-dextrine, 275. Amylose, 271.
Anacharis, 85, Fig. 439.
Analogy: related in function or use, (223).
Anaphalis, 444.
Anemone, 356; fruit, 156.
Anemonella, 357.
Angelica, 398.
Angiosperms, 327.
Aniline for staining, 73.
Annual: of one season's duration, (10).
Annular, 267.
Antennaria, 443.
Anthemis, 437, Fig. 417.
Anther: pollen-bearing part of the sta-
men, (270).
Antheridia, 181, 187. Antheridiophore,
194.
Anthodium: flower-head of the Com-
positse, (251).
Antirrhinum, 406.
Antitropic: against the sun, (243).
Apetalous: petals missing, (273, 290).
Aphyllon, 90, Fig. 131.
Apical; at the apex or top, (317).
Apios, 385.
Apium, 399.
Apocynacea;, 418.
Apparatus, 301.
Apple, 20, 32, 68, 251, 254, 391 ; acid, 271;
bud, 36, 39, 40, Fig. 71; bud-variation,
23N; cells, 2iV.l, 265; foliage, 65; fruit,
162, Fig. 295; inflorescence, 123, Fig.
294; leaf, 83; leaf-scar, 37; pear-graft,
28; phyllotazy, 48, Fig. 84; pruning,
Pigs. 102, 104; thorns, IDS; tree, 14,
64, 93, 220, Fig. 17.
Apricot, 251, 366; bud, 37, 39, 41, Figs.
55, 6S; fruit, 161.
Aquatic, 207; society, Fig. 401.
Aquilegia, 35S, Fig. 517.
Arabia, 388, Fig. 536.
\i aces, .!27.
Arboriculture, 257.
Arborvitse, 326, Figs. 404, 405, 486.
(447)
448
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
Arbutus, trailing, 425.
Archegoniophore, 194. Archegonium,
181.
Arctium, 441.
Arisaema, 327.
Aristolochiaceffi, 348.
Arrow-root, starch, 274, 275.
Arrowwood, 429.
Artichoke, Jerusalem, 439.
Arum, family, 149, 327; water, 328.
Asarum, 349.
Ascending stems, 14.
Asclepiadacese, 417. Asclepias, 283, 418.
Ascus, 190.
Ash, 421; branching, 56, Fig. 92; fruit,
156; leaf, Fig. 141; mountain, 391;
phyllotaxy, 4S; seeds, 108.
Ash in plants, 77.
Asparagus, 3, 285, 289, 333, Figs. 457,
458; leaves, 107, Figs. 159-162.
Aspen (poplarl, expression in, 66.
Aspidium, 289, 323, 324, Figs. 331, 332,
480.
Asplenium, 323.
Assimilation: making of protoplasm,
(185, 186).
Aster, 233, 442; China, 443; inflorescence,
120, 150, 151; wild, 252, Fig. 146.
Atropin, 271.
Auricula, 422.
Autumn leaves, 233.
Avens, 386.
Axil: upper angle which a petiole or
peduncle makes with the stem which
bears it, (87).
Axillary, 119, Fig. 201.
Azalea, 425; anther, 135, Fig. 220.
Bachelor's button, 151, 442, Figs. 256,
' 559.
Bacterium (pi. bacteria), 91, 263, 278,
Fig. 136.
Ballast plants, 170.
Balloon-vine, 376.
Balsam, 33, 166, 286; garden, 375; for
mounting sections, 303.
Bamboo, forest, Fig. 437.
Baneberry, 359.
Banyan, 11, 20, Fig. 15.
Baptisia, 383.
Barberry, 360; anther, 135, Fig. 221;
family, 360; rust, 191, 192, Figs. 355,
356; spines, 109, Fig. 168.
Bark, 293; forms of, 65.
Barley, 152, 250, Fig. 261; germination,
173.
Basal: at the base or bottom, (317).
Basidium, 191.
Basswood, 37, 292; phyllotaxy, 48, Fig.
464.
Bast, 280, 281, Fig. 450.
Bean, castor, 4, 171, 175, 178,271,273,352,
Figs. 313-316; common, 3, 7, 166. 250,
384, Figs. 2, 530; germination, 171,
173, 174, 178, Figs. 308-312, 322;
legume, 157; Lima. 175, 384, Fig. 531;
scarlet runner, 174, 178, 384; sleep of,
49; twiner, 115, 116.
Beard-tongue, 406.
Bedstraw, 112, 426.
Bee balm, 400.
Beech, 64, 67, 343; drop, 90; European,
98; fruit, 155; leaf, Fig. 151; monoe-
cious, 138.
Beefsteak geranium, Fig. 41.
Beet, 7, 33, 250, 251; cells, 265; starch in,
31; sugar-, 251, 273.
Beggar's ticks, 440, Fig. 558.
Begonia, cells, 265; cuttings, 21, 27, Fig.
41; leaf, 298, Fig. 144; stomates, 301,
Fig. 473.
Belladonna, 271.
Bell-flower, 430; family, 430.
Bellis, 439.
Bellwort, 332.
Berberidacere, 360.
Berry: pulpy, indehiscent, few- or many-
seeded fruit, (319).
Betula, 344.
Bi-collateral, 288.
Bi-compound, 96.
Bidens, 440, Figs. 418, 558.
Biennial: of two seasons' duration, (10).
Bilberry, 424.
Bindweed, 244, 412.
Birch, 231, 344.
Birthroot, 333.
[ Birthwort, family, 348.
I Bishop's cap, 394.
Bitter-cress, 307.
Bittersweet, 248, 409, Fig. 424; climbing,
112; false, twiner, 115, Fig. 179.
Blackberry, 20, 251, 390; cutting. , 23;
fruit, 160, 161; pruning, 61; and Lirds,
168.
Black-eyed Susan, 438, Fig. 557.
Black haw, Fig. 305.
Bladder-nut, 378.
Bladder-wort, 71, 207.
Blade: expanded part of leaf or petal,
(206).
Blazing star, 444.
Bleeding of plants, 73.
Bleeding-heart, 3, 364.
Blight, 92. Blight-canker, 92.
Bloodroot, 363.
Blueberry, 424.
Blue-eyed grass, 338.
Blue-eyed Mary, 406.
Blue-grass, 246.
Bluets, 427.
| Bole: trunk, (140).
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
449
Boneset. 445, Fig. 138; bracts, 171.
Borage family, 412.
Boreal plants, 229.
Borraginacea:, 412.
Boston ivy, leaves, 100, Fig. 155; tendril,
113.
Bougainvillea, 110.
Bouncing Bet, 354; fruit. Fig. 282.
Box, leaf, Fig. 149.
Box-elder, 370; phyllotaxy, 47, 48, Fig.
84.
Bracts: much reduced leaves, (231).
Brake, 180, 207, 323, Figs. 139, 335, 456
Bramble, 3S9.
Branched stem, 15, Fig. 21.
Brassica, 365, Fig. 518.
Briars, climbing, 112; prickles, 109.
Bridal wreath, 121, 392, Fig. 193.
Bristles, 109.
Bryophyllum, leaf cuttings, 21.
Bryophyte, 183.
Buckeye, 377.
Buckwheat, 76, 251, 350, Fig. 513; family,
349; flower, 130; fruit, 156; pollination,
139.
Bud, Fig. 165; dormant, 54; propagation
by, 21; resting, 36; -scales, 111; -scars,
old, 54, Fig. 91; struggle for existence,
52; winter, 21, 36, 61; and light, 50;
-variations, 237.
Bulb: thickened part, made up of scales
or plates, (80); phyllotaxy, 48; scales,
111.
Bulbel: bulb arising from a mother bulb,
(81).
Bulblet: aerial bulb, 21, (81).
Burdock, 7, 67, 169, 242, 243, 441, Fig.
306.
Burning bush, 294.
Bur-marigold, 440, Fig. 558.
Burs, 169.
Bur-seed, 413.
Burst of spring, 40, Fig. 72.
Bushes: low and thick shrubs, (15).
Butter-and-eggs, 137, 145, 405, Figs. 227,
544.
Buttercup, 3, 208, 233, 357; achene, 156,
Fig. 268; family, 355; flower, Figs.
202, 203; pistil, 130, Fig. 207
Butterfly weed, 418.
Butternut buds, 37.
Button-bush, 427.
Button snakeroot, 444.
Buttonwood, 294.
Buttresses, bracing, 9, Fig. 10.
Cabbage, 12, 16, 251; fruit, 160; head,
37, 38, Fig. 59; water pores, 299.
Cacti, Fig. 371.
Caffein, 271.
Calamus, 328.
cc
Calcium, 70; oxalate, 271, 275.
Calendula, 438.
Calla, 328, Figs. 486, 487; inflorescence,
150; lily, 328, Fig. 486.
Calliopsis, 440.
Callistephus, 443.
Callus, 62.
Caltha, 358.
Calypogon, 342.
Calyptra, 197.
Calyx: outer circle of floral envelopes,
(265); lobes, (266).
Cambium: the growing or nascent tissue
lying between the xylem and phloem
of the fibro-vascular bundle (481), and
therefore on the outside of the woody
trunk, since the active fibro-vascular
bundles are in the young outer tissues
(72), 62.
Campanula, 430; capsule, Fig. 283.
Campanulacea, 430.
Campion, 354.
Canada thistle, 19, 22, 242, 244, Fig.
409.
Candytuft, 368, Fig. 192.
Canker, 92.
Canna, 18, Fig. 29.
Cannabis, 348.
Canterbury bell, 430.
Caoutchouc, 271.
Caprifoliacea, 427.
Capsella, 368.
Capsicum, 410, Fig. 547.
Capsule: compound pod, (316).
Caraway, 399.
Carbohydrate, 85.
Carbon, 76, 82; dioxid, 77, 82.
Cardamine, 367.
Cardinal-flower, 431.
Cardiospermum, 376.
Carnation, 254, 255, 353; cutting, 25,
Figs. 34, 36.
Carpel: a simple pistil; one of the units
of a compound pistil, (271).
Carrot, 3, 33, 242, 243, 398, Fig. 410;
umbel, 121, 122, Fig. 194.
Carum, 399.
Caryophyllaceffi, 353.
Cassia, 385; flower, 146, Fig. 247.
Castalia, 361.
Castanea, 343.
Castilleja, 407.
Castor bean, 4, 271, 273, 352; germina-
tion, 171, 175, 178, Figs. 313-31ti.
Castor-oil, 273; inclusions, 275, 276;
plant, 352.
Catalpa, pods, 160, Fig. 284; seeds, 168,
Fig. 301.
Catchfly, 354.
Catkin: scaly-bracted deciduous spike
with declinous flowers, (252).
450
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
Catmint, 403.
Catnip, 131, 243, 403, Figs. 213, 414.
Cat-tail, 3; seeds, 168, Fig. 304; stems,
285; swamp, 232.
Caulicle: stemlet of the embryo, (332).
Cedar, 326, 327, Fig. 485; and light, Fig.
76; fruit, 164; and birds, 168; apple,
192.
Celandine, 265, 363.
Celastrus, twiner, 115.
Celery, 249, 399; cell, 265.
Cell, 263; multiplication, 268, Figs. 442,
443; -sap, 72, 76, 265; -wall, 88, 264,
266, Fig. 267.
Cellulose, 266, 271.
Celtis, 347.
Centaurea, 441, Fig. 559.
Centrifugal: away from the center, (258),
Fig. 199.
Centripetal: toward the center, (258),
Figs. 197, 198.
Cephalanthus, 427.
Cerastium, 355.
Cercis, 351.
Chamberlain, quoted, 303.
Chamomile, 437.
Chara, 266.
Charcoal, 82.
Charlock, 243, 366, 368, Fig. 413.
Cheat, Fig. 412.
Checkerberry, 424.
Cheeses, 147, 148, 244, 372, Fig. 248.
Chelone, 406.
Chenopodium, Fig. 408.
Cherry, 20, 251, 387, 388, Fig. 539; fruit,
161; inflorescence, 123; phyllotaxy, 48;
and birds, 168.
Chess, 242, Fig. 412.
Chestnut, 343; fruit, 155, Fig. 267; monoe-
cious, 138; -oak graft, 28.
Chickweed, 242, 355, Fig. 516; mouse-
ear, 355.
Chicory, 435.
Chinese sacred lily, 336, Fig. 494.
Chionanthus, 421.
Chlorin, 76, 82.
Chlorophyll, 83, 270.
Chloroplast, 264.
Choke cherry, 389.
Choripetalae, 3<-2.
Chromosome, 268.
Chrysanthemum, 150, 151, 153, 438.
Cichorium, 435.
Cider, acid, 271.
Cilia, 186, 266.
Cinchona, 271.
Cinquefoil, 386.
Cion : the bud or branch used in grafting,
(70).
Circa;a, 397.
Cirsium, 441.
Citric acid, 271.
Cladophyllum: leaf-like branch, (225).
Clasping: leaf partly or wholly surround-
ing stem, (207).
Claytonia, 371.
Cleavers, 426.
Cleft, 96. Cleft-graft, 29.
Cleistogamous flowers: small closed self-
fertilized flowers, (286).
Clematis, 155, 287, 359; and light, Fig.
77; tendril, 115, Fig. 178.
Climate, and plants, 212; and variation,
238.
Climbing, plants, 112; plants and light,
43; stems, 14.
Close fertilization: secured by pollen
from same flower; self-fertilization,
(278).
Close-pollination, 134.
Clotbur, 169, 230, 436, Fig. 555.
Clover, 4, 7, 68, 221, 249, 251, 382, Figs.
187, 527; bracts, 110, Fig. 173; chloro-
phyll, 83; inflorescence, 120; roots,
nodules on, 7S; sleep of, 49, Fig. 85;
pollination, 137.
Cobea, 115.
Cockle, 242, 354.
Coco-grass, 244.
Coffee, 135, Fig. 201; tree, 100.
Cohosh, anther, 271.
Coleus, 75, 287; chlorophyll, 84; cuttings,
23, 25, 26; cells, 265; starch in, 86.
Collateral, 288.
Collection, making a, 279.
Collenchyma, 280.
Coilinsia, 406.
Collodion, 303, Fig. 476.
Colonies, 230.
Color of foliage, 233.
Coltsfoot, 442.
Columbine, 358, Fig. 517; fruit, 157.
Columella, 188.
Column: body formed of union of sta-
mens and pistil in orchids, (300).
Columnar trees, 64, Fig. 112.
Commelina, 334. Commelinaoeae, 334.
Companion cells, 280.
Compass plant, 50, 297.
Complete flower: all parts present, (273).
Complete leaf: having blade, petiole,
stipules, (206), Fig. 145.
Composite, 150, 431.
Corr.positous flowers, 150.
Compound leaves, 95.
Compound pistil: of more than one car-
pel united, (271)
Concentric, 288.
Cone-flower, 438.
Conical trees, 64.
Coniferse, 271, 324.
Conjugation, 186.
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
451
Connate, 97, Fig. 148.
Convallaria, 334.
Convolvulacese, 411.
Convolvulus, 412; family, 411.
Coral root, 90, 93, Fig. 132.
Corallorhiza, Fig. 132.
Cordate: heart-shaped, (211).
( loreopsis, 440.
Cork oak, 294.
Corm: a solid bulb-like part, (82).
Cormel: a corm arising from a mother
corm, (82).
Cormlet: aerial corm, (82).
Corn, 8, 11, 139, 212, 213, 250, 254, 271,
279, 285, Figs. 14, 230, 231, 427, 448,
452, 454; ash in, 77; broom, 139, 250,
Figs. 233, 429; field, 221, 227, Fig. 385;
germination, 133, 134, 135, 171, 173,
175, 178, Figs. 317-321, 378; monoe-
cious, 139, Fig. 230; North and South,
212, Fig. 378; phyllotaxy, 48; roots, 7,
296; stalk, 17; starch, 274, 275; stems,
267; stomates, 301; syrup, 272; trans-
piration in, 81; water in, 76; wilting, 81;
as weed, 241.
Corn-cockle, Fig. 181.
Corn-flower, 442; flowers, 151, Figs. 256,
559.
Corolla: inner circle of floral envelopes,
(265).
Corpse plant, 425.
Corydalis, 364.
Corymb: short and broad, more or less
flat-topped, indeterminate cluster, (254),
Figs. 192, 193, 197.
Corymbose inflorescence: outer flowers
opening first; indeterminate, (248).
Cosmos, 437.
Cotton, 67, 147, 148, 249, 251, 271, Fig.
115; fibers, 263.
Cotyledon: seed-leaf, (332).
Couch-grass, Fig. 27.
Cowpea, 251, 384, Figs. 273, 532; nodules
on root, 78.
Cowslip, 358, 422.
Crab-apple, 391.
Cranberry, 424; high-bush, 429.
Cranesbill, 373.
Cratsegus, 392.
Creeper: a trailing shoot which takes
root throughout its length, (56).
Creeping stems, 14, Fig. 18.
Crenate: shallowly round-toothed, (212).
Cress, fruit, 160; winter, 366.
Crinkle-root, 367.
Crocus, 4, 34, 35. 338, Figs. 52, 53. 497.
Crops, 249.
Cross-fertilization: secured by pollen
from another flower, (278).
Cross-pollination: transfer of pollen from
flower to flower, (278).
Crowfoot, 357; family, 355.
Crown: that part of the stem at the sur-
face of the ground, 'v37); -tuber, 32,
Fig. 47.
Cruciferse, 160, 365.
Cryptogam: flowerless plant, as fern,
moss, fungus, 185, 321, (353).
Crystals, 275. Crystaloids, 275.
Cucumber, 251, 287; collenchyma, 280;
fruit, 162; pits, 267; root-pressure, 74;
squirting, 167, 280; tendrils, 114.
Cudweed, 444.
Cupuliferae, 342.
Currant, 395, Figs. 540-542; bud. Fig.
58; cuttings, 23, 26, Fig. 40; fruit, 160;
stem, 294, Fig. 465.
Cuscuta, 412, Fig. 553.
Cutting: severed piece of a plant designed
to propagate the plant, (51), (61),
Figs. 29, 33-41; hardwood, 26; soft-
wood, 23.
Cutting-bed, 25, Fig. 36.
Cutting-box, 25, 29.
Cutting sections, 303.
Cycas, 301.
Cyclamen, 265, 423.
Cycloloma, 170.
Cyclone plant, 170.
Cydonia, 391.
Cyme: broad, more or less flat-topped,
determinate cluster, (257), Figs. 196,
199.
Cymose inflorescence: central flowers
opening first; determinate, (256), Fig.
195.
Cynoglossum, 413.
Cypress, swamp, Fig. 435; vine, 411, Fig.
551.
Cypripedium, 340.
Cystolith, 276.
Cytoplasm, 263.
Daffodil, 336,
Dahlia, 33, 271, 437; double, 151, 153,
Fig. 257, 258.
Daisy, 242, 244, 439; flowers, 150; ox-eye,
438, Fig. 189; rays, 143; English, scape,
125, Fig. 200.
Dalibarda, 140.
Dandelion, 3, 7, 13, 241, 242, 246, 434,
Figs. 8, 275; flowers, 150; rays, 151;
scape, 125; seeds, 168, Fig. 302; tissue,
283.
Darwin, quoted, 221, 240.
Darwinism, 240.
Date, seed, 271.
Datura, 410, Fig. 275.
Daucus, 398.
Day flower, 334.
Day-lily, 331, 332, Figs. 279, 491, 492.
Deciduous: falling, (216).
452
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
Decompound, 96.
Decumbent stems, 14.
Decurrent: running down the stem, (207),
Fig. 147.
Dehiscence: opening of seed-pod or an-
ther, (279), (312), 159.
Deliquescent: trunk or leader lost in the
branches, (40), Fig. 17.
Delphinium, 359.
Dentaria, 366; pod, 155, Fig. 266.
Dentate: sharp-toothed, (212).
Dependent plants, 90.
Dermatogen, 279.
Desert vegetation, Fig. 371.
Determinate: definite cessation of growth
at the apex, (256), Fig. 195.
Deutzia, 61, 394.
Devil's paint-brush, 436.
Dewberry, 20, 390, Figs. 30, 170; fruit,
161.
Dextrin, 271.
Diadelphous: in two groups, (297).
Dianthus, 353, Fig. 515.
Dicentra, 364.
Dichogamy: stamens and pistils matur-
ing at different times, (280).
Diclinous: imperfect; having either sta-
mens or pistils, (274).
Dicotyledons, 342.
Diervilla, 429.
Digestion: changing of Btarchy materials
into soluble and transportable forms,
(183).
Digitalis, 407.
Digitate, 96, Figs. 140, 142, 144.
Dioecious: staminate and pistillate flow-
ers on different plants, (284).
Dispersal of seeds, 166.
Dissecting apparatus, 132, Figs. 215-217.
Divergence of character, 221..
Divided, 96.
Dock, 3, 242, 243, 244, 350.
Dockmackie, 429.
Dodder, 91, 94, 116, 412, Fig. 553.
Dodecatheon, 422.
Dogbane, 419; family, 418.
Dog's-tooth violet, 330, Fig. 490.
Dogwood, bracts, 110; osier, Fig. 5; tree,
Fig. 383.
Dormant buds, 54, Fig. 91.
Double flowers, 153.
Dragon-root, 327.
Dragon's head, false, inflorescence, Fig.
185.
Drupe: fleshy one-seeded indehiscent
fruit; stone fruit, (320).
Drupelet: one drupe in a fruit made up
of aggregate drupes, (321).
Dryopteris, 179, 324, Figs. 331, 332v
Ducts, 263.
Dusty miller, 354.
Dutch case-knife bean, 178.
Dutchman's breeches, 364.
Dutchman's pipe, 116, 349; family, 348.
Dwarf plants, 212.
Earth parasites, 2.
Echinospermum, 382.
Echium, 415.
Ecology: habits and modes of life of ani-
mals and plants, (397).
Egg-cell, 133, 187.
Eggplant, 160, 410, Fig. 288.
Eglantine, 390.
Elaboration, food, 82.
Elater, 196.
Elder, 4, 125, 282, 429; box, 47, Fig. 84;
pith, 263; poison, Fig. 422.,
Elecampane, 442.
Elliptic, 98, Fig. 151.
Elm, 14, 64, 218, 222, 287, 346, Figs.
507-509; flower, 130, 143; foliage, 65;
fruit, 156; germination, 178; phyllo-
taxy, 47, 48, Fig. 84; seed, 168; shoot,
history, 57, 58, Figs. 96-100; trunk of,
65.
Elodea, 85, 265, 266, Fig. 439.
Embryo: the plantlet in the seed, (332).
Embryology, 106.
Emersed, 207.
Emetin, 271.
Enchanter's nightshade, 397.
Endodermis, 279.
Endogenous stems, 285.
Endosperm: food in the seed outside the
embryo, (333).
Entire: margin not indented, (212).
Environment: surroundings; conditions
in which organisms grow, (354), 212.
Enzymes, 87, 277.
Eosin for staining, 73.
Epicotyl: that part of the caulicle lying
above the cotyledons, (340).
Epidermal tissue, 279, 283.
Epidermis of leaf, 297.
Epiga>a, 425.
Epigeal: cotyledons rising into the air
in germination, (339).
Epigynous: borne on the ovary, (307).
Epilobium, 397.
Epipactis, 341.
Epiphyte, 11, 93.
Equisetaceae, 199. Equisetum, 199, 202,
Fig. 369.
Erect stems, 14.
Ericaceae, 423.
Erigenia, 399.
Erigeron, 442, Fig. 560.
Erythronium, 330, Fig. 490.
Eschscholtzia, 362.
Essential organs; stamens and pistils,
(269).
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
453
Eupatorium, 444, Fig. 138.
Euphorbia, 273, 275, 352.
Euphorbiacese, 351.
Eutropic: in the direction of the sun's
course, (243), Fig. 179.
Evening primrose, 3, 243, 396, Figs. 276,
415.
Evergreen: remaining green, (216).
Everlasting, 443.
Evolution, 240.
Excurrent: the trunk or leader contin-
ued through the top, (39), Fig. 19.
Exogenous stems, 286.
Exosmosis, 73.
Explosive fruits, 166.
Exposure, 215.
Expression in plants, 65.
Fagopyrum, 350, Fig. 513.
Fagus, 343.
Fall of leaf, 97, 299.
False annual: perennial by means of bulbs,
corms, or tubers, (13).
Farm forestry, 258.
Fastigiate trees, 64, Fig. 112.
Fats, 271, 273.
Fehling's solution, 272.
Fern, 18, 183, 205, 209, 224, 321, Fig. 479;
Christmas, 179, 323, Figs. 331, 332;
cinnamon, 322, Fig. 479; flowering, 322;
lady, 323; maidenhair, 180, Fig. 336;
marsh shield, 324; ostrich, 323; poly-
pode, 180, Figs. 333, 334; royal, 322;
sensitive, 322, 323, Fig. 337; shield, 324;
fronds, 179; in good and poor light, 42,
Figs. 73, 74; discussed, 179, 198, 202;
prothallus, 180, Fig. 339.
Fertilization: impregnation of the ovule,
(276).
Fertilizer, 77.
Fibrous tissue, 281.
Fibro-vascular bundles, 283.
Ficus elastica, 277, Fig. 447.
Field crop, 249.
Fig, climbing, Fig. 78.
Fig wort, 406; family, 404.
Filament: stalk part of the stamen, (270).
Filices, 321.
Film, moisture, 75.
Fir, 64.
Fire-blight, 92.
Fireweed, 230; purple, 397.
Five-finger, 386.
Flag, 338 ; garden, 299, Fig. 496 ; sweet , 328.
Flagella. 266.
Flax, 249, 250, 251, 271.
Fleabane, 442.
Fleur-de-lis, 338.
Flora: plant population of a country or
plaic; also a book describing this popu-
lation, (355).
Floral envelopes, 127.
Florets: individual flowers of composites
and grasses, (303), Figs. 255-258.
Floriculture, 250.
Flower, parts of, 127; -branches, 118;
-bud, 39; -cluster, 118; -stem, 125.
Foliage, 2, 65, 95.
Follicle; dry, dehiscent pericarp opening
on the front suture, (314).
Food elaboration, 82.
Food, reservoirs, 31; supply and variation,
Forest, 256, Figs. 387-394, 398.
Forget-me-not, 414.
Formalin, 303. Formic acid, 271.
Forms of plants, 64.
Forsythia, 61, 420.
Foul-gas, 83.
Foxglove, 407.
Fragaria, 387, Figs. 533, 534.
Framework, 2, 67, Figs. 3, 4.
Fraxinus, 421.
Freesia, 339, Fig. 498.
Free-swimming, 207.
Fringe-tree, 421.
Frog spittle, 185.
Frond: leaf of fern, (345).
Fruit-bud, 39, Figs. 61, 62, 70, 71.
Fruits, 155.
Fuchsia, 17, 397; and light, 43; bracts,
Fig. 172; cuttings, 25, 26; flower, 128;
Fig. 205; inflorescence, 119, Fig. 183;
phyllotaxy, 48; water-pores, 299.
Fumariaceae, 363.
Fumitory, 364.
Function of leaves, 95.
Function: what a plant or a part does;
its vital activities.
Fundamental tissue, 283.
Fungi, 91, 183, 1S7, 201, 203, 206, Figs.
135, 137.
Funiculus, 171.
Funkia, 332, Figs. 491, 492.
Funnelform, 144, Fig. 240.
Galanthus, 336, Fig. 495.
Galium, 426; climbing, 112.
Gall, 92.
Gametophyte, 181, 201.
Gamopetalae, 400.
Gamopetalus: corolla of one piece, (267),
Fig. 204.
Gamosepalous: calyx of one piece, (267),
Fig. 204.
Gaultheria, 424.
Gaylussacia, 424.
Gemmae, 194.
Generation: period from birth to death,
(8).
Gentian, 417; family, 417. Gentianacese,
417.
454
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
Geraniaceae, 373.
Geranium, 17, 287, 298, 301, 373, Figs.
470, 472; chlorophyll, 83; cuttings, 23,
25, 26, Figs. 33, 38, 39; family, 373;
inflorescence, Fig. 195; and light, 43;
starch in, 86.
Germander, 402.
Germination, 70, 171, 172.
Geum, 386.
Gherkin, 251.
Gilliflower, 366.
Gill-over-the-ground, 403.
Ginger, 18.
Ginger, wild, 99, 349.
Glabrous: not hairy.
Gladiolus, 34, 35, 339, Figs. 54, 499.
Glandular, 298.
Glaucous: covered with a "bloom" or a
whitish substance.
Gleditschia, 381.
Globe-flower, 390.
Globoid inclusions, 275.
Glomerule: dense head-like cyme, (257).
Gloxinia, leaf-cuttings, 21.
Glucose, 85, 271, 272.
Glucoside, 271.
Glume, 152.
Gnaphalium, 444.
Goat's-beard, 434.
Golden bell, 61.
Goldenrod, 3, 150, 232, 233, 442.
Goober, 141, 251.
Gooseberry, 160, 395.
Goose-grass, 426.
Gourd, 251; collenchyma, 280.
Graft: a branch or bud made to grow
on another plant, 27, (60), Figs. 32,
42-44.
Grafting-wax, 29.
Grape, 282; cane, Fig. 460; crystals, 275,
276; cuttings, 23, 26; fruit, 160, Fig.
176; hyacinth, 331; leaves, 100; root,
Fig. 467; sugar, 272; tendrils, 114, 117,
Fig. 176; sap-pressure, 74; sympode.
Fig. 180.
Grass, 17, 231, 232, 249; flowers, 151;
blue-eyed, 338; leaf, Fig. 150; family,
152; pink, 342.
Grasses, 285; leaves of, 98, 102; phyllo-
taxy, 49; pollination, 138; roots of, 7;
starch, 274.
Grass of Parnassus, 394.
Gratiola, 407.
Greek valerian, 417.
Greenbrier, tendril, 115; stem, 285.
Gromwell, 414.
Ground cherry, 409.
Ground ivy, 403.
Ground-nut, 385.
Guinea squash, 410.
Gum-resin, 271, 273.
Gymnosperm: seed naked (not in an
ovary); applied to pines, spruces, etc.,
(326), 324.
Habenaria, 341.
Habitat: particular place in which a plant
grows, (355).
Habit: the looks, appearance, general
style of growth, (36).
Hackberry, 347.
Hair-grass, 170.
Hairs, 298.
Halophytic societies, 228.
Harbinger of spring, 399.
Hardhack, 392.
Hardwood cutting, 26.
Harebell, 430.
Haustoria, 91, Fig. 137.
Hawkweed, 244, 436.
Hawthorn, 108, 392; -pear graft, 27.
Hazel, 138.
Head of tree, form of, 65.
Head: short, dense spike, (251), Figs.
187, 188, 197.
Heart-seed, 376.
Heart's-ease, 369.
Heath, 93; family, 423.
Hedeoma, 401.
Hedera helix, 277, 287, 300, Fig. 468.
Hedge hyssop, 407.
Helianthus, 439.
Heliotrope, 413. Heliotropium, 413.
Heliotropism: turning toward the light,
(101).
Hematoxylin, 266, 303.
Hemerocallis, 331.
Hemlock, 213, 271, Fig. 484; poison, 247;
water, 247.
Hemp, 249, 251, 348.
Henna root, 273.
Hepatica, 156, 233, 356.
Herb, 3.
Herbaceous: not woody, (11); perennial,
3.
Herbarium, 311, Fig. 478.
Herb Robert, 374.
Herbicides, 246.
Heredity, 239.
Hetercecism, 192.
Hibiscus, 62, Fig. 152.
Hickory, 50, 155; bud, 39, 111, Figs. 63,
64, 87; inflorescence, 121; leaf-scars, 37;
monoecious, 138.
Hieracium, 436.
Hilum, or seed-scar, 171.
Hip: fruit of the rose, (323), Fig. 292.
Hobblebush, 429.
Hog-peanut, 140, Fig. 238.
Hollyhock, 4, 372; flower, 136, 147,
148, 153, Figs. 222, 223, 263; cells.
265.
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
455
Holly, phyllotaxy, 48; tree. Fig 380;
stomates, 299.
Honesty fruit, 160.
Honey locust, 381; buds, 37; leaf, 100;
thorns, 108; tree, Fig. 117.
Honeysuckle, 62, 428, Fig. 554; buds, :<7;
family, 427; leaves, Fig. 148; phyllo-
taxy, 48; swamp, 425; Tartarian, 37,
53; twiner, 115.
Hop, 115, 116, 251, 348, Fig. 179.
Hop clover, 383.
Horehound, 403.
Horse-chestnut, 377; bud, 30, 111; fruit,
Fig. 277; germination, 178; inflores-
cence, 123; leaf, 99; leaf -scar, 37.
Horse-mint, 400.
Horse-radish, 3G7.
Horsetails, 199, Fig. 309.
Horse-weed, 443, Fig. 560.
Horticultural crop, 249.
Host, 78, 91.
Hound's tongue, 169, 243, 413.
House-leek, 20; phyllotaxy, 48.
Houstonia, 427.
Huckleberry, 424; anther, 135.
Humulus, 348.
Humus, 210.
Hyacinth, 35, 331; crystals, 276; grape,
331; inflorescence, Fig. 186; scape, 125.
Hydrangea, 62, 125, 131, 394; doubling,
153.
Hydrogen, 76, 82.
Hydrophyllace®, 415.
Hydrophytic society, 228, Fig. 395.
Hyperieacea;, 370.
Hypericum, 371.
Hyphse, 91, 188.
Hypoeotyl: that part of the caulicle
lying below the cotyledons, (338).
Hypogeal: cotyledons remaining beneath
the ground in germination, (339).
Hypogynous: borne on the torus, or un-
der the ovary, (307).
Hypoxis 337
Iberis, 368.
Immersed, 207.
Impatiens, 375; collenchyma, Figs. 449,
521, 522; water-pores, 299, 301; seeds,
166.
Imperfect flower: having either stamens
or pistils, (274).
Inclusions, 275.
Indehiscent: not opening, (312).
Independent plants, 90.
Indeterminate: growing on from the apex,
(248).
Indian hemp, 419.
Indian pink, 431.
Indian pipe, 90, 425.
Indian tobacco, 431,
Indian turnip, 149, 327.
India-rubber plant, 271, 276, 297, Fig.
447.
India wheat, 350.
Indigo, 271; false, 383.
Indusium, 179, Fig. 338.
Inferior, 152.
Inflorescence: mode of flower-bearing;
less properly, a flower-cluster, (260).
Innocence, 406.
Insects and flowers, 136, Fig. 227.
Inula, 442. Inulin, 271.
Involucre: a whorl of small leaves or
bracts standing close underneath a
flower or flower-cluster, (299).
Iodine test for starch, 86, 274.
Ipecac, 271.
Ipomoea, 411, Figs. 551, 552.
Iridacea?, 337.
Iris, 338, Fig. 496; cells, 265; family, 337;
leaf, 297; stems, 285.
Iron, 76.
Ironweed, 445.
Irregular flower: some parts in one series
different, (275).
Irrigation, 215.
Isoetes, 200, 202, Fig. 370.
Ivy, 10, 100, 113, 277, 287, 292, 297, 299,
300, Figs. 174, 468, 471; Boston, 100,
113, Fig. 155; Kenilworth, 405; Fig.
545; poison, 11, 113, 247, Fig. 421.
Jack-in-the-pulpit, 149, 276, 327, Fig. 251.
Jacob's ladder, 417.
Jamestown-weed, 410.
Japan quince, 97, 392.
Japan rose, 390.
Jeffersonia, 360.
Jerusalem artichoke, 439.
Jewel-weed, 166, 230, 280, 375, Figs. 449,
521, 522.
Jimson-weed, 243, 410, Fig. 275.
Joe Pye weed, 444.
Johnny-jump-up, 369.
Johnson-grass, 244.
Jonquil, 336.
Judas tree, 381.
Juncberry, 391; and birds, 168.
June-grass, 241.
Juniper, 164, 326.
Kafir, 139, 250, Fig. 234.
Kale, 251.
Kalmia, 425.
Karyokinesis: indirect division or trans-
formation of the nucleus, being one
means of cell multiplication; mitosis,
269, (4 IS).
Kentucky coffee tree, 100.
Kerria, 390.
Key-fruit, 156.
456
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
Kinghead, 243.
Knotweed, 130, 143, 351, Fig. 210.
Kohlrabi, 33, 251, Fig. 48.
Labiatse, 144, 400. Labiate, 144.
Laboratory advice, 301; table, Fig.
477.
Lactuca, 435.
Lady's-slipper, 148, 340, Fig. 250.
Ladies' tresses, 341.
Lady's thumb, 351, Fig. 514.
Lake-cress, 21.
Lambkill, 425.
Lanceolate, 99.
Landscape and plants, 210.
Lappula, 413.
Larch, 326, Figs. 462, 463; European,
326.
Larix, 326.
Larkspur, 4, 359; flower, 137, Figs. 224-
226; fruit, 157, Figs. 269, 270.
Lateral flowers, 119, Fig. 182.
Lathyrus, 263, 381.
Laticiferous tissue, 282.
Laurel, 425.
Layer: a branch which takes root and
gives rise to an independent plant,
(55).
Layers of branches, 56, Figs. 93, 94.
Leaf, bud, 39, Figs. 70, 71; -cutting, 21,
27, Fig. 41 ; fall of, 299 ; how to tell, 103 ;
-spot, 92; parts of, 97.
Leaflet: one part in a compound leaf,
(204).
Leaf-scars, 37, 300, Fig. 57.
Leaves, arrangement of, 47; fall of, 299;
general account, 95; polar, 50; propa-
gation by, 21; sleep of, 49; structure,
297.
Legume: simple pericarp dehiscing on
•both sutures, (315).
Leguminosae, 78, 146, 157, 379.
Lemon, acid, 271.
Lens, 132, 248; stand for, Figs. 214,
425.
Lenticels, 294.
Leonurus, 403.
Lepidium, 368.
Lespedeza, 251.
Lettuce, 435; wild, 50, 243, 435, Fig.
86.
Leucojum vernum, 337.
Liatris, 444.
Lichen, 94, 183, 193, 209, Fig. 373.
Licorice, wild, 426.
Life-history: sum of the events in the
life of a plant, (7).
Light and plants, 42, 223, Figs. 73-78,
81-85.
Ligneous: woody, (11),
Lignin, 266,
Ligule of isoetes, 201.
Ligustrum, 421.
Lilac, 4, 61, 420, Fig. 72; bud, 111; inflo-
rescence, 125; phyllotaxy, 48; stomates,
299.
Liliacese, 145, 146, 328.
Lilium, 329, Figs. 488, 489.
Lily, 4, 20, 329, Figs. 48S, 489; bulb, 33;
calla, 1328, Fig. 486; day-, 331, 332,
Figs. 279, 491,492; Easter, 330; family,
328; germination, 133; leaves, 102;
stomates, 301; tiger, 21, 33, 330, Fig.
31; straw, 332; Turk's-cap, 330, Fig.
489; water-, 3, 98, 205, 207, 361; wild
orange-red, 330; wood, 330.
Lily-of-the-valley, 18, 334.
Linaria, 405, Figs. 544, 545.
Linear, 98, Fig. 150.
Linnaeus, 308.
Lipped, 144.
Lithospermum, 414.
Liverleaf, 356. Liverworts, 193, 201.
Lobed. 96, 100, Fig. 143.
Lobelia, 431; family, 431. Lobeliaceae,
431,
Locule: compartment of a pistil, (310).
Loculicidal: dehiscence between the par-
titions, (317).
Locust, 380; buds, 37; honey, tree, Fig.
117; prickles, 109; seed, 166; sleep of,
49; thorns, 108.
Lodicule, 152.
Lonicera, 428, Fig. 554.
Loosestrife, 423.
Loquat, 251.
Lotus, starch, 274.
Lucerne, 383, Fig. 529.
Lungwort, 414.
Lupine, 384.
Lupinus, 384.
Lychnis, 354.
Lycopersicum, 410.
Lycopus, 400.
Lysimachia, 423.
Madura, 347.
Macrospore, 182.
Madder family, 426.
Magnesium, 76.
Maianthemum, 333.
Maidenhair, 180, 323, Fig. 336.
Maize, 3, 8, 11, 48, 139, 152, 171, 175,
250, Figs. 9, 14, 230, 231, 317-321.
Malic acid, 271.
Mallow, 147, 148, 244, 372, Fig. 248;
family, 372.
Maltose. 272.
Malva, 372.
Malvaceae, 148, 372.
Mandrake, 18, 361.
Mangrove, 12, 20, Fig. 16.
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
457
Maple, 14, 47, 64, 67, 218, 241, 273, 376,
Figs. 79, 80, 523-526; branching, 56;
buds, 37, 39, 40, 41, ill; family, 375;
flowering, 373; foliage, 65; fruit, 156;
germination, 178, Figs. 323-330; leaf,
Figs. 143, 157; leaf-scar, 37; phyllotaxy,
48; sap-pressure, 74; seed, 168; trunk,
65.
Marchantia, 193, 197, 202, Figs. 358-
364.
Mare's-tail, 443, Fig. 560.
Marigold, marsh, 358; pot, 438.
Marrubium, 403.
Marsh-cress, :il>7.
Marsh mallow, 148, 372.
Marsh marigold, 358.
Matthiola, 366.
May-apple, 18, 22, 361; anther, 135.
Mayflower, 356, 425
Maypop, Ui2,
Mayweed, 230, 243, 438, Fig. 417.
Meadow grass, 3.
Meadow rue, 357.
Meadow-sweet, 392.
Medicago, 383, Fig. 529.
Medick, 383.
Medlar, 251.
Medullary rays, 278, 286.
Melilotus, 3S3, Fig. 52S.
Melon, 251; fruit, 162; tendrils, 114.
Menispermum, stem, 287, 289, 294.
Mentha, 401, Fig. 543.
Meristematic, 278.
Mermaid-weed, 208.
Mertensia, 414.
Mesophyll, 272, 297.
Mesophytic society, 228, Fig. 396.
Micropyle, 171.
Microscope, slides, Fig. 476.
Microspore, 182.
Microtome, 303.
Midrib, 96, 98.
Mignonette, inflorescence, 120.
Mildew, 91, 189, 190, Figs. 348-351.
Milk thistle, 435.
Milkweed, 418; family, 417; fruit, 157,
Fig. 271; seeds, 168, Fig. 303; tissue,
283.
Milkwort, 378; family, 378.
Millet, 152, 250, Fig. 162.
Milo, Fig. 234.
Mimulus, 1(17, Fig. 546.
Mineral nutrients, 69, 75.
Mint, 401; family, 400; phyllotaxy, 48.
Mistletoe, 93, 94, 299.
Mitchella, 427.
Mitella, 394.
Mitosis, 269.
Mitrewort, 394; lalse, 393.
Mixed buds, 40; flower-clusters, 123.
Moccasin flower, 340.
Mock orange, 62, 395.
Mock pennyroyal, 401.
Monadelphous: in one group, (297).
Moneywort, 423.
Monkey-flower, 407, Fig. 546.
Monocotyledons, 102, 327.
Monoecious: staminate and pistillate
flowers on the same plant, (284).
Monopodial: axial growth continued by
growth from terminal bud or persis-
tence of the leader, 117.
Monotropa, 425.
Moonflower, 115, 411, Fig. 552.
Moonseed, stem, 2S7, 292, Figs. 455-457.
Moose-wood, 377.
Morning-glory, 15, 411, 412; family, 94;
flower, 144, Fig. 240; twiner, 115, 116.
Morphin, 271.
Morphology, 105.
Morus, 347, Fig. 511.
Mosses, 94, 183, 196, 201, 209, 234.
Motherwort, 403.
Mold, 90, 187, 188.
Mountain-ash, 391.
Mounting sections, 303.
Mucilage, 271.
Muck, 210.
Mucor, 188, Figs. 344-347.
Mulberry, flowering, 3S9; leaves, 100;
shoot, Fig. 88; white, 348, Fig. 511;
wild, 347. •
Mullein, 3, 15, 243, 405, Fig. 22; hairs,
29S; inflorescence, 120; leaf, Fig. 147;
pink, 354.
Muscari, 331.
Muscus, 271.
Mushroom, 90, 187, 247, 249, Figs 133,
134, 419, 420.
Muskmelon seedlings, Fig. 156.
Musquash-root, 247.
Mustard, 243, 247, 251, 365, Fig. 518;
family, 365; fruit, 160; inclusions, 275;
pod, 155.
Mycelium: vegetative part of a fungus,
(194), 188, Fig. 137.
Mycorrhiza, 93, Fig. 132.
Myosotis, 414.
Myrtle, 419.
Myxomycetes, 266.
Nagelia, 298.
Naked flower: no floral envelopes,
(273).
Narcissus, 35, 336; double, Fig. 491.
Nasturtium, 374; flower, 131, Fig. 211;
leaf, Fig. 140; tendril, 115.
Natural selection, 240.
Nectarine, 237.
Nectary, 137.
Needle for dissecting, 132, Fig. 215.
Nepeta, 403.
458
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
Nerium, 419.
Netted-veined, 95.
Nettle, 230, 348; acid, 271; cells, 265;
family, 345.
Nettle-tree, 347.
Nicotiana, 411, Fig. 550.
Nicotin, 271.
Nightshade, 276, 409; family, 408.
Nine-bark fruit, 157.
Nitella, 266.
Nitrogen, 76, 82, 249.
Node: a joint; the space between two
joints is an internode.
Nodules, 78, Figs. 126, 127.
Nucleolus, 264.
Nucleus, 186, 263.
Nut-grass, 244.
Nutrient, water as, 76.
Nux vomica, 271.
Nymphsaceffi, 361.
Oak, 14, 93, 233, 271, 286, 287, 343, Figs.
500-506; branching, 56; -chestnut
graft, 28; expression in, 66; family,
342; inflorescence, 121, Fig. 228; mon-
oecious, 138; poison, 248, Fig. 423;
transpiration in, 70; where grows,
207.
Oakesia, 332.
Oats, 250, Fig. 426; inflorescence, 121,
152, Fig. 191; lodged, Fig. 382; roots,
7; seed, 172; starch, 274, 275.
Oblong, 98, Fig. 149.
Obovate, 99.
Obtuse: blunt, (211).
CEcology: see ecology.
CEnothera, 396.
Offset: a plant arising close to the base
of the mother plant, (56).
Oils, 271, 273.
Okra, 148.
Old-hen-and-chickens, 20.
Old-man vine, 359.
Oleacese, 420.
Oleander, 419; leaf, 297.
Olericulture, 250.
Olive, family, 420; fruit, 161.
Onagraceee, 397.
Onion, 4, 271, 276, 277; bulb, 33, 34, 35,
Figs. 49-51; cells, 264; germination,
178.
Onoclea, 322.
Oogonia, 187.
Oospore, 187.
Operculum, 198.
Ophioglossaceae, 198.
Ophioglossum, 198, Fig. 368.
Opium, poppy, 271.
Opposite leaves, 47.
Orange, mock, 62, 395; osage, 48, 108,
347, Fig. 510,
Orbicular, 99, Fig. 153.
Orchid, 271, 341; epiphytes, 11, 94; fam-
ily, 339; flowers, 143, 148, Fig. 250:
leaves, 102; roots, Fig. 13; stems, 285.
Orchidaceae, 339.
Orchis, 341.
Ornithogalum, 331.
Osage orange, 48, 108, 347, Fig. 510:
phyllotaxy, 48.
Osier, 4; dogwood, Fig. 5.
Osmorrhiza, 399.
Osmosis, 71, Figs. 123, 124. Osmotic
pressure, 72.
Osmunda, 322, Fig. 479.
Oswego tea, 400.
Ovary: seed-bearing part of a pistil,
(272), Fig. 209.
Ovate, 99, Fig. 152.
Overgrowth, 232.
Oxalic acid, 271.
Oxalis, 49, 166, 374, Fig. 300.
Ox-eye daisy, 438, Fig. 189.
Oxygen, 76; liberation of, 77, Fig. 130.
Oyster plant, 434.
Pseonia, 358.
Paint-brush, 244.
Painted cup, 407.
Palet, 152.
Palisade cells, 297.
Palisades of Hudson, Fig. 372.
Palm, 15, 65, Fig. 113; choked by fig,
Fig. 78.
Palma Christi, 352.
Palmate, 96, Fig. 140.
Panicle: branching raceme, (253).
Panicum, 170.
Pansy, 370; flower, Fig. 212.
Papaver, 271, 362. Papaverace®, 362.
Paper bamboo, forest, Fig. 437.
Papilionaceous flowers, 146, Fig. 245.
Pappus: peculiar calyx of composites,
(304).
Paraffin, 303.
Parallel-veined, 95.
Paraphyse, 197.
Parasite, 90, 200, Figs. 131, 136; vs.
graft, 22.
Parenchyma, 266, 278, 297.
Parnassia, 394.
Parsley, 121, 399; family, 397.
Parsnip, 3, 33, 121, 398.
Parted, 96.
Partridge-berry, 427.
Passion flower, 162.
Pastinaca, 398.
Pea, 3, 79, 97, 247, 250, 381, Fig. 426;
black, 384, Fig. 532; everlasting, 166,
381, Fig. 272; experiment in respira-
tion, 89; flowers, 146, Fig. 206; germi-
nation, 171, 173, 174, 178, Fig. 322;
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
459
legume, 157; nodules on root, 78; pistil,
129, Fig. 200; stock, 384, Fig. 532;
sweet, 254, 263, 381, Fig. 245; tendril,
114, Fig. 177.
Peach, 2, 32, 251, 271, 287, 387, 388,
Figs. 105, 431, 476, 535; bud, 37, 3!),
40, 41; crystals, 276; fruit, 161; foliage,
65; family, 379; inclusions, 275; leaf,
99; phyllotaxy, 48; and nectarine, 237;
pruning, Figs. 103, 105, 108.
Peanut, 141, 157, 251, Figs. 237, 238,
274, 430.
Pear, 251, 272, 391; bud, 36, 39, 40,
111, Figs. 56, 61, 62, 65-67, 70; dis-
eases of, 92; fruit, 162, 266, Fig. 293;
form of, 68, Figs. 118, 119; inflo-
rescence, 123, Fig. 196; leaf-scar, 37;
phyllotaxy, 48; -quince graft, 27;
sclerenchyma, 282; thorns, 108.
Peat, 210.
Pedicel: stem of one flower in a cluster,
(261).
Peduncle: stem of a flower-cluster or of a
solitary flower, (261).
Pelargonium, 374.
Peltate: attached to its stalk inside the
margin, (209), Figs. 135, 140.
Pentamerous: in 5's, (291).
Pentstemon, 406.
Peony, 358; fruit, 157; stomates, 299.
Pepo: fruit of pumpkin, squash, etc., (325).
Pepper-grass, 243, 368.
Pepper, red, 4, 410, Fig. 547.
Peppermint, 401.
Pepper-root, 367.
Perennial: of three or more seasons'
duration, (10).
Perianth: floral envelopes of lily-like
plants (more properly of monocoty-
ledonous plants), (295).
Periblem, 279.
Pericarp: ripened ovary, (311).
Periohetia, 197.
Per igy nous: borne around the ovary,
(306).
Peristome, 198.
Perithecium, 190.
Periwinkle, 419.
Persimmon, 271.
Persistent: remaining attached, (216).
Personate, 145, Fig. 243.
Peruvian bark, 271.
Petal: one of the separate leaves of a
corolla. (266), Fig. 209.
Petiole: leaf-stalk, (206).
Pctiolule: stalk of a leaflet, (208).
Petunia, 410, Figs. 548, 549.
Phaseolus, 384, Figs. 530, 531.
Phellogen, 293.
Phenogam: seed-bearing or flowering
plant, (353), 324.
Philadelphia, 395.
Phloem, 283.
Phlox, 144, 233, 416, Fig. 241; family,
416.
Phosphorus, 76.
Photosynthesis: the making of organic
matter from CO2 and water, in the
presence of light, (177, 178).
Phyllodium: leaf-like petiole, (226), Fig.
163.
Phyllotaxy: arrangement of leaves and
flowers on the stem, (112).
Physalis, 409.
Physostegia, inflorescence, Fig. 185.
Picea, 325, Fig. 483.
Pie-plant, 350.
Pigeon-grass, 243.
Pigweed, 3, 67, 239, 242, 243, Figs.
406, 408, 411.
Pine, 15, 93, 162, 232, 249, 281, 394, Figs.
10, 19, 421-423, 451, 462, 481', 482; and
cone, Fig. 299; foliage, Fig. 158; ger-
mination, 171; and light, 44; needles,
102; pollination, 138; shoot, Fin. L58;
stem, Figs. 461, 466; trees. Figs. 388,
390; wood structure, 267, Fig. 440.
Pine-sap, 425, 426.
Piney, 258.
Pink, 4, 159, 353; family, 353; fire, 354;
grass, 342; wild, 354.
Pinna?, 321. Pinnules, 321.
Pinnate, 95, Fig. 141.
Pinnatifid, 97.
Pinus, 324, Figs. 481, 482.
Pinxter flower, 425.
Pistil: ovule-bearing or seed-bearing or-
gan, (271), Figs. 206-209.
Pistillate: having pistils and no stamens,
(274), Figs. 190, 229, 230.
Pisum, 381.
Pitchforks, 440, Fig. 558.
Pits, 267.
Plane tree, leaf-scar, Fig. 474.
Plankton, 207.
Plantain, 243, inflorescence, 120.
Plant-breeding, 240.
Plant-food, defined, 69.
Plant society, 228.
Plastid, 263, 264.
Plerome, 279.
Pleurisy root, 418.
Plum, 20. 251, 254, 387, 388, Figs. 537,
538; blossom, 162, Fig. 209; bud, 39;
drupe, 161, Fig. 2S9; phyllotaxy. IS;
pollination, Pig. 218; thorns, 108.
Plumule: bud in the embryo, (332).
Plur-annual: of one season's duration
beoause killed by frost, (14).
Pod: dehiscent pericarp, (312).
Podophyllum, 361.
Pogonia, 342.
460
INI>EX AND GLOSSARY
Poinsettia, 352; bracts, 110; starch, 273,
274.
Poisonous plants, 247.
Polarity, 50.
Polemoniacese, 416.
Polianthea, 337.
Pollards, 56, Fig. 92.
Pollen germinating, Figs. 218, 219.
Pollen: spores borne by the stamen,
(270), 133, Figs. 218, 219.
Pollination: transfer of pollen from sta-
men to pistil, (278).
Pollinium : pollen in a coherent mass, (301 ).
Polyanthus, 422.
Polygalacese, 378.
Polygonacea, 349.
Polygonatum, 334.
Polygonum, 351, Fig. 514; climbing, 112.
Polyhedral, 263.
Polypetalous: corolla of separate parts or
petals, (267).
Polypode, 180, 323, Figs. 333, 334.
Polypodium, 180, 323.
Polyporus, Fig. 135.
Polysepalous: calyx of separate parts or
sepals, (267).
Polystichum, 323.
Polytrichum commune,196, Figs. 365-367.
Pome: fruit of apple, pear, etc., (324).
Pomology, 250.
Pond-lily, 361.
Poplar, 231; bud, 36; cuttings, 26;
dioecious, 138; inflorescence, 121;
Lombardy, 64; phyllotaxy, 48; seeds,
168.
Poppy, 326; family, 362; opium, 271,
362.
Pores, 79, 83, 88.
Portulaca, 159, 371; fruit, Fig. 280.
Portulacaceee, 371.
Potassium, 76.
Potato, 4, 16, 19, 32, 35, 68, 77, 160, 249,
251, 254, 409, Fig. 24; cells, 265;
cuttings, 23; flower, 144, Fig. 242;
inclusions, 275; phyllotaxy, 49; sprouts,
31, 84, 90, Fig. 45; starch, 31, 274,
275, Fig. 42; stem, 287; sweet, 16, 32,
Fig. 204; -tomato graft, 28.
Potentilla, 386.
Pot marigold, 438.
Prickles, 109, Figs. 169, 170.
Prickly ash, 109, Fig. 169.
Prim, 421.
Primrose, 422; family, 422.
Primula, 298, 422. Primulacese, 422.
Prince's feather, 351.
Privet, 62, 421.
Promycelium, 191.
Propagation by buds, 21; leaves, 21;
rhizomes, 18; roots, 19.
Prosenchyma, 280.
Proserpinaca, 208.
Proteids, 271. Protein, 271.
Proterandrous: anthers maturing first,
(280), Fig. 222.
Proterogynous: pistils maturing first,
(280).
Prothallus, 180, Fig. 339.
Protococcus, 263.
Protonema, 198.
Protoplasm, 70, 88, 186, 263.
Prunella, 402.
Pruning, 59, 60.
Prunus, 387, Figs. 535-539.
Pseud-annual: perennial by means of
bulbs, corms, or tubers, (13).
Pteridophyte, 183.
Pteris, 267, 2S9, 323, Fig. 456.
Puccinia, 190, 192, Figs. 352-357.
Puccoon, 414.
Pulse family, 379.
Pumpkins, 251, 289; and collenchyma,
280; corn, 221, Fig. 385; flower, 144;
fruit, 162; germination, 174; hairs, 298;
leaf, 100; roots, Fig. 121.
Purslane, 159, 241, 242, 243, 371; family,
371.
Pusley, 371.
Pussies of willow, 121, Fig. 60.
Pyrus, 391.
Pyxis: pod opening around the top, (317),
Fig. 280.
Quack-grass, 18, 19, 242, 244, Fig. 27.
Quercus, 343, Figs. 500-506.
Quillwort, 200.
Quince, 251, 271, 391; fruit, 162; Japa-
nese, 97; -pear graft, 27.
Quinin, 271.
Raceme: simple elongated indeterminate
cluster with stalked flowers, (249),
Figs. 184, 197.
Radicula, 367.
Radish, 7, 12, 17, 33, 69, 70, 75, 368, Figs.
11, 120; and light, 43, Fig. 75; fruit,
160.
Ragweed, 209, 230, 233, 243, 436, Figs.
416, 556.
Ranunculaceffi, 355.
Ranunculus, 357.
Rape, 251.
Raphanus, 368.
Raphe, 172.
Raphides, 276.
Raspberry, 20, 21, 251, 389; and birds,
168; fruit, 160, 161, Fig. 290; leaf, Fig.
142; pruning, 61, Figs. 106, 107.
Rattlesnake plantain, 341.
Rattlesnake-weed, 436.
Ray: outer modified florets of some com-
3, (305).
INDE X AND GLOSSARY
4G1
Receptacle, 128; of liverwort, 194; of
moss, 197.
Receptive stigma, 134.
Redbud, 381.
Redroot, 242, Figs. 400, 411.
Regular flower: the parts in each series
alike, (275).
Reinforced fruit: other parts grown to
the pericarp, (311), 101.
Reniform, 09.
Respiration: taking in O, giving off
C02, 82, (187); in seeds, 173.
Resting bud, 30, 01.
Resting-spore, 186.
Rheum, 350.
Rheumatism root, 360.
Rhizoid, 186.
Rhizome: underground stem; rootstock,
(44), Figs. 22-24, 27^29; propaga-
tion by, 18; starch in, 31.
Rhododendron, 425; anther, 135.
Rhodora, 425.
Rhubarb, 3, 45, 350, Figs. 81, 82; bud,
Rhus, Figs. 421, 423.
Ribbon grass, 86.
Ribes, 395, Figs. 540-542.
Rice, 152, 249, 250; starch in, 274, 275.
Richardia, 328, Fig. 486.
Ricinus, 352.
Rings of annual growth, 111.
Robinia, 380; spines, 109.
Robin's plantain, 443.
Rock cress, 366.
Root, 2, 7, 69, Fig. 120; action, 69; aerial,
10, Figs. 12-14; climbers, 112, Fig. 174;
cutting, 20; growth, Figs. 25, 20; -hairs,
9, 09, Figs. 11, 121, 122, 125; -pressure,
73, 81; propagation by, 19; structure,
69, 295; system, 7; tubers, 32.
Rootlets, 69, Figs. 120, 125.
Rootstock: subterranean stem; rhizome,
(44); propagation by, 18.
Rosa, 390.
Rosaces, 385.
Rose acacia, 62, 380.
Rose, 4, 249, 251, 390; climbing, 112;
cutting, Fig. 35; family, 385; hip, 101,
Fig. 292; mallow, 373; -moss, 371, Fig.
280; of Sharon, 02, 373; prickles, 109;
swamp, 390; variation, 238.
Rotate, 144, Fig. 242.
Round-headed trees, 64, Figs. Ill, 112.
Rubber, 249.
Rubiacese, 426.
Rubus, 389.
Rudbeckia, 438, Fig. 557.
Rue anemone, 357.
Rumex, 350, Fig. 512.
Runner: a trailing shoot taking root at
the nodes, (56).
Russian thistle, 170, 243, Fig. 114.
Rust, 91, 190, Figs. 352-357.
Rutabaga, 251.
Rutland beauty, 412.
Rye, 249; flower, 151, 152, Fig. 260;
-pollination, 138.
Sage, common, 401; scarlet, 110, 401.
Salsify, 33, 434.
Salt-loving societies, 228.
Balverform, 114, Fig. 241.
Salvia, 401.
Samara: indehiscent winged pericarp,
(312).
Sambucus, 429.
Sand-dune plants, Fig. 397.
Sanguinaria, 303.
Sap, 72; descent of, 87; -pressure, 73.
Saphrophyte, 90, Figs. 133-135.
Sapindacea;, 375.
Saponaria, 354.
Sassafras, 143.
Savin, 327.
Saxifragacea;, 393.
Saxifrage, 276, 393.
Scalariform: with elongated mark ngs,
(446).
Scaly bulb, 33.
Scape: leafless peduncle arising from '.he
ground, (262), Fig. 200.
Sclerenchyma, 207, 282.
Sclerotic tissue, 282.
Score-card, 254.
Scramblers, 112.
Scrophularia, 400.
Scrophulariaceffi, 404.
Scutellaria, 402.
Seaweeds, 181, 185.
Secondary thickening, 291.
Sedges, leaves, 102.
Seed, coats, 171; dispersal, 166; dormant,
2; starch in, 31; -variations, 237.
Segments, 145.
Selection, 239.
Self-fertilization: secured by pollen from
same flower; close-fertilization, (278).
Self-heal, 402.
Self-pollination: transfer of pollen from
stamen to pistil of same flower; close-
pollination, (278).
Seneca snakeroot, 379.
Senna, 385.
Sensitive fern, Fig. 437.
Sepal: one of the separate leaves of
a calyx, (266), Fig. 209.
Septicidal: dehiscence along the parti-
tions, (317).
Serrate: saw-toothed, (212).
Service berry 391
Sessile: not stalked, (207), Fig. 201.
Shadbush, 391.
462
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
Shade and plants, 223.
Shadows in trees, 66.
Sharon, rose of, 62, 341.
Sheepberry, 429.
Shelf fungus. Fig. 135.
Shepherdia, hairs, 298, Fig. 469.
Shepherd's purse, 242, 368; capsule, 160,
Fig. 286.
Shoot: a new plant from root of old
plant, (53).
Shooting star, 422.
Shrubs: plants that remain low and
produce shoots from base, (15).
Sickle-pod, 366.
Sieve tissue, 280.
Silene, 354.
Silicle: short fruit of Cruciferse, (318).
Silique: long fruit of Crucifers, (318).
Silkweed, 418.
Silviculture, 257.
Simple leaf, 95, Fig. 138.
Simple pistil: of one carpel, (271), Fig.
207.
Simple stem, 15, Fig. 20.
Sisyrinchium, 338.
Skullcap, 402.
Skunk cabbage, 149, 150, 233, 276, 327,
Fig. 446.
Sleep of leaves, 49.
Slips, 23.
Smartweed, 130, 143, 156, 230, 351, Fig.
514.
Smilacina, 333.
Smilax of florists, 107, 333, Fig. 493.
Smilax tendril, 115.
Snakehead, 406.
Snapdragon, 145, 406, Fig. 243.
Snowball, 131, 153, Figs. 264, 265;
Japanese, 429.
Snowberry, Fig. 287.
Snowdrop, 336, Fig. 495.
Snowflake, 337.
Soapberry family, 375.
Soapwort, 354.
Societies, 228.
Sod society, 231, Fig. 399.
Softwood cutting, 23.
Soil and plants, 209, 213.
Solanaces, 408.
Solanum, 112, 248.
Solidago, 442.
Solitary flowers, 119, Fig. 181.
Solomon's seal, 18, 334; false, 333; two-
leaved, 333.
Sonchus, 435.
Soredia, 193.
Sorghum, 139, 152, 250, 273, 275, Figs.
20, 232-234.
Sori, 9, 191.
Sorrel, 166, 243, 350, Fig. 512.
Sow thistle, 435.
Soybean, Fig. 126.
Spadix: thick or fleshy spike of certain
plants, (302), Figs. 198, 251.
Spanish moss, 94.
Spanish needles, 440.
Spathe: bract surrounding or attending
a spadix, (302), Fig. 251.
Spatterdock, 362.
Spatulate, 99.
Spearmint, 402, Fig. 543
Species, 308.
Specularia, 430.
Speedwell, 408.
Spencer, quoted, 240.
Spermaphytes, 183.
Spermatozoids, 197.
Sperm-cell, 187.
Sphagnum moss, 210, Fig. 374.
Spider-lily, 301.
Spiderwort, 264, 266, 335, Fig. 438;
family, 334.
Spike: compact, more or less simple, in-
determinate cluster, with flowers ses-
sile or nearly so, (250), Figs. 185, 186,
197.
Spikelet: a secondary spike; one of a
compound spike, (306).
Spikenard, false, 333.
Spines, 108, 109, Fig. 168.
Spiranthes, 341.
Spirea, 392; inflorescence, 121, Fig. 193.
Spirogyra, 185, 186, 201, 263, 265, Figs.
340, 341.
Spleenwort, 323.
Sporangia, 186; of ferns, 179; stamens,
129.
Sporangiophore, 188.
Spore: a simple reproductive body, usu-
ally composed of a single detached cell
containing no embryo, 5, 92, (344),
187.
Spore-case, 179.
Sporodinia, 189.
Sporogonium, 195.
Sporophyll, 183.
Sporophyte, 181, 201.
Spring beauty, 371.
Spruce, 14, 15, 64, 98, 232, 325, Fig. 483;
and light, 44; leaf, 102.
Spruce, 162; cone, Fig. 298; seed, Fig. 297.
Spurge, 110, 352; family, 351.
Squash, 251, 289; fruit, 162, Fig. 296;
germination, 171, 178; cell, 264, 265;
leaf, 100; prickles, 109; root-pressure, 74.
Squaw-vine, 427.
Squirrel corn, 364.
Stamen: pollen-bearin organ, (270), Figs.
206, 209.
Staminate: having stamens and no pis-
tils, (274), Figs. 228-230.
Stard, dissecting 132, Fig. 217.
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
463
Stand for Ions, 132, Fig. 214.
Strfphylea, 378.
Starch, 271; and sugar, 246; aa plant-
food, 64; discussed, 273, Fig. 444; how
made, 78, 85; storage of, 31.
Star-grass, 337.
Star of Bethlehem, 331.
Star-thistle, 441.
Stellaria, 355, Fig. 516.
Stellate, 263, 298.
Stem: how elongates, 16; growth, Figs.
25, 26; system, 13, Fig. 17; tubers, 32.
Stemless plants, 14.
Sterile flower: no stamens or pistils, (274).
Steven, quoted, 303.
Stick-seed, 413.
Stick-tight, 169, 243, 413, Fig. 418.
Stigma: part of the pistil which receives
the pollen, (272), Fig. 209.
Stipel:*stipule of a leaflet, (208).
Stipule: a certain basal appendage of a
leaf, (206).
St. John's wort, 130, 371, Figs. 208, 278;
family, 370.
St. Peter's wreath, 392.
Stock, 366.
Stock: the part on which the cion is
grafted, (70).
Stolon: a shoot which bends to the
ground and takes root, (56).
Stoma, 301. Stomate, 79, 83, 88, 192,
298, 301.
Stone fruit, 161.
Strawberry, 15, 20, 232, 249, 251, 387,
Figs. 533, 534; fruit, 160, 161, Fig.
291.
Straw lily, 332.
Strict stem system, 15.
Struggle for existence, 52, 218.
Strychnin, 271.
Style: elongated part of the pistil be-
tween the ovary and stigma, (272),
Fig. 209.
Stylophorum, 363.
Suberin, 266.
Subterranean stem, 15; propagation by,
18.
Suckers, 54; of fungi, 91.
Sugar, 270; cane, 250, 273, Fig. 428.
Sulfur, 76.
Sumac, 300; poison, 248, Fig. 422.
Summer-spore, 190.
Sundrops, 396.
Sunflower, 3, 19, 233, 267, 439, Figs. 3, 4,
23, 28; family, 431; inflorescence,
120, 150, 151. 153, Fig. 188; trans-
piration in, 79.
Sunlight and plants, 42, 88, 223.
Supernumerary buds: more than one in
an axil, (88).
Survival of the fittest, 240.
Swarm-spore, 186.
Sweet alyssum, 160, 368, Fig. 519.
Sunt briar, 390.
Sweet Cicely, 399.
Sweet clover, 243, 251, 383, Figs. 184,
528.
Sweet potato, 16, 32, 412, Fig. 204.
Sweet sultan, 442.
Sweet William, 353, Fig. 515.
Swelling, 92.
Sycamore, 294; leaf-scar, Fig. 474.
Symbiosis, 193.
Symplocarpus, 327.
Sympode, 117, Fig. 180. Sympodial:
axial growth continued by successive
lateral shoots, 117.
Syngenesious: anthers united in a ring,
(304).
Syringa, 395, 420.
Table for laboratory work, Fig. 477:
Tabular, 263.
Tamarack, 326.
Tanacetum, 439.
Tangle-berry, 424.
Tannin, 271.
Tansy, 439.
Tap-root, 7, Fig. 8.
Taraxacum, 434.
Tare, 381.
Tea plant, Fig. 90.
Teasel, 3, 244.
Tecoma, capsule, Fig. 285.
Teleutospore, 191.
Tendrils, climbers, 112, 113, Figs. 175-
177; roots as, 10; as leaves, 105.
Terminal bud, 37, 50, Figs. 58-87.
Terminal flowers, 119, Fig. 181.
Terrestrial, 207.
Teucrium, 402.
Thalictrum, 357.
Thallophyte, 183, 185.
Thallus, 18.5.
Thinning, 258, Figs. 432, 433.
Thistle, 150, 169, 243, 441, Figs. 253-
255; Canada, 19, 22, 242, 244, 441, Fig.
409; Russian, 170, 243, Fig. 114; seed,
168; inflorescence, 120.
Thorns, 108, Figs. 164, 167.
Thoroughwort, 444.
Thuja, 326, Fig. 4S5.
Thyrse: compound cluster with main
axis indeterminate and branches deter-
minate, (259).
Tiarella, 393.
Tickseed, 440.
Tiers of branches, 56, Figs. 93, 94.
Tiger lily. 21, 33, Fig. 31.
Tillandsia, 94.
Timber crop, 249, 256.
Tissues, 278.
464
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
Toad-flax, 19, 22, 244, 405, Fig. 544;
flower, 145; fruit, Fig. 281; pollination,
137, Fig. 227.
Toadstools, 187.
Tobacco, 251, 271, 411.
Tomato, 4, 75, 251, 410; fruit, 160;
-potato graft, 28.
Tooth-wort, 366, Fig. 266.
Torus: part or organ to which the parts
of the flower are attached; upper end of
the flower-stalk, (268).
Touch-me-not, 166, 375, Fig. 449.
Toxylon, 347, Fig. 510.
Tracheids, 281.
Tradescantia, 264, 265, 266, 276, 335,
Fig. 43S; stomates, 299.
Tragopogon, 434.
Trailing stems, 14, Fig. 18.
Transpiration: giving off of water, (157,
166), Figs. 128, 129.
Trees: plants that produce one main
trunk and an elevated head, (15);
and wind, 213, Figs. 379-381; forms of,
64, Figs. 111-113, 116-119; roots, 7.
Trifolium, 382, Fig. 527.
Trillium, 145, 233, 332, Fig. 244.
Trimerous: in 3's, (291).
TropKolum, 374.
Trumpet-creeper, 10, 113, 160, Figs. 12,
285.
Truncate: squared as if cut off, (211),
Fig. 154.
Trunk, form of, 65.
Tsuga, 326, Fig. 484.
Tuber: short congested part, (78).
Tuberose, 337.
Tulip, 330.
Tulip-tree, leaf, Fig. 154; seed, 168.
Tumble-grass, 170.
Tumble-weeds, 170.
Tunicated bulb, 33.
Turnip, 33, 251, Fig. 47; fruit, 160;
root-hairs, 12; starch in, 31.
Turtlehead, 406.
Tussilago, 442.
Twiners, 112, 115.
Twin-leaf, 360.
Type, 236.
Ulmus, 346, Figs. 507-509.
Umbel: corymbose cluster with branches
of about equal length and arising from
a common point, (255).
Umbellet: secondary umbel, (255),
Umbelliferse, 121, 122, 247, 397.
Uncinula, 189.
Undergrowth, 232.
Undulate: wavy, (212).
Uredospore, 192.
Urtica, 348.
Urticacete, 345.
Utricularia, 71, 207.
Uvularia, 332. •
Vaccinium, 424.
Vacuole, 264.
Valves: separable parts of a pod, (312)=
Variation, 236.
Variety, 236.
Vascular, 263, 278, 282.
Vase-form trees, 64, Fig. 112.
Vaucheria, 186, 187, 263, Figs. 342, 343.
Velum, 201.
Velvet leaf, 373.
Venation: veining, (203).
Venus' looking-glass, 430.
Verbascum, 298, 405.
Verbena, 403; cutting, 25, Fig. 37.
Verbenaceae, 403.
Vernonia, 445.
Veronica, 408.
Verticillate: with three or more leaves or
flowers at one node, (113).
Vervain, 403; family, 403.
Vetch, 251, 381; nodules on root, 78.
Vetchling, 381.
Viburnum, 429.
Vicia, 381.
Vigna, 384, Fig. 532.
Vinca, 419.
Violaceas, 369.
Violet, 3, 233, 249, 369; cleistogamous,
140, Fig. 236; seeds, 166; family, 369.
Viper's bugloss, 415.
Virginia creeper, tendril, 113, 114, 117,
Fig. 175.
Virgin's bower, 359.
Wahoo, 294.
Wake-robin, 332.
Wallflower, fruit, 160; hairs, 298.
V/alnut, 155; buds, 37, 138; inflorescence,
121, Fig. 190.
Wandering Jew, 335.
Water arum, 328.
Water cress, 367.
Water hoarhound, 400.
Waterleaf, 415; family, 415.
Water-lily, 3, 98, 205, 207, 361; family,
361; and mineral nutrients, 69, 75;
fungi, 266.
Watermelon, 251.
Watersprout, 54.
Wax-work, twiner, 115.
Weeds, 220, 230, 241.
Weigela, 61, 429.
Wheat, 77, 152, 221, 242, 249, 250, 254;
field, 68, 225, Fig. 384; flower, 151, Fig.
259; germination, 173; inclusions, 276,
Fig. 445; India, 350; starch, 274, 275;
roots, 7; rust, 189, 190, Figs. 352-357.
Whiteweed, 150, 242, 438, Fig. 189.
INDEX AND GLOSSARY
465
Whorl: three or more leaves or flowers
at one node, (113).
Wild geranium, Fig. 19.r>.
Wild .Kits, 332.
Willow: buds, 39, Figs. 60, 91; outting3,
21, 26; dioecious, 138; expression in,
66; inflqreseence, 117, Fig. 229; leaf,
99, Fig. 145; mildew, 189, Figs. 348-
351; phyllotaxy, 48; pussies, 121, Fig.
60; seeds, 168.
Willow-herb, 394.
Wilting, 80.
Wind and plants, 138, 213.
Windflower, 356.
Winter bud, 36. 50, 61.
Winter-cress, 366.
Wintergreen, 424, Fig. 22; anther, 135;
fringed, 140.
Wistaria, 115, 380.
Witch-hazel, 166.
Wood-sorrel, 166, 374.
Wood tissue, 281.
Woody structure, 3.
Xant liium, 436, Fig. 555.
Xerophytic society, 228.
Xylem, 283.
Xylol, 302, 303.
Yarrow, 437.
Yeast, 263.
Yew, fruit, 164.
Zebrina, 335.
Zone societies, 233, Fig. 403.
Zygospore, 186.
of
a*0s**
PRACTICAL PHYSICS FOR
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