The living plants may be divided into two grand divisions--Flowering
Plants and Flowerless Plants--with five main subdivisions, according
to the complexity and structure of their reproductive organs, or
seed structure. The scientific names of these groups are the
_Thallophyta_, the _Bryophyta_, the _Pteridophyta_, the
_Gymnosperms_, and the _Angiosperms_.
Each of the five main groups is divided into a number of lesser
subdivisions, sometimes called _phyla_, orders, each of which is
composed of several families.
Most systematic botanists begin the study of plants with the lowest
forms of plants and proceed to the highest. In the following
classification, however, the usual order has been _reversed_ because
of its greater interest for a large majority of readers; the highest
division is placed first and the lowest last.
In the earlier days of the science of botany nearly every botanist’s
energies were devoted to this branch which we now call _systematic
botany_. There are now named and described close on a quarter of a
million of living species of plants altogether, including the lower
and often nearly invisible forms, and of this vast number about one
hundred and thirty thousand belong to the highest group of all--the
Angiosperms. With nearly a quarter of a million described forms to
deal with the value of such keys will be recognized.
SUB-KINGDOM I.--Flowering Plants (_Phanerogams_), or Spermophytæ.
(1) _Angiosperms_ (_anj´ĭ-o-sperms_)--Plants producing protected seeds.
The greatest group, the _Angiosperms_, with over a hundred and thirty
thousand species, contains nearly all the plants that yield crops of
economic importance to man, or that decorate his gardens, or that feed
his sheep or cattle. They have netted-veined leaves. When this group is
further examined, there are found to be two well marked
divisions--Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons. The first has embryos with
only one cotyledon or “seed leaf,” the second has embryos with two. The
Angiosperms include over one hundred and thirty thousand species,
divided among sixty-two orders, only the most important families of
which can be given here.
ORDER I.--=Ranunculaceæ=: Herbs or small shrubs; about thirty genera.
_Anemone_ (windflower): Perennial herb. Dry copses. Massachusetts to
New Jersey and west to Colorado.
_Anemonella_ (rose anemone): Open woods. Canada to Georgia and west
through Mississippi Valley.
_Caltha_ (cowslip, marsh marigold): Perennial herb. United States
and Canada.
_Clematis_ (virgin’s bower): Perennial. United States and Canada.
_Ranunculus_ (buttercup, crowfoot): Herb, annual or perennial.
Canada, United States and Europe.
_Thalictrum_ (meadow rue): Perennial herb. United States and Canada.
ORDER II.--=Berberidaceæ=: Shrubs or perennial herbs; nineteen genera.
_Berberis_ (barberry): Fruit, a sour berry. Found in Europe;
naturalized in New England.
_Podophyllum_ (May apple, mandrake): Perennial herb. Fruit, a berry.
Found: Eastern North America; a species in Himalaya Mountains.
ORDER III.--=Papaveraceæ=: Annual or perennial herbs with milky or
colored juice; about twenty-four genera.
_Papaver_ (poppy): Geographical home on southern edge of North
Temperate Zone, spreading north and south. Great opium districts are
the valley of Ganges, Asiatic Turkey, Persia, Egypt, Asia Minor,
China. From India, fourteen million pounds annually. Persia and
Turkey, seventy-one million pounds.
ORDER IV.--=Cruciferæ=: Herbs; about one hundred and seventy-two genera.
_Brassica_ (turnip, mustard, cabbage, cauliflower, rape): United
States, Europe, India, Syria and Russia.
_Capsella_ (shepherd’s purse): Naturalized in United States; from
Europe.
_Cochlearia_ (horseradish): Perennial. Root. Middle and southern
edges of North Temperate Zone, from Great Britain to Asia and
northeastern America.
_Isatis_ (woad): Biennial. Throughout Europe. Cultivated in Azores
and Canary Isles.
_Nasturtium_ (watercress): Europe and northern Asia. Cultivated in
Palestine, Hindustan, Japan.
ORDER V.--=Capparidaceæ=: Herbs, shrubs, trees; twenty-three genera.
_Capparis_ (caper): Small shrub. Southern France and Mediterranean
countries, Sicily, Malta.
ORDER VI.--=Violaceæ=: Herbs; twenty-one genera.
_Viola_ (violet): Perennial. Canada; United States, west to
Colorado; throughout Europe, some parts of China, Japan, India.
ORDER VII.--=Biximæ=: Shrubs; 29 genera.
_Bixa_ (arnotto): Tropical America. Cultivated in southern Europe,
Burma, Philippine Islands, Hindustan.
ORDER VIII.--=Terustrœmiaceæ=: Shrubs and small trees; thirty-two
genera.
_Thea_ (tea): Shrub. China. Cultivated between parallels of 25° and
35° throughout Asia. In Kangra, Gurhwal, Assam, Cachar, Sylhet,
Chittagong, Darjeeling, Chota, Nagpur, Hindustan, Japan, Australia,
Jamaica, Brazil, North America.
ORDER IX.--=Malvaceæ=: Herbs, shrubs.
_Gossypium_ (cotton): Tropical and sub-tropical. East Indies, China,
Asiatic Islands, Greece, islands in eastern Mediterranean, Asia
Minor, northern and western Africa, Australia, West Indies, southern
United States, Venezuela, British Guiana, Brazil.
ORDER X.--=Sterculeaceæ=: Trees and shrubs.
_Theobroma_ (cocoa): Tropical and sub-tropical. Brazil and north of
Brazil, West Indies, Mexico. Cultivated in Philippine Islands,
southern Europe, India.
ORDER XI.--=Tiliaceæ=: Trees and shrubs; 40 genera.
_Corchorus_ (yellow jute): Southern belt of North Temperate Zone and
Tropics. Cultivated in southern and western Asia, Grecian
Archipelago, central and northern Africa.
ORDER XII.--=Linaceæ=: Shrubs and herbs; 94 genera.
_Linum_ (flax): Herb. Widely distributed. Hindustan, southern Egypt,
throughout Europe, southern and middle Russia, northeastern America.
_Erythroxylon_ (coca): Shrub. Tropical and sub-tropical. Bolivia,
Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, northern Brazil.
ORDER XIII.--=Zygophyllaceæ=: Trees, shrubs, herbs; seventeen genera.
_Guaiacum_ (lignum-vitæ): Tree. Tropical and sub-tropical.
Exclusively American; native to West Indies.
ORDER XIV.--=Rutaceæ=: Small trees and shrubs; eighty-three genera.
_Citrus_ (orange, lemon, shaddock): In all regions of no frost.
India. Cultivated in Persia, Syria, southern Europe, northern
Africa, Spain, China, Japan, Sicily, Australia, Brazil, West Indies,
Florida, southern California, Azores.
ORDER XV.--=Meliaceæ=: Trees; thirty-seven genera.
_Swietenia_ (mahogany): Large tree. Tropical and sub-tropical. West
Indies, Bahamas, Central America, southern Florida. Cultivated in
southern British India.
ORDER XVI.--=Iliciniæ=: Trees and shrubs; three genera.
_Ilex_ (Paraguay tea): Small tree. Paraguay. In Parana, ten million
pounds produced annually.
ORDER XVII.--=Rhamnaceæ=: Trees and shrubs; thirty-seven genera.
_Ceanothus_ (New Jersey tea): Shrub. Eastern North America.
_Rhamnus_ (buckthorn): Shrubs, small trees. Southern Persia and
southern Levant countries. Grows as far north as England.
ORDER XVIII.--=Ampelideæ=: Woody vine; few genera.
_Vitis_ (grape): Zone from 21° N. latitude to 48°. British Isles
and Portugal, east to Persia. Middle Atlantic States to California.
Cultivated in Australia.
ORDER XIX.--=Sapindaceæ=: Trees and shrubs; seventy-three genera.
_Acer_ (maple): Tree. Not south of 38° N. latitude, except in high
mountains in northern United States and southern British America.
ORDER XX.--=Anacardeaceæ=: Trees and shrubs; forty-six genera.
_Anacardium_ (cashew nut): Tropics of Asia and America, Jamaica.
_Rhus_ (sumach): North America, Canada to Gulf States; Arkansas,
Levant, and western Europe, Syria. Cultivated in Sicily, Italy,
Turkey, Spain, Portugal.
ORDER XXI.--=Leguminosæ=: Herbs, shrubs, trees; four hundred genera.
_Acacia_ (gum arabic): Shrubs and small trees. Tropical and
sub-tropical, but widely distributed. Australia, Africa, Asia,
America.
_Arachis_ (peanut): Sub-tropical. Southern United States, southern
and central Virginia, the Carolinas and Tennessee.
_Astragalus_ (gum tragacanth): Small shrub or herb. Sub-tropical.
Persia, Greece, east Mediterranean Islands, Syria.
_Cassia_ (senna): Tropical and sub-tropical. Widely distributed.
_Cæsalpinia_ (Brazil wood): Trees. Brazil.
_Dalbergia_ (rosewood): Trees and vines. Brazil and southern Asia.
_Glycyrrhiza_ (licorice): Small shrub and herb. Italy and southern
Europe, southern England. Cultivated in Spain and Portugal.
_Hæmatoxylon_ (logwood): Small tree. Yucatan, Guatemala, Honduras,
Isthmus of Panama, West Indies. Cultivated in Burma.
_Indigofera_ (indigo): Shrub. India, Java, East Indies, north
Africa, West Indies, Central Asia.
_Lens_ (lentil): Annual. Syria, Egypt, southern and central Europe,
Hindustan.
_Phaseolus_ (bean): Annual herb. Tropics and Temperate Zones to
forty-fifth parallels.
_Pisum_ (pea): Annual herb. Central and southern Europe, Egypt,
Syria, Japan, India, China.
_Tamarindus_ (tamarind): Tree. Tropical and sub-tropical. Africa.
Cultivated in Arabia, southern India, Ceylon, Java, Philippines,
northern Australia, Pacific Isles, South America.
ORDER XXII.--=Rosaceæ=: Trees, shrubs, herbs; seventy-one genera.
_Fragaria_ (strawberry): Herb. Widely distributed, even to Kamchatka
and Alaska.
_Prunus_ (plum): Tree. Temperate Zone, south of 60°. Europe, western
Asia. Cultivated in northeast America.
_Prunus_ (cherry): Tree. North Africa, Holland, Portugal. Cultivated
in southeastern Africa, America, Belgium, England.
_Prunus_ (apricot): Tree. Armenia, Persia, China, Japan, California.
_Prunus_ (peach): Tree. Southern half of North Temperate Zone in
Asia, Europe, America, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland.
_Pyrus_ (apple): Tree. England, France, Germany, Netherlands,
Prussia, Poland, United States, south Australia.
_Pyrus_ (pear): Tree. China, Syria, Persia, central and northern
Europe, Belgium, France, Great Britain. Cultivated in North America.
_Pyrus_ (quince): Tree. Northern Persia, east and west. Cultivated
in northeastern America, Portugal.
_Rubus_ (black raspberry and raspberry): Shrub. Temperate Zone,
between 30° and 50° latitude. In North America, Europe north to
sixtieth parallel, south to northern parts of Africa, Asia Minor,
and eastward into India; also in British Isles.
ORDER XXIII.--=Saxifragaceæ=: Shrubs, herbs; seventy-three genera.
_Ribes_ (currant): Shrub. Lapland and southern Europe; also in the
New World, northern United States to south and middle Canada.
_Ribes_ (gooseberry): Shrub. France, England, Germany and
northeastern Russia, Siberia.
ORDER XXIV.--=Combretaceæ=: Shrubs, trees; seven genera.
_Terminalia_ (myrobalano): Large trees. Tropical India, along
southern fringes of Ghaut Mountains, and in Burma.
ORDER XXV.--=Myrtaceæ=: Trees; seventy-six genera.
_Bertholletia_ (Brazil nut): Large tree. Tropical South America,
Panama.
_Eugenia_ (cloves): Molucca Islands. Cultivated in Brazil, West
Indies.
_Eugenia_ (allspice): Jamaica.
_Myrtus_ (myrtle): Tropical and sub-tropical. Southeastern Italy.
Cultivated in all Mediterranean countries.
ORDER XXVI.--=Lythraceæ=: Tropical trees; thirty genera.
_Punica_ (pomegranate): Persia. Cultivated in Syria, Asia Minor,
Levant, southern Europe, China, Japan, South and North America.
ORDER XXVII.--=Cucurbitaceæ=: Herbs; sixty-eight genera.
_Citrullus_ (watermelon): Herbaceous vine. Africa. Cultivated in
southern Europe and southern and middle North America.
_Cucumis_ (cucumber): Northeastern India. Cultivated in Levant,
southern Asia, southern Europe, Africa, southern Russia, United
States.
_Cucumis_ (muskmelon): British India, Baluchistan, West Africa,
Guinea, banks of Niger. Cultivated in Mediterranean States, India,
China, Japan, middle and southern United States.
_Cucurbita_ (squash): Annual. Europe and western Asia. Cultivated in
Pacific Islands, southern Asia, Africa.
_Cucurbita_ (pumpkin): Warm climates.
ORDER XXVIII.--=Umbelliferæ=: Herbs; one hundred and fifty-two genera.
_Apium_ (celery): Biennial. Great Britain, western Europe,
Mediterranean shores, Peloponnesus, Caucasus, Palestine, South
America, and western coast of North America to southern California.
_Coriandrum_ (coriander): Annual. Tartary. Cultivated in Hindustan,
Burma, middle, southern and western Europe, North America.
_Carum_ (parsley): Biennial. Mediterranean countries and Asia Minor.
Cultivated in Japan, England, and northeastern America.
_Carum_ (caraway seed): Lapland to Siberia. Cultivated in Great
Britain and Continent south of 60°, North Africa, Hindustan, Burma,
northeastern America.
_Cuminum_ (cumin): Northern Africa, middle and southern Europe,
Syria, Hindustan, Bombay, Burma.
_Daucus_ (carrot): Biennial. Herb. All over Europe south of 60°,
especially in France, Germany, northern Africa, southwestern Asia,
China, Japan. Cultivated in North America.
_Fœniculum_ (fennel): Biennial. Levant. Cultivated in Hindustan,
Atlantic States, France, Germany, Great Britain, southern Europe.
_Pinipinella_ (anise): Perennial. Egypt, Syria, Malta, Spain,
southern Germany, Hindustan, Japan.
_Pencedanum_ (parsnip): Biennial. Europe, southern Greece.
Cultivated in Asia and North America.
_Ferula_ (asafetida): Middle and western Asia.
ORDER XXIX.--=Rubiaceæ=: Trees, shrubs, herbs; three hundred and
thirty-seven genera, including madder, coffee, tea, etc., according to
most authorities.
_Cephaelis_ (ipecacuanha): Shrub. Tropical and sub-tropical.
Bolivia, Colombia. Cultivated in West Indies, Hindustan, India,
America.
_Cinchona_ (Peruvian bark): Trees. Tropical Andes. Cultivated in
Ceylon, Jamaica.
_Coffea_ (coffee): Shrub. Persia. Cultivated in Arabia, East Indies,
Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Cuba, British West Indies, Santo Domingo,
Java, Padang, Sumatra, Macassar, Ceylon, British India, Manila.
_Rubia_ (madder): Perennial. West Asia, Mediterranean countries.
ORDER XXXVII.--=Borraginaceæ=: Herbs; sixty-eight genera.
_Symphytum_ (comfrey): Perennial herb. Peloponnesus and Greek
islands. Cultivated in middle Europe and older parts of the United
States.
ORDER XXXVIII.--=Convolvulaceæ=: Herb; thirty-two genera.
_Ipomoea_ (sweet potato): Perennial. Asia and America. Cultivated in
southern United States, Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware,
southern New Jersey, southern Spain, Italy.
ORDER XXXIX.--=Solanaceæ=: Herb; sixty-six genera.
_Atropa_ (deadly nightshade): Europe, western Asia. Cultivated in
North America.
_Capsicum_ (red pepper, cayenne pepper): Annual. South America,
southern Asia. Cultivated in southern Europe and in United States,
West Indies, middle Africa, southern Asia.
_Lycopersicum_ (tomato): Annual. South and Central America.
Cultivated in Italy, southern France, Spain, Greece, northern
Africa, Islands of southern Asia, England (under glass), Virginia,
Carolinas.
_Nicotiana_ (tobacco): Santo Domingo, South Atlantic States of
United States of America. Cultivated in Virginia, Kentucky,
Carolinas, Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil, Connecticut, Pennsylvania,
Holland, Flanders, France, Alsace, Hungary, European Turkey, China,
Japan, southern Africa, Australia.
_Solanum_ (potato): Chile. Cultivated wherever cereals flourish.
ORDER XL.--=Pedalineæ=: Herb; ten genera.
_Sesamum_ (sesame): Sunda Islands. Cultivated in India, western
Asia, southern Europe, northern Africa, America.
ORDER XLI.--=Verbenaceæ=: Tree; fifty genera.
_Tectona_ (teak): Tropical. East Indies, Burma, Philippines.
ORDER XLII.--=Labiatæ=: Herb; one hundred and thirty-six genera.
_Lavandula_ (lavender): Greece and Grecian Isles. Cultivated in
Hindustan, Atlantic States of North America, Levant.
_Marrubium_ (hoarhound): Perennial. Levant, Peloponnesus, etc.
Cultivated all over Europe, and in Temperate Zone in Asia, and
Atlantic States in North America.
_Mentha_ (pennyroyal): England, Hindustan, Japan, Persia, India,
Egypt. In a belt from eastern side of Mississippi Valley to Japan.
_Mentha_ (spearmint): England, etc., as above.
_Nepita_ (catnip): Perennial or annual. Europe, western Asia,
Levant, North America.
_Origanum_ (marjoram): Levant, Mediterranean countries, Europe, as
far north as fiftieth parallel. Sweet marjoram, native in Greece.
_Rosmarius_ (rosemary): Evergreen. Southern Europe, Greek islands in
the Peloponnesus. Cultivated in western Europe, Japan, Egypt,
Hindustan, Asia.
_Salvia_ (sage): Mediterranean countries. Cultivated in
middle-southern Europe, British Isles, North America, British India.
_Thymus_ (sweet thyme): Perennial. Spain, southern Europe,
Mediterranean States, mountains of Greece, and islands of
Archipelago, British Isles, southern Siberia.
ORDER XLIII.--=Chenopodiaceæ=: Herb; eighty genera.
_Beta_ (beet): Europe and western Asia. Cultivated in Europe, west
Africa, temperate British India, North America.
_Spinacia_ (spinach): Annual. Persia. Cultivated in middle of North
Temperate Zone, from Hindustan to western shores and islands of
Europe, eastern United States of North America, South Pacific
Islands.
ORDER XLIV.--=Polygonaceæ=: Herb; thirty genera.
_Fagopyrum_ (buckwheat): Central Asia and Tartary, Russia.
Cultivated in Canada, northern United States, northern and central
Europe.
_Rheum_ (rhubarb): Perennial. Tartary. Cultivated as far north as
fiftieth parallel, China, especially in provinces of Shensi, Kansu,
and Szechuen.
ORDER XLV.--=Piperaceæ=: Shrub; eight genera.
_Piper_ (pepper): Southern Asia. Cultivated in southern India, Java,
Sumatra, and Malabar.
ORDER XLVI.--=Myristicaceæ=: Trees, shrubs; one genus.
_Myristica_ (nutmeg): Molucca Islands. Cultivated in Sumatra, Island
of Bourbon, Mauritius, Madagascar, West Indies.
ORDER XLVII.--=Lauraceæ=: Tree; thirty-four genera.
_Cinnamomum_ (cinnamon): East India Archipelago. Cultivated in
Ceylon, West Indies, South America, Pacific Isles.
_Cinnamomum_ (camphor): Trees. Japan, Formosa, China, Borneo. The
camphor gum of commerce was introduced into Europe by the Arabs.
ORDER XLVIII.--=Santalaceæ=: Herbs, shrubs, trees; twenty-eight genera.
_Santalum_ (sandalwood): Trees. East Indies, Asia, Malaysia, Pacific
Islands, India, China.
ORDER XLIX.--=Euphorbiaceæ=: Herbs, shrubs, trees; one hundred and
ninety-five genera.
_Buxus_ (box): Evergreen, shrub, and small trees. Southern Europe,
western Asia, Syria, Persia, and south of Black Sea. Cultivated in
middle States of North America and Virginia.
_Croton_ (croton-oil plant): Cultivated in southeastern Hindustan
and East India Islands.
_Hevea_ (caoutchouc): Large tree. South America. Cultivated in
southern Asia, middle Africa, northern Australia.
_Manihot_ (tapioca): Tropical and sub-tropical South America.
Cultivated in southern Asia and western Africa.
_Ricinus_ (castor-oil plant): Annual. Southern Asia, eastern Africa.
Cultivated in Japan, Bengal, eastern and northern Africa, southern
Europe and United States, especially Kansas.
ORDER L.--=Urticaceæ=: Trees, shrubs, herbs; one hundred and eight
genera.
_Cannabis_ (hemp): Annual. Chinese Tartary, northern India,
southwestern Siberia. Cultivated in China, Japan, Persia, Hindustan,
Egypt, southern Africa, Russia, European states, Canada, United
States.
_Ficus_ (fig): Tree. Subtropical. Western Asia. Cultivated through
Mediterranean countries west to Canary Isles.
_Humulus_ (hop): Perennial herb. Middle Europe, Siberia, Levant,
Asia Minor, Japan, North America, foot-hills of Rocky Mountains, and
along upper Arkansas River, Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, Lake
Winnipeg, North Atlantic States. Cultivated in Egypt.
_Morus_ (mulberry): Tree. Cultivated in western New England,
southern upper Canada, Dakotas, Kansas and the South. White mulberry
is a native of China and Japan. Cultivated in Italy, Greece, Asia
Minor, Armenia.
_Ulmus_ (elm): Tree. From Mediterranean countries to the middle of
European Russia, from southern banks of St. Lawrence River to Gulf
of Mexico, and westerly to foot-hills of Rocky Mountains.
ORDER LI.--=Juglandaceæ=: Trees; five genera.
_Juglans_ (butternut): Northeastern North Africa. Cultivated in
middle Europe and England.
_Juglans_ (walnut): Southwestern New York and southward to Gulf of
Mexico and westward beyond Mississippi River. Cultivated in eastern
middle States and southern New England, England and southern Europe.
_Hicoria_ (hickory nut): North and middle States of North America
from Atlantic to Mississippi River, and cultivated in corresponding
latitude in Europe.
_Hicoria_ (pecan nut): Southern North America. Cultivated in Prussia
and England.
ORDER LII.--=Cupuliferæ=: Trees; ten genera.
_Castanea_ (chestnut): Eastern coast of North America, west to
eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. Cultivated in middle and southern
England, middle and southern Europe, northern Africa, Levant, and
southern and eastern Asia.
_Corylus_ (hazelnut): Levant. Cultivated between 35° and 55°
latitude in Northern Hemisphere, eastern parts of Western
Hemisphere, and western Old World.
_Fagus_ (beech): Temperate Zones up to 60° north latitude, south to
50°.
_Quercus_ (oak): Temperate Zones above 35°, and in a zone between
30° and 60° around the globe.
ORDER LIII.--=Salicaceæ=: Shrubs, trees; numerous genera.
_Salix_ (weeping willow): Western and southern Asia. Cultivated in
southern England.
_Salix_ (curled willow): England. Cultivated in eastern United
States.