Beginners’ Botany

Read free. Beginners’ Botany, by L.H. Bailey, 1909.

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Excerpt

If one compares any two plants of the same kind ever so closely, it will be found that they differ from each other. The difference is apparent in size, form, color, mode of branching, number of leaves, number of flowers, vigor, season of maturity, and the like; or, in other words, all plants and animals vary from an assumed or standard type. If one compares any two branches or twigs on a tree, it will be found that they differ in size, age, form, vigor, and in other ways…. If the pupil extends his observation to animals, he will still find the same truth; for probably no two living objects are exact duplicates. If any person finds two objects that he thinks to be exactly alike, let him set to work to discover the differences, remembering that nothing in nature 1s so small or apparently trivial as to be overlooked.

Variation, or differences between organs and also between organisms, is one of the most significant facts in nature. If one compares any two leaves, it will be found that they are unlike in size, shape, color, veining, hairiness, markings, cut of the margins, or other small features.

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