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The names of subspecies or varieties follow the same form as those of species and are connected to the specific names by the appropriate abbreviation as var. (variety), subsp. (subspecies) or forma; in horticultural practice var. 55 The Naming of Plants is usually used, though in botanical work it is more correct to specify the rank assigned to the variation from the specific type. With regard to hybrids it is correct, if the parentage is known, to put the two specific names in alphabetical order united by a multiplication sign thus: Cistus populijolius X salvifolius if the name of the seed-bearing parent is known, it may be put first (and marked by a sign): Digitalis purpurea ~ X lutea 3.

Family (Caryophyllaceae) where the arrangement of the leaves in pairs up the stem, often with swelling at the nodes, is familiar to everyone who grows these plants; it makes them easy to recognize but, unless the floral form also agrees, the arrangement of the leaves alone is not sufficient ; vegetative characters can only be regarded as confirmatory, not decisive in themselves. And this will be found to hold throughout the large group of plants which bear true flowers (as distinct from the Ferns, Mosses and Fungi) ; the floral characters are the most reliable guides when seeking the natural relationships of plants.

This, then, is the work of the systematic botanist, the examination of characters of plants to find the relationships between them. The work was begun when botanists first realized that plants were not specially created, and therefore distinct entities, but were derived from primitive ancestors and so bore some relationship to each other; further investigation has shown and is still showing that some of the early work was inaccurate because, very often, the structure of the plants was not sufficiently understood.