As we delve into the science of botany, we shall largely be concerned with the two groups of plants with which we, as gardeners, most often work. One, known as the flowering plants, or angiosperms, is the largest group in the plant kingdom and consists of about 250,000 species. The name angiosperm refers to the fact that seeds from these plants are formed inside containers that we call fruits (Greek: angeion, “vessel”; sperma, “seed”).
