PREFACE. vii 
serial position assigned to the Gymnosperme in 1861, which has 
persisted in those Colonial Floras published since that year. 
The acceptance of the modern view as to the relationships of the 
Gymnosperme no doubt justifies the action of those who would 
modify that serial position. But what may be lawful is not neces- 
sarily expedient. Considerations of practical convenience render 
it desirable to adhere in this work to the serial arrangement adopted 
in 1861. The maintenance of that arrangement derives considerable 
support from the action taken by Bentham and Hooker in the 
“Genera Plantarum” in 1880. These authors, while presenting 
the Gymnosperme in such a fashion as to indicate that this group 
is not to be regarded as similar in status to the Dicotyledones and 
the Monocotyledones, have nevertheless accorded it a serial position 
between the two classes of Angiosperme. In following that example 
here, an adequate safeguard against any possible misunderstanding 
is provided by the subjoined synoptic statement, prepared by Dr. 
. Stapf, wherein the natural position and the divisions, according to 
modern views, of the Gymnosperme that occur in tropical Africa, 
are clearly indicated :— 
Division PHANEROGAMZE (Siphonogame). 
Subdivision A. ANGIOSPERMZ. 
Class 1. Dicotyledones. 
Class IT. Monocotyledones. 
Subdivision B. GYMNOSPERM A. 
Class [. Gnetales. 
Order i. GNETACER. 
Class IT. Coniferales. 
Order i. PINACEZ. 
Order ii. TAXACEZ. 
Class JIT. Cycadales. 
Order i. CYCADACE®. 
The admission of the Gymnosperme to the rank of a phylum 
distinct from that to which the rest of the Phanerogame belong, 
creates another difficulty which is harder to settle than the one 
disposed of above. This difficulty is concerned with the appli- 
cability to the Gymnosperme of the conventional terminology applied 
to the “flower.” Attempts to maintain the old uniformity of 
terms have been frequent; these attempts have proved far from 
successful. Those who lay most stress upon function have found 
FL. TROP. AFR. VI, SECT. II. a2 
