CHAPTER XL 



THE FLOWER OF THE BUTTERCUP (Ranunculus) 

 AND OF THE BEAN ( VlClO, foba). 



THE bean and the buttercup, whose flowers form the 

 subject of the present chapter, belong to the important 

 division of plants known as Phanerogams. They are 

 separated from the class of plants known as Cryptogams 

 (in which are placed Spirogyra, Mucor and the ferns) by 

 certain well-marked characters connected with repro- 

 duction. Phanerogams are sometimes known as Sperma- 

 phytes or Seed plants, and this is a happily chosen name, 

 for the production of seeds is the most characteristic 

 feature of the class. The name Flowering Plants, which 

 is a familiar equivalent for Phanerogam, is not so appro- 

 priate; while the term Phanerogam, implying that the 

 process of reproduction is obvious or plainly visible, is 

 particularly inappropriate. In reality the Cryptogams, 

 whose title suggests obscurity in the matter of repro- 

 duction, have reproductive processes far more simple and 

 more easily detected than those of the Phanerogams. 



The bean and the buttercup both belong to a division 

 of the Seed-plants characterised by the possession of two 



