TYPICAL FORMS OF PLANT KINGDOM 109 



led to the concrescence of all the carpels with the base of the other 

 floral organs, and hence has determined the achievement of the 

 so-called inferior ovary. Thus, in each of the two subclasses 

 of Dialypetalae and Gamopetalce, two orders can be 

 distinguished, one with superior ovaries and one with inferior. 

 This makes it clear that the gamopetalous Dicotyledons could 

 not have appeared until after the dialypetalous. 



We have now reached a delicate point. The older botanists, 

 having failed to take into consideration these facts, from 

 which we have just drawn so many inferences, or, may be, 

 having failed to realize them, were guilty of an error of 

 judgment which certain present-day botanists are inclined 

 to revive. There is a widespread opinion that the 

 Monocotyledons are lower than the Dicotyledons, and must 

 have appeared first, and many ingenious attempts have been 

 made to establish this fact. But the moment we apply to the 

 flowers of the Monocotyledons the incontrovertible principles 

 that result from the study of the Dicotyledons, we are 

 immediately convinced that far from being primitive flowers 

 they are the most highly developed of all. In the first place, 

 like the flowers of the highest Dicotyledons, with very few 

 exceptions, 1 they are almost all isomeric and constructed on 

 type 3, that is to say, they have three sepals, three petals, 

 three or six stamens, and three carpels. They are among the 

 most brilliant. Frequently the calyx is as magnificent, or even 

 more so, than the corolla — a rare thing among Dicotyledons. 

 Often, as in many of the Orchids, 2 they are arranged symmetri- 

 cally to the median plane in such a way as to resemble bees or 

 butterflies. Sometimes the andrcecium undergoes a reduction 

 that bears witness to an alteration of the general type, 

 subsequent to the achievement thereof. The Mono- 

 cotyledons with small flowers, such as the rushes, sedges, and 

 grasses, are not more primitive than the others because 

 their flower is small and green. They are isomeric like them, 

 and the flower of the Gramineae has undergone profound 

 modifications of this isomeric type, which is recent in itself. 



The relatively advanced character of the Monocotyledons 



1 The Centrolepideae, indigenous in Australia, and the plants of the 

 Lemnaceae, and the Naiadacese families, all either floatingor submerged, inwhich 

 this very specialized manner of life goes along with an undeniable degeneration 

 of the flower. 



2 Fly Orchis, Bee Orchis, Hornet Orchis, etc. 



