I907] MONOCOTYLEDONS AND THE DICOTYLEDONS. 321 



phloxes (Polemoniaceae) and nightshades (Solanaceae). The ani- 

 socarpous famiHes culminate in the order Scrophulariacese, Com- 

 positae and Caprifoliaceae. The composite family is conceded by 

 most botanists to be the most highly evolved and successful type of 

 dicotyledonous plants and is represented in the diagram, therefore, 

 as at the top of the system. It is not only the most successful type, 

 but it is essentially a type of comparatively modern evolution. 



It may be said in conclusion that many of the families represented 

 in the chart occupy tentative positions. More thorough work must 

 be done on many plants and plant families before we can feel assured 

 of the true relationship of many of our most widely distributed 

 families of dicotyledonous plants. All attempts at representing the 

 affinities in a diagrammatic way are to be welcomed. 



