CHAPTER: 20g 
POPPIES, CRESSES, VIOLETS, AND 
BUTTERCUPS 
TuE first two groups we have to take in this, the last 
chapter on the Dicotyledons, are marked by one feature 
which is a constant help to their identification. The 
flowers are symmetrical, that is to say, each sepal and 
petal conforms to the ordinary type, and we have no 
long spurs or keels to mark out any one petal in par- 
ticular, and they have a set determination in favour of 
even numbers. The poppies have two sepals, four petals, 
and an even number of stamens, but the cresses are still 
more consistent, and easily assigned to their proper 
group, for they always have four sepals, four petals, and 
four stamens of the saine size. The symmetry is only 
marred by an additional pair of longer stamens, which 
brings the number up to six, and most botanists maintain 
that these two are the sole surviving descendants of a 
second group of four. The only plants that can be 
possibly confused are the Bedstraws, and that only for 
a moment, for in their case the petals form a tube, 
whereas in the Poppies and Cresses, or Crucifers (cross- 
bearers), each petal is separate to the base. 
The Poppies need little description, for they are as 
well known as daisies, both by their flowers and by the 
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