202 PLANT-LIFE 



Higher in the scale of the Monocotyledons we come 

 to the Order Liliiflorse, including the Rushes, which are 

 very grasslike, the Lilies, Daffodils, Irises, Yams, 

 Bryonies, and Pineapple. Then we have the tropical 

 Scitamineae, including the Banana, Musa sapientum, the 

 South African " Traveller's Tree," Ravenala Madagas- 

 cariensis, which has hollows in the sheaths of the leaf- 

 stalks in which water collects, and leaves of great size, 

 also the Ginger plant, Zingiber qfficinale ; t:ie " Ginger " 

 in common use is obtained from its rhizomes. 



The Monocotyledons are crowned by the remarkable 

 and ingenious Orchids, which may be rightly regarded 

 as the most specialized plants of the whole class. We 

 shall have more to say about them in a later chapter; 

 in the meantime it is sufficient to note that they are 

 numerous, over 5,000 species being known, of which less 

 than fifty occur in Britain. 



DICOTYLEDONS. 



As in the animal kingdom animal life finds its fullest 

 manifestation in the Mammals, with Man at their head, 

 so it is in the ranks of the Dicotyledons that plant-life 

 is most completely expressed. From geological evidence 

 it plainly appears that Mammals are the last- comers, 

 and it is equally clear, upon similar evidence, that the 

 most advanced Dicotyledons are the latest plants. We 

 are now in the age of Mammals and Dicotyledons; the 

 former are dominant among animals, and the latter are 

 the chief among plants. Whether Dicotyledons of the 

 most advanced type are the " last word " of plant-life, 

 or whether there is yet to be further advance, can be 





