THE TAXONOMY OF PHANEROGAMS 163 



and his scheme really formed the groundwork on which 

 Engler based his system which has become so widely 

 adopted by continental and British botanists as elaborated 

 in the Naturliche Pftanzenfamilien, published by Engler 

 in association at first with Prantl, from 1887 onwards. 

 The chief features of Eichler's scheme are that he rejects 

 Sachs's arrangement of Algae and Fungi in two parallel 

 series and institutes two separate classes, Algae and 

 Fungi, under Thallophyta, uniting that larger division 

 with Bryophyta and Pteridophyta into a sub-kingdom 

 Cryptogamae, as equivalent in rank to the Phanerogamae. 

 The modifications introduced by Engler we will discuss 

 later on when we come to review the state of taxonomy 

 in the present century. 



TAXONOMY OF PHANEROGAMS 



So far as Phanerogams are concerned the system 

 established by De Candolle was the one in practically 

 universal use up to 1860, but after that date considerable 

 modifications were introduced by two men whose names 

 are exceedingly prominent in the history of botany, viz. 

 George Bentham and Joseph Dalton Hooker. 



George Bentham wa's born in 1800, and, while still a 

 mere boy, made the acquaintance of such distinguished 

 botanists as Robert Brown, John Lindley, and W. 

 J. Hooker. In 1830 he became friendly with Alphonse 

 de Candolle, and began to collaborate with him in the 

 publication of the famous Prodromus. Shortly afterwards 

 he came in touch with Joseph Hooker, with whom he 

 worked during the later years of his long life. In 1854 

 he was induced to associate himself with the Herbarium 

 at Kew, then under the direction of Sir W. J. Hooker, 

 and began the preparation of the first of a series of floras 

 of the British Colonies, the publication of which had 

 been contemplated for some time by the Kew authorities. 

 In the course of his labours on these floras Bentham 



