DEGENERATION 



107 



the lodicules represent two of the petals, the third 

 (the inner one) being usually obsolete. It is fully 

 developed, however, in the bamboo. The connection 

 IS here less clearly traceable than in the Amentifercc 

 but It IS still quite distinct enough to suggest at 

 least the possibility that even grasses and sedges are 

 ultimately derived from entomophilous flow^ s. 



There is, however, another and more powerful arjru- 

 ment against the idea that any of these existing green 



flowers are really primitive. For what are the known 

 marks of the most primitive existing flowers ? Nu- 

 merous simple superior carpels ; distinct flowers on 

 separate peduncles ; no specialised bracts, no heads 

 no complications of any sort. And what are the 

 known marks of late and more developed or degraded 

 flowers } Unification of the pistil by union or sup- 

 pression of the carpels ; grouping of flowers in heads ■ 

 separation of sexes; multiplication of accessory parts' 



