172 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 
few plants, of which the subterranean organs have been men- 
tioned; very unfortunately, however, for the description reads 
“roots coral-like” (pagel27). Irmisch in his classic work on 
the biology and morphology of the Orchids. (1853) described 
the European species demonstrating that the subterranean 
coral-like organ is a rhizome, and not a root, as described by 
Clusius “radix ramosa corallii instar” (1601). And consider- 
ing Cirsium arvense (page 292), one of our most troublesome 
weeds, this does not multiply by rootstocks, but by the roots 
producing shoots in abundance, a matter that has been de- 
scribed repeatedly in this country and abroad. 
The structure of the inflorescence, the flowers and the fruits 
are so vaguely touched upon or misunderstood that no definite 
conclusion may be drawn from the descriptions. We shall 
confine ourselves to mention a few cases. In Betulaceae (page 
136) the fruit and seed are described as: ‘“‘seeds winged, fruit 
ovoid or oblong!” But Lamarck and De Candolle have many 
years ago given the correct description namely: “l’enveloppe 
de la graine est membraneuse sur les bords, comme celle de 
Vorme” (Flore Francaise 1807) ; moreover Elias Fries (Flora 
Seanica 1835) writes “fructu alato”; Kunth (Flora Berol- 
inensis 1838) in the same manner “fructus utrinque alati!”’ 
and finally Torrey (1. c. 1843) writes: “fruit a little one- 
celled nut, which is often winged.” a 
The fruits of Magnolia and Liriodendron are called ‘‘cones”’ 
(page 161) ; the fruit is a syncarp, with the carpels more or 
less united in Magnolia, but free in Liriodendron; the last 
genus has winged achenes. The grass-flower has also re- 
ceived a remarkable description, which may neither be con- 
sidered popular nor in any way correct. It is said (page 66) 
to “consist normally of a pistil and 3 stamens contained be- 
tween 2 small bracts, these being aggregated in spikelets. The 
lowermost pair of bracts (glumes) are without flowers. The 
succeeding bracts (lemmas) have flowers, and an inner bract 
(palea) next the rachilla.”’ In order to readily distinguish 
the Grasses from the Sedges, the key (page 28) renders great 
assistance viz., “stems round,” “flowers with two bracts, one 
below and one above—Poaceae.” 
In comparing these few examples we naturally feel inclined 
to believe, that the reason why common words have been used 
