THE COEEOPSIS. 



Coreopsis Ictnceolata. 



OPPOSITE plants so abound 

 in all parts of the earth, and 

 more especially in temperate 

 and sub-tropical zones, that it 

 is impossible to regard them 

 collectively without experienc- 

 ing a tendency to speculate on 

 the beginnings of things. Are 

 they the radiata of the Vege- 

 table kingdom, and therefore 

 somewhat primitive in the 

 chronological sequence of vege- 

 table development? Are they 

 primordial ? No ; we will get 

 away from such questions, and 

 for the present rest content 

 in saying that there are 9,000 

 species of composite plants 

 known to botanists, and they constitute about a twelfth 

 part of the entire vegetable kingdom. Considering their 

 number, the proportion of useful plants amongst them 

 is small, but in respect of their usefulness there is just 

 the same sort of family likeness that, we discover in the 

 cross-worts and the grasses. As in the crucifers a whole- 



