ANGIOSPERM.E. 1 543 



but that the so-called Bambusium is probably Equisetaceous. 

 Arundo and the allied Phragmites are stated to make their first 

 appearance in the Upper Cretaceous of both hemispheres ; while 

 Pseudophragmites and Amndites, dating from the Eocene, are more 

 or less closely allied extinct types. In the Cyperacece (Sedges) 

 numerous fossil Tertiary plants have been described as Carex, 

 Cyperus, Cyperites, and Scirpus, the former being also recorded 

 from the Laramie ; but all these determinations are exceedingly 

 doubtful, and it can only be stated with certainty that Cyperus 

 occurs in the CEningen Miocene. 



Order 5. Scitamine.e. — The past history of this large tropical 

 order is even more imperfect than that of the last. In the Musacece 

 (Plantain) large leaves, from the Eocene and higher Tertiaries, have 

 been described under the names of Musaphyllum or Musa, but Dr 

 Schenk suggests that some at least of these may belong to the 

 Aracece. Under the name of Zingibe7-ites imperfect leaves, from 

 the Upper Cretaceous of Greenland and the Swiss Tertiary, have 

 been regarded as indicating fossil ZingiberacecE ; and a similar posi- 

 tion has been given to Amomocarpum and Amo7nophyllum of the 

 Upper Eocene of Paris. Finally, Cannophyllites, of the latter beds, 

 has been considered as an ally of the existing Canna among the 

 MarautacecB. 



Order 6. Gyxandr.e. — The only fossils hitherto referred to the 

 Orchids are the Protorchis and Palceorchis, of the Middle Eocene of 

 Monte Bolca ; and it is probable that the greater number of these 

 plants, with their highly specialised and complexly perianthed flowers, 

 are of comparatively recent origin. 



Order 7. Heloble. — The last order comprises aquatic and 

 marsh plants which date back to the Upper Cretaceous. Laharpia, 

 from the Miocene of CEningen, may perhaps indicate a member of 

 the Jimgaginacece allied to the existing Scheuchzeria. In the Alis- 

 7iiace<z some of the forms, occurring from the Cretaceous upwards, 

 referred to Alis?na and Sagittaria, may be correctly named. Butomus 

 has been recorded from the Miocene of CEningen. Of the Hydro- 

 charitacece, Stratiotes and Hydivcharis have been described from 

 CEningen, and the extinct Hydrocharites from the Miocene of Bonn ; 

 while Valis7ieria and Ottelia date from the Upper Eocene of the 

 Paris basin in Europe, but the former also occurs in the Laramie of 

 America, and thus carries back its origin to the Cretaceous. 



Subclass II. Dicotyl.e. — The Dicotyledons are plants having 

 two cotyledons or seed-leaves, and the stems exogenous like those 

 of the Gymnosperms. They represent the highest type of plant- 

 life, their organisation being a great step in advance of the Mono- 

 cotyledons. The earliest known members of this group occur in 

 the reputed Lower Cretaceous of Greenland, where, however, only a 

 vol. 11. 2 T 



