1893.] The Philosophy of Flower Seasons. 775 
robust, vigorous, and conspicuous, the splendid C. spectabile. 
In late June and through July come other Pogonias and 
Corallorhizas; Microstylis, Goodyera, and one or two Spiran- 
thes, and all the most beautifal Habenarias. Last, in Septem- 
ber and October, singularly isolated from nearly all their kins- 
man, are several of the little Spiranthes,—why they come thus 
is a baffling question. Retrospectively we remark that of non- 
glumaceous Liliiflorz the two predominant orders are Liliacese 
and Orchidacee; that the first are largely normal and 
generalized, the second aberrant and specialized ; and that the 
first predominate in the spring, the second in summer. 
In the Dicotyls two quite distinct subclasses may be recog- 
nized : the one, the Dicline, is a very natural group, small but 
of great importance, embracing the closely related orders of 
trees and shrubs, Platanacesw, Juglandacee, Cupulifere, and 
Salicaces; the other, vastly the larger, exhibits a broad, 
rather indefinite range of characters, and may be termed, in 
contra-distinction, the * Hermaphroditz,” because hermaphro- 
ditism, though by no means universal, predominates in it. 
The Dicline obviously approach the Conifer, among Gymno- 
sperm, in wood-structure and manner of growth, and in 
amentaceous diclinous inflorescence. Whence there is just 
reason to consider them, though wonderfully specialized, of a 
lower character of development than the Hermaphrodite. 
Unisexual flowers, or the analogues of unisexual flowers, are 
the rule in Gymnosperm: and the higher Pteridophyta, and 
hence it reasonably follows that diclinous Angiosperm:e are 
lower than hermaphrodite; and, further, diclinism in all 
Angiosperme is either a perpetuation of the ancestral type or 
a reversion to it. In Diclinz and in the Spadicifloral Mono- 
cotyls it is probably a perpetuation ; in Carex, many Gramin- 
ace, and elsewhere among Angiosperme, more likely rever- 
sion, retrogressive “evolution. Note here the peculiar fact that 
in spring, from early March to June, blossom these diclinous 
groups :—all Coniferz, the Aracez, the great genus Carex, the 
Dicline, the Lauraceze, several diclinous Ranunculacee, Urti- 
caceæ, and many others; while in summer and fall come 
only :—a few Alismacee and Typhacee, many Graminacee, 
