Ther ThURS. JUNE 14, 192:5 Wea 



The reraarkaWe thing about the stem. 

 atld the fact that has made botanists al) 

 over the world regard it with wondar is 

 that It bore flowers. Flowers In coal beds 

 have hitherto btpn unknown, and scientists 

 have believed tliey were not evolved until 

 long after the age of coal was over. The 

 surprise that this new plant has created 

 among botanists is no greater than would 

 bo the amazement of historians to discover 

 that ther." was field artlllerj' In the army 

 of Alexander the Great, or printlnfr prusses 

 in the time of King Tut-Ankh-Amen. 



Related to Corn 



The plant was a -sort of giant grass, re- 

 lated to corn and rushes. Breeders of 

 grasses have long realized how hard it is 

 to make tliese plants alter their forma. Ot 

 the treat group of grasses only oats, wheat, 

 rye. corn, .sugar c-ane, timothy and a few 

 others have hf-en tamed by man. Com- 

 pare this with even a single harddwood 

 pare tliis witli even a singia hardwood 

 family, the. roses, wliioh yields apples, 

 peaches, pears, plums, apricots, straw- 

 berries, raspberries, blackberries, quinces, 

 hawthorns, cherries and a host of flower- 

 ing forms. The rose family Is a compara- 

 tively recent evolution, and its characters 

 are still plastic. But the grasses are now 

 proved to be as old and hidebound as ferns, 

 and require much work to break down their 

 set habits of growth and make them be 

 something besides weeds. 



Hardiness Now Explained 



The reason for the hardiness of grass Ja 

 now clear for the first time. It can choke 

 out most other plants, not because ff its 

 superior plant design as has been hitherto 

 supposed, but because It has- (b-veb.ped 

 unusu-il toughness and riglitir.ir ability in 

 the millions of years of start it has had 

 over our other common plants. 



