JOUENAL 



OP THE 



Royal Hortioultubal Society. 



Vol. XV. 1892. 



COHERENCE OX ASTEES AXD PMENOTAL 

 SUNELOWEBS 



At CHISWICK, TUESDAY, October 6, 1891. 



OPENING ADDRESS. 



By Mr. J. G. Baker, F.R.S., F.E.H.S. 



I will detain you only a few minutes whilst I sketch out what 

 may be called the general botanical outlines of the subject we 

 have met this afternoon to discuss. Composite is one of the 

 best marked of the natural orders, and it is the largest of all of 

 them. About one in ten of all the flowering plants belong to this 

 order, and it keeps up this proportion in a wonderful way both 

 in the old world and in the new, and in all latitudes from the 

 tropics to the arctic-alpine zone, as represented either in the far 

 north or just below the snow-line on high mountains. Its pro- 

 portion and the absolute number of species are highest in North 

 America and Mexico, lowest in India, Malaya, and Polynesia. 

 The total number of known species may be estimated at eight 

 thousand or ten thousand. The most obvious characteristic which 

 distinguishes the different Composite from one another is in the 

 corolla. "We may distinguish three leading types of form — first, 

 the ligulate type, as shown in all the flowers of the Dandelion ; 

 secondly, the tubular type, as shown in all the flowers of a 

 Thistle, Tansy, and Groundsel ; and, thirdly, the irregular, more 



B 



