Oct., 192 1 ] BECHTEL — FLORAL ANATOMY OF URTICALES 
Boehmeria are higher than Urtica, and Boehmeria is higher than Laportea. 
In Moraceae, Madura is higher than Morus; and in the Ulmaceae, Celtis 
is higher than Ulmus. In the genus Ulmus the result of these anatomical 
studies places species in the same groups in which they have been placed by 
taxonomists. U. americana and U. racemosa come in one group, and U. 
fulva, U. scabra, and U. campestris come together in another group. 
The natural position of the Urticales has been a debated subject. The 
common practice has been to place them in association with the Amentiferae. 
Jussieu, de Candolle, Endlicher, Bentham, Hooker, Engler, and Gray have 
assisted in establishing this arrangement. The Amentiferae, however, are 
coming to be looked upon as reduced rather than as primitive forms. 
Weddell (21), in 1840, associated the Urticales with Tiliaceae and Malvaceae, 
etc. One of the features that influenced him in making such a decision was 
the presence of ''bast fibers"; but on the same feature, a relationship can 
be established with Thymeliales, which possesses 'several similar floral 
structures. Lindley (13), in 1845, placed the Ulmaceae singly in the 
Rhamnales. Bessey (3) and Hallier (12), in 1905, placed the Ulmaceae, 
Moraceae, and Urticaceae in the Malvales, as Weddell had done sixty years 
before. The last suggestion has received much favorable consideration from 
many taxonomists. The writer's anatomical studies in these suggested 
affinitives have not progressed far enough to warrant any conclusive 
statement. 
The floral anatomy of the species of Ulmus reveals a feature that should 
be discussed at this time, namely: the staminal cylinder as described on 
page 389 (PI. XVI, figs. 16, 17, c). This may be considered homologous with 
the staminal tube of the Malvaceae. Yet, the cohesion of filaments is a 
character occurring in the Parietales, Geraniales, and in other small groups, 
and is a striking character in the Papilionaceae. The Malvales, as delimited 
by Engler (9), show the tendency to chorisis. Reduction, which is opposed 
to chorisis, is conspicuous in the Ulmaceae, Moraceae, and Urticaceae. 
However, it may be possible to accept a natural order exhibiting two such 
diverse processes. 
There is the danger of placing the Urticales higher than they should be, 
due to the greatly reduced flower condition; the caution from Engler (10) 
in this regard has already been stated. Such an error can possibly be 
avoided by considering the characters of the order that indicate primitive- 
ness, namely, many organs, non-cyclic condition, and preponderance of 
woody forms. On the other hand, zygomorphism and reduction are present 
in the order not as tendencies but as critical characters, i.e., the characters 
present throughout the order. Therefore, these tendencies must be present 
in their nearest relatives, or were present in their immediate ancestors. 
It is doubtful that their ancestors were wind-pollinated. The progenitors 
of the Urticales are not in existence today. Considering their primitive 
characters, they are in a distinct line of descent from a protoangiospermous 
