Jeffrey and Torrey. — Transitional Herbaceous Dicotyledons . 233 
name foliar. In Paeonict there are smaller rays of the normal woody type, 
as well as those of broader dimensions, belonging to the foliar category. It 
will be obvious to the reader that the authors under discussion have not been 
very fortunate in their choice of the Ranunculaceae as a group demonstrat- 
ing the accuracy of their statements. It may be added that any of the 
Ranunculaceae possessing a reasonably well developed aerial stem clearly 
show the presence of foliar rays. This, for example, is true of both Clematis 
and Thalictrum . In the more advanced herbaceous species the situation is 
less obvious by reason of the thinning of the woody cylinder. In many 
cases, however, the situation is revealed by the anatomy of the perennial 
subterranean stem. It is true that our critics have rejected the evidence 
furnished by the anatomy of the terrestrial region of the stem in extremely 
herbaceous perennials. This attitude, however, rests on a fundamental mis- 
conception, which need not be enlarged upon at the present time. In the 
arboreal representatives of the Ranales the leaf-ray is in general as con- 
spicuous by its absence as it is in the tree-like examples of other natural 
families, including both woody types and herbs. 
At this stage it will be convenient to refer to a statement quoted at the 
beginning of this article. It is as follows : f The fact, however, which 
militates most strongly against the validity of the hypothesis under discus- 
sion is that, in practically all many-bundled herbaceous stems, the interfas- 
cicular parenchyma is not subtended by tiny leaf-trace bundles, nor is the 
stem composed of presumably typical alternating large and small bundles, 
the latter being leaf-traces.’ Fig. 23, PI. XII, represents a transverse section 
of Euphorbia Cyparissias , the common garden Spurge. The margin of the 
medulla is crenulated by projections of the pith into the woody cylinder. 
Each of these bays harbours a leaf-trace which shows as a small dark dot 
terminating the apex of the bay. It is clear that outside each of the leaf- 
traces lies a well-developed foliar ray, and that these foliar rays clearly 
alternate with the stem segments, which are quite obviously characterized 
by the presence of vessels, conspicuous by their absence in the rays. It will 
be clear to the reader that the illustration under consideration very obviously 
realizes a condition stated by our self-confident critics not to exist. Almost 
any species of Sunflower, Aster, or Golden-rod, if sectioned in the appropriate 
region of the stem, would reveal similar topographical relations. In fact, 
hundreds of examples could be easily supplied of conditions which are cited 
above as impossible. The situation emphasized reveals the superficiality 
which unfortunately characterizes much of the recent anatomical work of 
the senior of our two critics. 
Fig. 24, PL XII, exemplifies the anatomical conditions obtaining in the 
region of the foliar trace in Robinia P seudacacia . The leaf-trace is opposed 
by normal wood, and there is consequently no foliar ray present in this 
arboreal representative of the important Legume alliance. In contrast to 
