706 
THE GARDENING WORLD , 
September 3, 1904. 
cal Gardens, Edinburgh, under the name of Araucarioxylon, a 
name given to them because the layers of wood resembled that 
of the modern Araucaria. These stems are, of course, perfectly 
s-ilicilied and are mere stone, retaining the form of the stem 
and wood of the tree as it has grown in those far-off ages on 
the borders of what is now the Firth of Forth. The fruiting 
portions of these trees may not, and as a rule are not, found 
attached to the trunks, though they may be in the immediate 
neighbourhood, and being perfectly fossilised have to be cut- 
in very thin layers, polished and subjected to the micro-scope. 
The book give® some illustrations showing the character 
of the flowers and fruit, which take the form- of cones- ini a 
rudimentary way. T'liei leaves of the fruiting shoot of the 
tree are also- given in the book. We may here say that these 
C’ordaites were represented only by evergreen subjects, and 
that applies, in fact, to- all of the Gymnosperms- now found in 
the fossil -state. They were, of course, also woody, and if 
herbaceous plants belonging to- this great division ever existed, 
they have perished, without leaving a, trace, as far asi scienc-ei 
has been, able to ascertain. 
Another 1 extinct class and order included the fossil plants 
known as Bennettites, which resembled Cycads, but had short 
axilliary sho-ots which bore the cones. All of the other 1 four 
classes are still extant at the- present- day, the latest being 
represented by the Cycads, which commenced in the Mesozoic 
or middle period <pf the earth’s history, and are found in a 
more or les-s- fossilised state in limestone or chalk formations-; 
indeed, we gave some- illustrations! of fossil plants- belonging t-o 
this class- or order la-st year. The Maidenhair Tree is interest¬ 
ing a-s representing a- type- of tree that has existed from the 
Palaeozoic- period of the earth’s; history down to modern- times. 
Even in this- country, on the western shores of Scotland, leaves 
of a tree are found in the foss-il state—something very similar 
to- the- modern representative of the group—namely, Ginkgo 
bilo-ba, better known to many gardeners- as Salisburia adianti- 
folia. We thus have evidence of the existence of a tree that 
extended right across Europe and Asia. 
That wide- distribution was- a feature of the more ancient 
forests now only represented by fossils. Usually a. number 
of species existed, and some or other of them were found on 
all parts of the globe-, showing, as- it would seem to- us, poverty 
in variety, but- very extensive forests, -of a. few kinds- of trees-. 
It- will thus be seen that the Maidenhair Tree-, although usually 
classed among the Conifers in, modern, gardening and botanical 
books-, has here been separated into- a distinct class- by its-eilf. 
Conifers form another class, and these may be regarded as a 
modern development up-o-n the o-ld cone-bearing types, and 
better calculated than them to withstand the uncertainties 
and severities of a- northern climate. As, the Conifers ascend 
mountains they are exposed to- very severe gales, and would- 
be destroyed if their foliage were similar to those pos-ses-sied 
by their forbears:, the Cordait-es.’ The small and needle-shaped 
leaves- of the -Conifers are not liable t-o- be destroyed by gale® 
of wind, hence they are better adapted fo-r existing under 
unfavourable conditions t-han the ancient types-. 
The first volume of this book deals only with one- of the 
great division® of Angiosperms-—namely, the Monocotyledons, 
although reference is made- to the: embryonic condition- of the 
Dicotyledons for the sake of comparison. Students will be 
interested in Dr. Randle’s classification of these types of -plant, 
which has a different object in view than, b-otanical wo-rks 
generally. The object- of the author is evidently to trace: up 
the p'hylo-geny or descent of these plants from the more 
ancient typ-es. He therefore begin® with such plants asi the 
Reed Mace, Burr Reed and Panda,nus, or, rather, the orders 
they represent. These are simple types-, both in the) form and 
structure- of their leaves, as- well a-s flowers, while bearing con¬ 
siderable resemblance to the most ancient types- of seed plants, 
the Co-rdaites. 
These are followed by Pondweeds, Water Plantain and Erog- 
bit. Next- come the two- orders with which everybody in this 
country has been more or less familiar from childhood— 
namely, the Grasses an!d Sedges. Judging from the author’s- 
chart, which is meant to indicate the descent of plants he 
looks upon the above three groups as having originated from 
some separate ancestor, of which we have yet no knowledge, 
the intermediate links being missing. The- Frogbits terminate 
one group of plants-, and the- first group we- mentioned are 
supposed to have given rise t-o the Palms, the Aroids, repre¬ 
sented by the well-known plant Lo-rds and Ladies, and also 
Duckweeds (Lenina). 
We should look upon Fro-gbit and Lemna as degenerate 
forms from the: higher types previously mentioned, although 
from their own point of view they could -scarcely be regarded 
as degenerate, seeing that they are able to hold their own 
amongst other types of vegetation in) places suitable to- their 
growth. 
It is more interesting to know that the author regards all 
the rest of the Monocotyledons as having arisen, from some 
progenitor amongst the Grasses and! Sedges, giving rise on 
the: one- hand to a group- representing such well-known plants 
as- Tra-descant-ia, Pontederia- and Bromelia, and on the other 
hand that- from something of higher descent than the Grasses, 
we come to a group- which includes the Rushes, Lilies, Amaryl¬ 
lis and Daffodils. Then, again, from so-me progenitor common 
to the Rushes and Lilies we have another group represented 
to-day by the Banana, Ginger Plant, Gannas- and Maranta-s. 
Before this group was- reached in the-ir present form, the 
author also considers that another very important group arose 
as- -an offs-hoo-t-—namely, the- Micro-spermae or small seed plants, 
including the Orchids-. In a systematic work carried out on 
these lines, Monocotyledons would therefore begin with three 
orders-, represented by Typ-ha, Sparganium and Pandanus, as 
a centre group- giving rise to various others- which terminate 
after a- time, but- on the other hand give rise to- a grand series 
which stretch -away from the Sedges and Grasses right down 
to the modem Orchids, which would therefore be regarded as 
the nio-st recent in point of origin-. We may also- remind our 
readers- that Darwin found the most highly developed or com¬ 
plicated plants in this order, and that Vanda was the most- 
high ly -specialised. 
The hook is: evidently intended for educational purposes, as 
it is well illustrated with wood-cuts running through the whole 
of the book, -so that the student should have no difficulty in 
following out the author’s descriptions. They are mostly in¬ 
tended to- illustrate minute particulars of structure relating to 
stems, leaves, flowers, seeds, and fruits. There .are no les-s 
than. 187 in this first volume of the work, which runs to- J03 
pages, including a good index. Not many illustrations- of 
fossil subjects -have been used, but those families that still 
exist are well represented in most of the above orders and 
genera- to- which we- have referred, and to many more besides, 
including Cycads-, Conifers:, Ginkgo, as: well -a® numerous types 
of Monocotyledons- which give this intricate and erudite work 
double value. So-me seeds and seedlings have been used from 
Lord Avebury’s; book on seedlings-, written- at the- time when 
he was shill S-ir John Lubbock. Altogether, we can fully re¬ 
commend this volume to students who desire to- be up to date 
with their knowledge of what is known, of Seed-plants at the 
present day. 
Rose White Maman Cochet. 
(See Supplement.) 
We now present- o-ur readers with a supplementary plate of 
the premier Tea Ros-e- exhibited in the nurserymen’s section- at 
the National Rose Society’s Exhibition in the Inner Temple 
Gardens, on July 6th last. This -splendid bloom was exhibited 
by Mr. George Prince, Longwo-rth, Berks 1 . It was a s-port 
from Maina-ni Cochet- which took place with Mr. Cook in 1898, 
and has been plentifully and constantly exhibited at- every 
Rose show of importance since it became disseminated amongst 
the cultivators. It was accorded an Award of Merit on- July 
11th, 1899, by the Royal Horticultural Society. 
The flowers have a- beautiful conical centre, surrounded by a 
number of very broad petals- that- spread outwardly and become 
strongly revolute at the edges when the bloom is just in per- 
