Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 July 2012
The systematic study of the cluster of orders lying at the base of the Dicotyledon phylum has of late years become of fundamental importance in view of the various theories advanced by different authorities as to the origin of the so-called Monocotyledons. The anatomical structure of many of these groups has been but little investigated from this aspect, and the present paper is the first of a series which it is hoped to publish with the object of discovering to what extent anatomy supports or contradicts one or other of views held on the phylogeny of flowering plants. One such research is already far advanced, viz. on the anatomy of the Magnoliaceæ, and another, the present contribution, deals with the stem structure of the Papaveraceæ. Although both researches have been retarded owing to one of the authors being engaged on war service, there would seem no reason for delaying the publication of such observations as have been made.