Another bed is full of the large rhizomes of ferns, while two others are rich in dicotyledonous leaves.
"The Student's Elements of Geology"
Sir Charles Lyell
If so, the limitation of this more ancient flora, represented by so many genera and species, to the gymnospermous and cryptogamous orders, and the absence or extreme rarity of plants of higher grade, lead us naturally to speculate on the theory of progressive development, however difficult it may be to avail ourselves of this explanation, so long as we meet with even a few exceptional cases of what may seem to be monocotyledonous or dicotyledonous exogens.
"The Student's Elements of Geology"
Sir Charles Lyell
We should then have to regard the Monocotyledons as a side-line, diverging probably at a very early stage from the main dicotyledonous stock, a view which many botanists have maintained, of late, on other grounds.
"Darwin and Modern Science"
A.C. Seward and Others