The dicots (short for dicotyledons) have long been recognized as one of two major groups or classes (class Magnoliopsida) of flowering plants (di-vision Anthophyta or Magnoliophyta), the other major group being the monocots (monocotyledons; class Liliopsida). The dicots have traditionally been distinguished from monocots by a suite of morphological and anatomical features, all of which are subject to exception, however. For example, as the name of the group suggests, most dicots possess two seedling leaves, or cotyledons. In addition, dicots often possess netlike leaf venation, flower parts in fours or fives (or multiples thereof), vascular bundles in the stem arranged in a ring, with the potential for true secondary growth, and a root system of primary and adventitious roots. Monocots, in contrast, have one cotyledon, parallel leaf venation, flower parts in threes (or multiples thereof), scattered vascular bundles in the stem, lack true secondary growth, and have only...