DODDER FAMILY 



inch and a half or two inches long; they reach with 

 might and main toward the nearest legitimate grow- 

 ing plant, and when they touch it cling to it like a 

 Hmpet; then they draw their other end up out of the 

 ground and set up housekeeping for the rest of their 

 lives. They adhere to the unhappy individual upon 

 which they have fixed themselves with a grip that 

 grows more and more horrible; they suck all its 

 juices, drink all its health and strength and beauty, and 

 fling out trailers to the next, and the next, and the 

 next, till the whole garden is a mass of ruin and 

 despair." 



The books give a hundred species of Dodder, all told, 

 of which twelve flourish here at the north, fifteen 

 others are recorded in the southern and western parts 

 of North America. 



i68 



