52 I'LANT I.II'K <»F AL.\1?A.M.\. 



I'AliASmi- I'l.ANT ASSIM lATIDNS. 



Tiur ])arasitcs arc also dcstitiitr of cliluropliyll. and loufloss, hut 

 tli»\v take their iKuirisliint'iit from ihr living- tissues of tlieii- host, suh- 

 sistinef t'litii'ely on its ehilK»rate(l fo«i<l materials. Three species of 

 this ehiss of parasites which foist theniseh'es upon tlie roots of theii- 

 hosts (i-oot ])anisit(>s) occur in the Carolinian zone of Ahihama, and 

 are also friMjuently found in otluM* })ai-ts of temperate North Auhmmcu, 

 all heloMi^inu- l<» the family of hroom I'apes (Orohanchaceae), namely: 



('uiiuitliolis itiiuricana. Tluilixin iiiiijluru. 



LrpfnnntiiDii ( Kpijiliripis) rln/hriaiinin. 



Of the parasites which fasten tliemsidves ui)oii the stems of their 

 host, ») are found in Alal)ama. all htdonyinj^ to the (h)dders or love vines 

 (Cu-scuta). These plants at the start root in the ground, but upon 

 springing up, when they meet a plant suitable for a host they wind 

 themselves around its stem and at places of close contact send haus- 

 toria through its bark to the wood, and, the cells of the two uniting, 

 the parasite draws its food from the plant attacked. Thus firmly 

 estal)lished. the part of the stem of the parasit(> connecting it with the 

 ground dies, and it depends henceforth entii-ely for its nourishment 

 on its host. The chloroph3'll-bearing slirul)l)y parasites of trees are 

 represented by a single speeies, the American mistletoe {Phoradendron 

 flavesce)i><). 



The so-called hemiparasites — green herbs which fasten themselves 

 by their lateral rootlets upon the roots of their host — are only partly 

 dependent upon assimilated food material. These half -parasites belong 

 mosth" to the figwort family, examples being Canadian lousewort 

 {Pedicularis ainaden-sis)^ painted cup {(kistiJIeja canade/isls)^ and sev- 

 eral Gerardias. The number of plants subsisting in this wa}' has not 

 been ascertained, l)ut outside of the Scrophidariaceae, Comandra and 

 Darbya are also supposed to lie hemi-parasites. 



INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS. 



A class of these plants inhabit the bogs of peat mosses and the damp 

 flat open pine barrens of the Coast plain, consisting of sarracenias 

 (Sarracenia), sundews (Drosera), butterworts (Pinguicula); and others, 

 viz, the })ladderworts (Utricularia), inhabit stagnant or still-flowing 

 waters of shallow pools, ponds, lakes, and streams, floating upon the 

 surface of the water or immersed. It is evident that by the facult\" of 

 appropriating animal substances for their nourishment, nature has 

 provided these plants with an additional supply of nitrogenous food 

 which the sterile soil, extremely deficient in the elements required for 

 plant nutrition, does not contain. In order that the}^ may get hold of 

 the animals serving them for food the}' are endowed with peculiar 

 appliances of a highly specialized character, as, for example, the 



