ox CrSCUTA GROXOVTI. 173 



8 A.M., March 21, was one inch long, with tip doubled back and 

 coiled once about itself like a whip upon its stalk. All was white 

 but the coiled tip. At 10 a.m. it had more nearly uncoiled and 

 had gained one-fourth inch in length in the two hours : at twelve 

 it was erect and slightly elongated ; at 6 p.m. its length was one 

 and one-half inches and its inclination toward the nearest host. 

 Measurement at 8 a.m , March 22, showed it to have gained 

 three-fourths of an inch in twenty-four hours — one-third of that 

 length between 8 and 10 a.m. Careful observation between the 

 corresponding hours the second day showed the same gain, sug- 

 gesting, what experiments with other seedlings seemed to 

 corroborate, that 8 to 10 a.m. represented the maximum period of 

 growth. The plantlet was then, at the height of two inches, 

 touching its host. Contact caused it to coil like a tendril, 

 although it was several times disturbed and shaken from its 

 support, so that at 8 a.m., Saturday, the 24th, three days after 

 germination, it was fast to its host with two close coils about the 

 stem. Growth in length now ceased for several days, all its 

 energy being expended in producing suckers and thrusting the 

 haustoria into the host. March 26 the suckers were well 

 developed, the root portion was brown and useless, the reservoir 

 above the rhizoid portion exhausted of supplies, and the plant 

 apparently in position for an easy hfe. During this time the 

 nutation of the tip of the seedling was opposite to the course of 

 the sun. 



From observation upon this and other plants it was evident 

 that there is a limit to the size of stem they are able to encircle, 

 and that the diameter must be small. One that I noticed 

 attempting to surround a large geranium stem was unequal to the 

 task, and coiled back upon itself twice upon the side of the trunk. 

 Plants showed very little discrimination in the selection of hosts, 

 attacking everything that offered support — dead and dying stems, 

 as well as fresh ones, and even the rim of the flower-pot. They 

 usually recoiled after one turn about a dead twig, and extended 

 the tip further unless the root had been lifted from the soil. 

 When a suitable host was obtained, the tip nestled down close to 

 it and did not attempt further wandering. 



We failed, for a long time, in all our attempts to cultivate the 



