ROOT THIEVES 



plants are not very remarkable in any way, but if one 

 examines them closely one sees that the leaves and stems are 

 more purplish-red than is at all usual with our ordinary 

 flowering plants. But if you dig up some specimens very 

 carefully, then the wickedness of the Yellow Rattle and 

 Eyebright becomes apparent ; every here and there upon 

 their roots are little whitish swellings which are firmly 

 attached to the roots of other plants (generally of grasses). 

 These two robber plants send from these swellings minute 

 sucker-roots which pierce into the grass-root and intercept 

 the water which the grass has been absorbing for itself. 



They are therefore parasites, and indeed they may cause a 

 considerable loss of forage in a meadow. 



A good many other British plants are root thieves. 

 Besides these two, there are the Cow-wheat, Red Rattles, 

 Toadflax, Broomrapes, and Toothwort. 



A curious point about them is that they differ amongst 

 themselves in the degree in which they are dependent on the 

 work of others. Some are able to grow quite well without any 

 such extraneous help, but the Broomrape and Toothwort are 

 entirely dependent on others' labours. They have extremely 

 little chlorophyll and very small leaves, and are clearly 

 parasites " pure and simple." 



There are about 180 species of Broomrape (Orobanche). 

 All of them attack roots, and most confine their attentions 

 to one particular flowering plant. Their colours are 

 generally very striking and unusual. Our British species 

 are reddish, flesh-coloured, or dirty white, but some of the 

 foreign kinds are blue or violet, yellow, or yellowish to dark 

 brown. Generally the seedling Broomrape worms its way 

 down into the earth till its root-tip touches the root of its 

 special favouiite host, then the root of the Broomrape fixes 



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