THE DODDER 



dent life by the plant's own exertions to these last " pure 

 parasites,*" which are entirely dependent on other plants for 

 everything that they require. 



The only other flowering plant which we shall mention in 

 this chapter is now fortunately very rare in Great Britain. 

 This is the Dodder, Cuscuta, It belongs to the Convolvulus 

 or Bindweed order, but is entirely different from the rest of 

 the family. Some climbing plants do throttle or choke the 

 trunks of young trees if they twine round them too closely, 

 but the Dodder has an entirely special and peculiar way of 

 supporting itself to the detriment of others. It has no 

 roots, no leaves, and scarcely any green chlorophyll ; the 

 Dodder is just a twining, thread-like, yellowish stem which 

 caiTies here and there small round clusters of little convol- 

 vulus-like flowers. Wherever the Dodder thread twines 

 round a hop or other plant, it puts out small suckers which 

 drive their way into the stem of the hop and take from it 

 all the food which the Dodder requires. When well de- 

 veloped it forms dense yellowish tangles of intricately en- 

 twined threads, which may cover whole bushes and entirely 

 destroy the supporting plants. The Flax, Clover, and Hop 

 Dodders are perhaps the worst of them all. 



There are some rather interesting points in the history of 

 the tiny dodder-seedling. It remains, quietly waiting, for 

 about a month after most other plants have germinated. 



Then it begins to grow rapidly : its tip pierces the soil 

 and becomes fixed in it ; then the rest of the little thread- 

 like seedling begins to curve round or revolve. If it touches 

 a grass or even a nettle stem, it twines itself or coils round 

 it, drives in its suckers, and, on the strength of the nourish- 

 ment which it extracts, it goes on revolving or turning until 

 it forms the dense tangled masses referred to. 



338 



