AMONG THE WILD FLOWERS. 169 
of these singular plants to germinate in the 
soil adjacent to the plant on which they feed, 
and as soon as their thread-like stems can 
attach themselves to it, which they do by small 
tubercles, they leave the soil, and in due time 
put forth clusters of small whitish waxen- 
looking flowers, remarkable for scales inside 
the tube. Large portions of Clover crops 
are sometimes completely destroyed by the 
ravages of Cuscuta trifolia, Clover Dodder ; 
C. Epithymum is not unfrequent on Ling as 
well as on Thyme and other shrubby plants. 
The stems of the Dodders become numerous, 
and form a tangled mass, so as almost to con- 
ceal their victim. 
