242 



SAGACITY AND MORALITY OF PLANTS. 



incorporate themselves with the tissues so thoroughly 

 that it is difficult to detect any strong line of de- 

 marcation between the two. 



The natural order LoranthacecE, to which the 

 Mistletoe belongs, is peculiarly a tropical one, so that 

 our well-known plant is out of its latitude in Eng- 

 land. Many of its tropical brethren differ from it 

 in possessing large and brilliant flowers. But the 

 parasitical habit is even more extreme in some 

 foreign kinds than in our own. 



Fig. 85. — Mistletoe of the 03k{Loranth»s EnroJ>csus); a. Flower; b. Fruit. 



Gosse describes the habits of a Jamaican species 

 as follows : " What interests me most in this place 

 is a flourishing Mistletoe, or God-bush as the negroes 

 call it. It is growing on a Sour-sop {Anona imiricata), 

 a tree which it principally affects, overspreading 

 every branch, and effectually, though gradually, 

 killing its supporter. The seeds are viscous, and 

 are to be seen sticking on the leaves and twigs, as 

 well as on the trunk ; in every instance rooting and 

 shooting where they adhere ; so that hundreds, 

 perhaps I might say thousands, of young plants. 



