BRITISH PHANEROGAMIC PARASITIC PLANTS. 166 
haustorium has much the same structure asa root penetrating the 
ground; it is arranged into a bundle of elongated cells which grow 
forward at the end. The connection with the earth is very soon 
severed, and once the plant has got a hold of the host spreads very 
rapidly, and, finally, looks like a tangled mass of coarse red hair or 
thread hanging over the gorse bushes. The only organs on these 
threads are a few minute scales, and later on, the flowers and seed 
vessels. It is quite unable, being destitute of chlorophyll, to absorb 
any of the carbon dioxide from the air to build up the growing 
tissues, so it has to depend on its unfortunate host for ready-prepared 
food, which it absorbs through the haustoria. No doubt there is a 
solvent secretion when the haustoria first bud, that softens or partly 
dissolves the hard bark of the gorse, to enable them to first take root 
in the host plant; itis probably an enzyme action in this case as 
with the Mistletoe. ‘The flowers are bell-shaped, like a miniature 
Convolvulus flower, of a pinkish colour, with a strong honey-like 
scent. They are in compact globular heads about the size of a pea, 
each containing about a dozen flowers. The seeds are almost round 
or oval, with irregular angles on the sides where they have pressed 
together in the capsules. They are grey or brown, with rough dotted 
surfaces, and look rather like minute pieces of dry earth. They have 
the power of germinating in the capsule without falling to the 
ground, thus giving the plant a double chance of spreading rapidly, 
The plant looks very pretty in the Spring, covering the gorse with 
bright red patches, which are at first quite small, but in a week or 
two will cover vast areas owing to its rapid growth. No one would 
imagine that this pretty little plant was so destructive. It is called 
in some parts ‘‘ strangle weed,” which is a very appropriate name, as 
it literally puts a noose round the neck of its victim. This and other 
species of the genus having strong acrid qualities and have been used 
in medicine by the old herbalists. This species, when found growing 
on Thyme, was considered the most effective. According to Culpeper, 
it was used in heart and brain complaints. 
