LABURNUM, BROOM, AND GORSE 



well protected with stings or thorns against the 

 attacks of their soft-nosed assailants. Yet the 

 broom, without a single sting or prickle to protect 

 it, grows alongside its well-armed neighbours and 

 there holds its own, and fearlessly lifts into sight 

 its golden blossom. 



The broom, nevertheless, has not been able to 

 overlook this all-important matter of protection. 

 It does not however, seek to drive off its enemies 

 with the point of the bayonet ; its method is of 

 a far more peaceful kind ; it prefers to starve 

 them off. From bitter experience it has dis- 

 covered that its leaves offered the most tempting 

 morsels ; a serious problem to face, indeed, be- 

 cause the leaves are its feeding organs. They 

 absorbed its gaseous food from the atmosphere 

 from which it largely builds its structure. Never- 

 theless, the broom has slowly worked out its 

 own salvation. It has gradually reduced its leaves 

 in size until they have become so insignificant 

 that they are scarcely worth the attention of 

 herbivorous animals. 



How, we may well ask, has the broom been 

 able so to dispense with those all-important 

 feeding organs, its leaves ? If you will glance at 

 the wiry branches, you will find that these are 

 green, and therein lies the broom's secret ; its 

 branches now largely carry on the functions of its 

 lost leaf area, and owing to some bitter and 

 nauseous deposit within them, these branches are 

 distasteful to browsing animals and consequently 

 are left alone so long as other food is obtainable. 



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