ROOTS h^ 



leax'cs, and yet, if \\c rcin<)\c a little Dftbe soil the 

 plant will be found to be allaebed to, and i;r(n\in,L( 

 from tbe roots of some strong' ]<iii(l of i^rass, anrl is 

 clerivin<^ its nourishment from the f(jocl collected 

 by those i^rass roots. 



\'ellow rattle i;rows al)undanll\' in imdrained 

 marsh\- fields, where it is easv to obtain the plant, 

 so as to exanniK- its mode of L;nw\th. We ma\- tlien 

 ^u on to a clo\er-ficld and seek for that true para- 

 site and most troublesome enenu' to the farmer, 

 the elowr-dodder (('//sc7//(/ trifolii ,. Its seeds are 

 lre([uentl\' m'xed with the clo\er, and when 

 sown they L^erminate on the surface, but the 

 little threaddike stem, instead of entering the 

 ground, feels about in the air until it reaches a 

 young clover-plant. It soon clasps its victim 

 with its fast-grow ing stem ; as the clover grows 

 the dodder coils around it and is carried away 

 from the ground. 



As the w ir)' stem gains strength, it developes a 

 .series of suckers that eat into the clo\er stem and 

 rob it of the food it has collected ; it li\es, flowers, 

 and grows at the other's expense. The rate of 

 growth of the dodder exceeds that of the clover, so 



