ANATOMICAL AND CHEMICAL RESEAECHES ON THE 

 PAEASITIC PHANEROGAMS OF QUEENSLAND. 



By JOSEPH LAUTERER, M.D. 



[B^ad before the Royal Society of Queensland, July 7, 1895^ 



Only few phanerogams depend for their existence on other 

 phanerogamic plants. They fix their roots in the living tissue of 

 the host and receive the assimilated sap of it into their own tissue. 

 Some of these parasites are altogether destitute of chlorophyll, 

 like the species of Cuscuta and of the half-parasitic genus 

 Monotropa ; some contain only a small amount of true or modi- 

 fied chlorophyll like some species of Orobanche and Viscum ; 

 and others have a splendid green foliage and large showy flowers 

 like the Queensland species of Loranthus. 



Now the question arises, whether the parasitic phanerogams 

 alter chemically the juice of the plant they live on or if they just 

 use the prepared material for building up their cellular and 

 vascular tissues. A fine specimen of Loranthus pendidus growing 

 on an ironbark had to give me the answer to this question. 

 The root of the parasite was deeply inserted into the wood of 

 the tree. The whole of the parasite was taken away and 

 infusions of the different parts were examined for colour 

 reactions, and a very wide gap between the chemical con- 

 stituents of the parasite and that of the host showed 

 itself at once. Infusions of all parts of Eucalyptus siderophloiu 

 are stained delicately blue by ferric acetate ; whereas those of 

 the parasite [Loranthus pendulus) are stained grass-green by ferric 

 salts (which colour is turned into purple by ammonia). Lime- 

 water gives a pink precipitate with infusions of ironbark ; 

 whereas infusions of its parasite make a brown precipitate. 

 Caustic potash, ammonia, sodium, sulphide and potass-cyanide 

 establish a very marked difference between the saps of both 

 plants : the Loranthus of FAicalyptus dderophloia gets pink by 



