n8 DODDER ON CLOVER 



A plant exhibiting so many exceptions to 

 the laws which govern ordinary plant-life 

 must of necessity possess some points of 

 interest in its structure and habits. Omitting 

 minute details, dodders are plants with 

 yellowish or reddish, leafless, threadlike stems, 

 the leaves being represented by a few small 

 transparent scales. The small bell-shaped 

 flowers are packed closely together in clusters. 

 The threadlike stems are furnished with 

 numerous very small suckers with which the 

 parasite attaches itself to its host. 



It is extremely common to find seeds 

 of dodder amongst impure clover seeds im- 

 ported from the Continent. It is not always 

 easy to sift dodder from the clover. Clover 

 seeds send their roots deep into the earth, 

 while the dodder seeds are sending their 

 threads into the air in search of a host on 

 which to live parasitically. Ultimately they 

 succeed in reaching the young clover seed- 

 lings. When the dodder twines round a 

 seedling clover the rapidly-growing clover 

 carries the dodder away from the ground. As 



