62 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 



the last remnants of lost leaves. At the begin- 

 ning of this interesting plant's life, the seed ger- 

 minates in the earth, as if it intended to grow 

 and work as other plants do; soon, however, the 

 delicate little vine begins reaching up for aid, until 

 it has grown tall enough to reach a clover, or a 

 flax plant, to which it immediately attaches itself 

 by means of little filaments or suckers. As soon as 

 it has a firm grasp on some healthy plant, it begins 

 to wither near the ground, and soon all connection 

 with the earth is broken. Thus the dodder crawls 

 and twists itself over the heads of numerous plants 

 like a writhing snake, binding them fast with its 

 vampire suckers and taking its food directly from 

 them flourishing at their expense, a thief and a 

 robber indeed! 



The other habits of this strange robber are strik- 

 ingly like those of its honest cousins, the cypress 

 vine and the morning-glory. It often grows many 

 feet in length, twining itself about the tops and 

 leaves of plants, and sewing them together like 

 bunches of cord-bound stems. Its flowers are of 

 a pale, whitish hue, and are almost bell-shaped, 

 growing in small, ivory-like clusters. In the South 

 it is not uncommon to see large fields of weeds 

 literally yellow with the death-twining cords of the 

 dodder; each closely sewed to its neighbour by this 



