64 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 



last the Murderer Liana reaches the sunlight above, 

 its leaves flapping insolently into the face of the 

 tree which has helped it to ascend, and which is 

 slowly dying in the choking embrace of the many 

 tightening vampire arms. Eventually the sap of 

 the upright tree is stopped from flowing, and it 

 dies, its dead leaves falling withered to the ground, 

 while the unscrupulous Murderer Liana waves its 

 leaves in the breeze as if exulting over the dead and 

 decaying corpse which it still holds in its grasp. 



One of the best-known parasites, or, one might 

 say, petty thieves, as it actually does give some- 

 thing in return for the abundance it receives, is 

 the common mistletoe. It is an evergreen plant 

 with lemon-greenish leaves, which, unlike those of 

 many parasitic plants, do perform the function of 

 leaves; and it is commonly found on oak, poplar, 

 elm, apple, pecan, and many other trees. It ger- 

 minates from tiny seeds, which are covered with a 

 sticky fluid, and which have been carried by birds 

 and planted on the host-tree. 



Perhaps no other form of plant life is so de- 

 pendent on the birds as mistletoe. 



When the seeds, left by the bird planter, have 

 germinated they begin to send down a tiny 

 rootlet into the bark of the tree. As the branch 

 of the tree-host continues to grow, the mistletoe 



