94 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 



proboscidea^ which' has two backward-curving 

 horns, from one and one-half to three inches long, 

 strikingly like miniature buffalo horns. These are 

 very tough and hard, and the two grapples curve 

 in toward their base, forming a half-completed 

 circle, which is peculiarly adapted to catching on 

 to the feet of cattle, sheep, and goats, and occa- 

 sionally hogs. This strange plant is often referred 

 to in writings as the unicorn-plant. It is largely 

 cultivated for its fruit in many parts of the coun- 

 try, but in some places it is a very unwelcome 

 guest. 



Of all horrible, uncanny, and fiendishly wicked 

 plants, the South African grapple-plant has no 

 rival. The very thought of its diabolical ways is 

 enough to make one shudder. It is worse than 

 the Murderer Liana that strangles its victim to 

 death; and it uses the same unscrupulous tyranny 

 and injustice that we might expect to find among 

 the lowest and most uncivilised savages. Nearly 

 all African travellers have mentioned its murderous 

 habits; Dr. Livingstone says: "It has so many 

 hooked thorns as to cling most tenaciously to any 

 animal to which it may become attached. When 

 it happens to lay hold of the mouth of an ox, the 

 animal stands and roars with a sense of pain and 

 helplessness. The fruits when dry are hard and 



