84 IN LOWER FLORIDA WILDS 



so tenaciously to any object with which they come 

 in contact. Some of the members of the same 

 family to which the Mentzilia belongs are pro- 

 vided with stinging hairs which serve to keep the 

 plants from being molested, but the hairs of this 

 species do not sting. They are intended merely 

 to catch and hold on to whatever touches them. 

 Fortunately a plant of this species came up in my 

 yard one spring and grew with great vigor during 

 the entire season, finally covering a space twenty 

 feet square, scrambling over other vegetation and 

 up the lattice of my piazza. In the fall it bloomed 

 and seeded profusely, thus giving me an excellent 

 opportunity to observe and study it. I thought 

 it possible that the branches when dropped might 

 throw out roots and form new plants as do those 

 of certain Cacti. I tore off a number and scat- 

 tered them in all kinds of situations, even putting 

 a few in my slat-covered plant house, but all 

 withered and died. 



The club-shaped seed vessels are covered with 

 barbed prickles and filled with pulp containing 

 a half dozen rather large, singular-looking seeds. 

 These are black and rough, somewhat elongated 

 and flattened, with two encircling ridges having 



