392 



PLANT PECULIARITIES 



matter, usually wood, 

 just below the soil. A 

 fungus which grows on 

 the roots helps them to 

 absorb this prepared 

 food. 



Mistletoe. — We are 

 most familiar with this 

 plant as a part of our 

 Christmas decorations. 

 Mistletoe has chlorophyll 

 and so is able to manu- 

 facture its own food, but 

 it has no roots for ab- 

 sorbing water, making it 

 dependent on a larger 

 plant for this necessary 

 part of its vital condi- 

 tions. The plant possesses absorbing organs which pierce 

 the bark of the trees upon which it grows. As a result it 

 does much injury to the trees by using the water which 

 they need for their own life processes. In the South, 

 for instance, the mistle- 

 toe is regarded as a 

 great pest. 



274. Movements of 

 Plants. — Most plants 

 move slowly and only 

 in response to one of 

 several stimuli. Touch, 

 or contact, is the stimu- 

 lus in the case of sun- 

 dew and Venus's fly- 

 trap, both of which are Figure 429. — White Waterlily. 



Figure 428. — Photograph of Birch 

 Roots. 



Growing over the surface of a boulder. 



