176 PARASITIC PLANTS. 



of ground. This fact is of great importance to 

 the parasite, because when it germinates peren- 

 nial plants have already sent up stems from their 

 underground rootstocks. If the seed had germi- 

 nated early in spring, it would not easily have 

 found a support in its immediate neighborhood, 

 while later, the stem of an annual, or the sprout of 

 a perennial plant, is seldom wanting about which 

 it can wind. 



" In germination the spirally rolled embryo 

 stretches itself, makes a turn to the left, takes the 

 form of a bow, and pushes out its club-shaped end 

 from the seed-coats (Fig. 45, a to/). This enters 

 the ground and there clings to withered leaves, etc. 

 The small end of the filiform embryo, still sur- 

 rounded by the seed-coats and the albumen, raises 

 itself in the opposite direction. Further growth 

 does not take place at either end, but in the middle 

 of the thread, and is very rapid, so that on the 

 fifth day the whole seedling has lengthened itself 

 fourfold. On the third day of germination the 

 seed-coats, covering the upper end, are thrown off, 

 and the apex of the seedling is exposed. The store 

 of food provided for the young plant for its journey 

 is now used up, and it is thrown entirely on its 

 own resources. As it has no trace of breathing- 



