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induced someone with a strong imagination to call the 

 shrub Cherry, and gave rise to the painful exaggeration 

 that in Australia the cherries bore their stones on the 

 outside. The fleshy stalk is of much use as an aid to 

 dispersal. Native pigeons are very fond of it, and swallow 

 the whole fruit. The ovaries are resistant to digestive 

 juices, and are subsequently distributed far and wide. 



Eyebright is a pretty little herb, common from seashore 

 to mountain plateaux. The flowers are numerous, irregu- 

 larly two-lipped, white or mauve, sometimes striped, and 

 with yellow markings. Though the leaves are fairly 

 developed, the plants always appear to avail themselves- 

 of the roots of others to increase their supply of food. 

 There are probably other partial parasites that patient 

 examination will reveal. 



Pink-spotted Orchid and Native Potato, both of which 

 have been sufficiently described in the last chapter, have 

 a similar habit. They do not develop plant-green, but in 

 very early life attach themselves to the roots of other 

 plants, at whose expense they grow. For a long time they 

 remain underground, gradually storing up food in rather 

 large tubers. When sufficient is accumulated and con- 

 ditions are favourable, they proceed to send up into the air 

 their large inflorescences. Though the stem dies after 

 seed is matured, the underground portion, lives on for some 

 years till the roots supplying food ceases to be available. 



Our Native Mistletoe is very badly named, as it is no 

 relation to either European or Australian Mistletoe; 

 also, it is very unlike either. The structure of the flower 

 shows it to be a true Laurel. This confusion of popular 

 names is not confined to Australia, and is one of the 

 reasons why botanists do not use popular names oftener. 

 Such use would only cause hopeless confusion. Our com- 

 mon Native Laurel has no right to the name. The Euro- 

 pean Laurel so common in English and Tasmanian gardens 

 also is no Laurel; it is a plum. The imported Baytree is a 

 true Laurel, Laurus nobilis; our Mistletoe is another. Till 

 we can establish a uniform and sensible list of popular 

 names, the gentle public must bear with the pain inflicted 

 by scientific appellations. Well, of these little plants, which 

 we will not call Mistletoe, but by their proper name, 

 Cassytha, we have three species ; they are all wiry leafless 

 parasites that form string-like tangles on shrubs. They 

 have no connection with the ground, but wind themselves 

 round the branches of their hosts, and here and there, 

 where they touch, they form little cushions of tissue, in 



