BOYCE PLANTS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENTS 325 



suspended in liquids; truffles are surrounded by soil; water- 

 lilies are found enjoying a mixed media of earth and water; Hygro- 

 phytes, those plants which love to live exclusively in water, 

 stand in bold contrast to the Xeroph^^tes, which belong to the 

 desert solely. The camel has imitators in the last mentioned 

 group, as they absorb water rapidly and store it carefully. Be- 

 lievers in comm.unities and co-operative kitchens find their follow- 

 ers in the plants dependent upon each other, as Symbiosis, a 

 helpful living together has been found in all the great groups. 

 The algae and fungi are perhaps the most noted examples. These 

 last are important individuals, as the chief sources of soil and 

 food supplies in certain regions. Not the least of their efforts 

 is the habit of giving up previous duties to companion plants 

 and assum.ing another work in the Symbiotic relation. 



Dependent individuals may find their followers in the plants 

 which belong to the Micorhiza group, which depend upon an- 

 other plant for hfe, as in the filamentous fungus which interweaves 

 among the rootlets of the Legumes, or the root tubercles of the 

 Leguminosae. The ubiquitous clover, it has long been known, 

 can always be an annual crop on any kind of soil. This is possible 

 through the nitrifying bacteria which swarm in the tubercles. 



The problem of protection against animal depredations is 

 successfully solved by many plants; in the acrid juice of the Aco- 

 nite; felty coverings of the Mullein; thorn of the Rose; in the 

 objectionable odor of the Skunk-Cabbage; the tough skin contain- 

 ing silica of the Bear-berry; the water receptacles of other plants; 

 the stinging hairs of the Nettle, and the metamorphosed leaf 

 of the Barberry. 



A curious defense, mentioned by many authors, is a friendly 

 anny of ants, to whom all other insects and caterpillars are intruders. 

 When the environments are cold, the green tissue exposes itself 

 as little as possible and generally with a coating of felt. Close 

 setting- of leaves protect from cold. Then, it is not possible 

 to sufficiently admire the devices for shedding, collecting, ab- 

 sorbing and conducting rain. The Ombrophilous, or rain-lovers, 

 are here contrasted with the Ombrophobic, or rain-haters. 



Linnae discovered Myctitropis Phenomena, and styled it the 

 "Sleep of plants." He watched carefully for a certain flower to 

 bloom, but the leaves so skillfully hid the blossom that the gar- 



