90 Minnesota Plant Life. 



like plants, and that on account of long association with the 

 roots they have abandoned their fruiting habits. Seemingly 

 they are able to maintain themselves without going to the 

 trouble of fruiting, and in a sense they may be regarded as form- 

 ing a partnership with the higher plants to which they have at- 

 tached themselves. They can scarcely be called parasites be- 

 cause their presence is not harmful to the higher plant, but, 

 rather, as has been explained, beneficial, because they enable it 

 to use substances in its nutrition which would otherwise be be- 

 yond its power to absorb from the soil. Among the bacteria 

 there are similar partnerships with higher plants, and they will 

 be considered in their place. 



Ear-fungi. There are some other obscure forms of fungi, 

 such as the curious little necklace-like bodies, which sometimes 

 live in the ears and throats of birds and animals. They may 

 be considered as truly parasitic, but it is not easy to say exactly 

 where they belong in an orderly classification. Sometimes they 

 attack men and women and the bad habit of dropping sweet-oil 

 in the ear as a remedy for ear-ache may stimulate their growth. 



