go MOUNTAIN AND MOORLAND 



plants, such as Peas, Clovers, and Lupines. This, 

 then, seems to be the secret of the Heather and of 

 other plants in the same family (Ericaceae), that they 

 have entered into a partnership, or symbiosis, with a 

 Fungus. As Dr. Rayner says : " They have solved 

 the problem of growth on poor and unpromising 

 soils, but have solved it at the price of their indepen- 

 dence." The partnership is technically described as 

 " mycorhizic," which means " fungus-rooted." The 

 interesting subject may be followed up in Professor 

 F. O. Bower's "Botany of the Living Plant" (1919), 

 from which we take the following quotation. "The 

 germ is free from the hyphse in the seed, but infec- 

 tion takes place shortly after germination. Without 

 the Fungus, as shown by pure sterile cultures, the 

 seedlings do not develop roots, and though they 

 remain alive for months their growth is stopped. On 

 infection with the right fungus they develop nor- 

 mally. Thus the synthesis (or binding together) of 

 fungus and plant has been experimentally accom- 

 plished. The conclusion is that the Symbiosis is a 

 necessary condition of normal life in the Common 

 Heather. Similar fungal infection of the seeds in the 

 ovary is the rule in other Ericaceae examined." This, 

 then, is another illustration of the close interlinking 

 of the lives of different creatures, to be put alongside 

 of the Lichens which we studied on the top of the 

 mountain. 



Some other members of the heath vegetation 

 deserve consideration. There is the trailing Crow- 

 berry (Empetrum nigrum), with wiry stem and 

 crowded leaves and small black fruits which Grouse 

 are fond of. The leaf has its margins so much bent 



