LESSER BROOM ^k^Y..— Orohanclie 

 minor. 



Class DiDYNAMiA. Order Angiospermia. Nat. Ord. Oroban- 

 CHE^. — Broom-rape Tribe. 



There is something so peculiar in the general 

 aspect of parasitic plants, that they may usually 

 be at once recognised as such, by any one 

 familiar Avith flowers. The true parasite fixes 

 on the root or trunk of another vegetable, 

 deriving its nourishment from its juices, and 

 is therefore not like the moss or lichen, which 

 hangs on the tree, but draws no nutriment 

 from it. We have few native parasitic plants ; 

 and the greater number of them have that 

 brownish dull tinge which at first sight 

 would lead us to suppose them to be half 

 withered. They are distinguished, too, by the 

 absence of leaves. 



In many cases parasites gro»w only on certain 

 plants, in others they infest various vegetables. 

 Of the Lesser Broom Rape there are several 

 varieties, which grow^ on the roots of clover, 

 ivy, sea carrot, and other plants. It is not an 

 unfrequent flower in the clover-field, during the 

 months of July and August. It varies from 

 half a foot to more than a foot and a half in 

 height, and its blossoms are, in its varieties, 

 more or less tinged with a dingy purple and yel- 



