What is a Weed? 153 



Much the same procedure is followed by the 

 various species of broom-rape. Of the two species 

 fairly common in this country, one is parasitic 

 upon broom and gorse, and the other, like the 

 dodder, upon clover. Their pale, fleshy stems and 

 flowers are often seen in early summer in clover 

 fields, and attract attention (like those similar 

 parasites, the toothworts and the bird's-nest orchid) 

 from their lack of the wholesome tinge of green 

 which is proper to vegetation. This sickly hue is 

 a sign that these parasites do not extract food 

 for themselves from the air, as even the mistletoe 

 does, but feed on the juices of the plants to the 

 roots of which they are attached. Besides these 

 thoroughgoing parasites, which suggest unhealthy 

 habits by their pasty complexions, there are several 

 other plants which are apparently parasitic to the 

 same extent as the mistletoe. Though they extract 

 part of their nutriment from the air, and accordingly 

 have normal green leaves, their roots are attached 

 to those of various other plants of marshes and 

 meadows, as those of the mistletoe are to the 

 apple-bough. Among these secret parasites are 

 the yellow rattle of hayfields, the red rattle of wet 

 grass slopes, the gay little eyebright of hillsides 

 and upland commons, and the cow-wheat of the 

 May copses, with its small yellow blossoms mouthed 

 like those of the snapdragon. Of all these, the 

 only really mischievous weed, from the farmer's 

 point of view, is the yellow rattle, which seems 

 most often to come to the fore in English hay- 

 fields after a droughty May, when the poorness 



