105 



Sclerolepis uniflora (Walt.) Porter. Atlantic : near Hammon- 

 ton. 



Willugbaeya scandens (L.) Kuntze. Passaic : near Passaic. 

 Senecio obovatus Muhl. Sussex : Lake Hopatcong. 

 Passaic, N. J., April i, 1902. 



NOTES ON TWO PARASITIC PLANTS 



By S. B. Parish 



Cuscuta indecora Choisy. — It is stated by Britton and Brown 

 that " indications of a small amount of coloring matter, possibly 

 chlorophyll, have been observed in one species " of Cuscuta. 

 To which species they refer I do not know, but I remember such 

 a statement, made some years ago in the Bulletin of the Toi'rey 

 Botanical Club, regarding C. Gronovii. 



This spring I had the opportunity of observing a considerable 

 number of seedlings of C. indecora. The seed must have been 

 aggregated in some way, for the plantlets came up in tufts of 

 twenty or more. They were some two inches in length, and not 

 having found hosts were tangled together. Now what at once 

 attracted the attention was that these tufts showed three distinct 

 bands of color. For their lower third the stems were white 

 and somewhat hyaline, indicating that the cell contents had been 

 mostly absorbed. The next third had a very noticeable tint of 

 light-green, possibly — may one not say probably — indicative of 

 the presence of chlorophyll. The remaining third had the usual 

 yellowish color of the species. 



Phoradendron flavescens macrophyllum Engelm. — The 

 books tell us thatbirds, eating the fruit of the mistletoe, distri- 

 bute the seeds by their evacuations. Kerner it is, I think, who 

 adds that as these are watery the heavier seeds are carried down 

 to the under part of the stem of the host, so that the young 

 parasite often makes its appearance in that situation. 



These observations are probably true of Viscum album, the 

 European mistletoe, but it seems to be different with Phoradendron 



