Fretp.—On Loranthus fieldii. 289 
a dark greyish-brown colour, approaching to black. It is smooth or very 
slightly roughened, and extends longitudinally, both upwards and down- 
wards, along the branch on which the plant grows. It adheres so firmly to 
the bark of the birch, that it will drag the latter away from the wood of the 
tree rather than loose its own hold. At intervals short lateral rootlets 
branch out and clasp the branch. Plants often grow on branches far 
smaller than themselves. Thus one with roots from 1-14 inches thick will 
grow on a branch no thicker than a man’s little finger, which of course 
bends down with the weight, so that the Loranthus swings about with every 
breath of air. From this it might be inferred that the plant was an 
epiphyte, drawing little or none of its sustenance from the branch on which 
it grows. It is, however, unquestionably a parasite, nourished by the sap 
of the parent tree. When cutting a line 40 feet wide for nearly six miles 
through the bush, for the Wanganui-Taupo road, in September and 
October, 1882, my men felled many scores of trees on which the plant was 
growing. These all blossomed, but died soon afterwards, as the felled trees 
withered. 
In February last I brought down two small plants with me, cutting off 
the branches on which they grew, without injuring the roots. I bound 
these branches and roots in moss, so that the plants looked as fresh as ever 
when I reached home. I planted one (branch and all) in a shady part of 
my garden, and hung the other (moss and all) under a bench in my green- 
house. Both, however, died without developing their fruit, proving that the 
birch sap is necessary to them. 
The roots of the Loranthus are flattened or hollow where they touch the 
birch branches, and when on a branch smaller than itself, the root sur- 
rounds the branch to a greater or less extent. The stems are of the 
same colour as the roots. The blossoms are yellow at their bases, but 
shade gradually through orange and scarlet to crimson, and even 
carmine, at their tips. They are from 1-1} inches long. They open very 
peculiarly. A very small proportion (certainly less than a tenth) open 
from the apex of the petals downwards, in the ordinary manner of flowers. 
In the remainder the petals become detached at their bases from the fruit 
beneath them, and roll upwards and outwards like those of the rewarewa - 
blossoms. The upper portions of the petals, however, still adhere to each 
other, and clasp the stamen firmly. The result is that the stamen bends 
downwards, and supports the flower in an inverted position. Ultimately 
the stamen breaks, and its upper end falls to the ground with the petals 
still attached to it. In the lower forests, on the level of the Karioi plain, 
the plant blossoms in November and December; but near the upper margin 
of the bush, on the slope of Ruapehu, it was in full bloom at the end of 
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