BY W. P. BLAKIOLY. 11 



it is only pai-tly dependent upon the host tor its food supply, which consists 

 ■chiefly of moisture and mineral food derived from the host through its haustoria 

 or sucking roots. Being possessed of green leaves, it is able to make the rest 

 of its food by photosynthesis. 



J. D. Campbell (Text Book of Botany, p. SOO) refers to the Loranth as a 

 semi-parasite, because it possesses chlorophyll, "and can therefore assimilate 

 carbon-dioxide, nevertheless it penetrates the tissues of other plants and takes 

 food from them." 



It appears that Loranthus is capable of extracting- injurious properties from 

 its host as shown in the case of L.. namaquanus, a South African species found 

 pai'asitic on Melianthus comosus, a well-known poisonous plant. According to 

 a record by Marloth (Flora South Africa, vol. i., p. 167) "The Loranthus . . . 

 is eagerly eaten by animals, and farmers state that they have lost goats which 

 had eaten some Loranthus that was growing on Melianthus. If the animals had 

 not really eaten some of the Melianthus together with the Loranthus, this oc- 

 curi'ence would indicate that the poisonous principle had passed from the host 

 into the parasite growing on it." It is generally understood that species of 

 Loranthus are detrimental to the trees and shrubs upon which they gTow, but 

 are not wholly injurious, except in extreme cases, where vegetation is im- 

 poverished. They have the tendency of disflgniring forest trees, rather than des- 

 troying them altogether, as it would be unnatural for them to destroy the source 

 of their food supply; the greatest danger is wlien they become attached to young 

 trees in the sapling stage ; it is then that the greatest amount of damage is done, 

 as the young tree is quickly deformed and rendered useless for all purposes. On 

 the other hand, when large or mature trees are infected by these parasites it is 

 only the branches that are affected, and, in the majority of cases, it is quite a 

 long time before any injury is noticed, the usual result being the loss of the 

 upper portion of the branch, the parasite taking its place; in the course of time, 

 it entirely surrounds the end of the branch and appears to preserve it from 

 further decay by excluding the air and rain by ■ its gTowth. In the majority 

 of eases it is the small branches that suffer most; the larger ones appear to be 

 more capable of resisting the growth of tlae parasite, perhaps on account of the 

 diminution of the cambium layer. The young branches are more sappy and 

 afford better facilities for the spread of the haustoria, which sometimes encircle 

 the young branch, and hence, the flow of the sap is cut off from the terminal 

 portion which dies, and in a number of cases falls off. 



Anyone who has given attention to this group of plants must be imjoressed 

 with the fact that all parasitism of this family is purely accidental; moreover, 

 owing to the stickj' nature of the seeds, and the simple manner in which they 

 are dislodged from the ripe fruits, every inducement is offered to accidental 

 parasitism in every ease. When the fruit is ripe it is easily dislodged, and 

 many are displaced by strong winds, which act as a distributing agent, as well 

 as birds and other animals that feed upon the ripe fruits or come in contact 

 with them, so that the assortment of host plants of any particular species de- 

 pends largely upon circumstances. 



The seeds have been found a.dhering to many objects. The seed of the 

 European mistletoe, Viseiim album L., has been noted by many observers sus- 

 pended from telegTaph and telephone wires, and we have a similar example, in 

 the case brought under my notice by Mr. A. Cox, of Mudgee, who found seeds 

 of L. mlraeulosus Miq. hanging from a wire fence; surrounding an orchard. Three 

 seeds were suspended by a thread of visein, the seeds being half an inch a)5art. 



