274 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Dec. 1, 1865. 



ting the mistletoe ; and that by seeds alone does the 

 plant take entire possession of the tree. During 

 last winter I examined some scores of trees of 

 different kinds, chiefly apple, poplar, and thorn, and 

 found seeds deposited on them in large numbers 

 and large masses by birds. In the notes to an 



Fig. I . Vertical section of tlie fruit. 

 ,, 2. Vertical section of the seed. 

 ,, 3. (From Baxter) showing the way in which the 

 radicles extend themselves. 



edition of Evelyn's Sylva by Dr. A. Hunter, 1776, 1 

 find : — " It is the opinion of some that it is propa- 

 gated by the Misleto-Thrush, which, feeding upon the 

 berries, leaves the seeds v/ith its duug upon the 

 branches of the respective trees where the plant is 

 commonly found. Others say, that as the berries 

 are extremely glutinous, the seeds frequently stick 

 to the beaks of those birds, which being rubbed off 

 upon the branches of trees, they become inoculated, 

 as it were, and take root. In the same manner the 

 Misleto may be propagated by art ; for if the berries, 

 when fully ripe, be rubbed off upon the smooth part 

 of the bark of almost any tree, they will adhere 

 closely, and produce plants the following winter." 

 Adopting the suggesticn expressed by Dr. Hunter, 

 I see no difhculty in the fact that the plant is found 

 on the under side of a bough. Or again ; we all 

 know that water running on the surface of a cylin- 

 drical body does not fall off from the side, but by 

 attraction follows the surface, unless diverted, to the 

 middle of the under surface. Might not the rain 

 thus gradually carry down, or leave in an inter- 

 mediate position, the seeds deposited by a bird P The 

 viscid matter enveloping the seed would still be 

 adhesive enough to keep the seed attached to the 

 bough. As an instance of this viscidity, on December 

 23rd last, I found a mass of seeds deposited by a bird 

 on a painted gate-post. After all the storms of rain 

 and snow and the severe frosts which wc had during 

 January and the beginning of Eebruary, the mass 

 was there still, and showed no sign of falling from 

 the painted surface of the post. The seeds, after 

 having been deposited, have a great enemy in the 

 Great Tit, and very probably in other birds too. On 

 one occasion I climbed a tree covered with Mistletoe, 

 and found numbers of seeds rifled, leaving the mere 

 integument. Eive minutes' watching showed a 

 Great Tit at work upon a mass on another tree. 

 I have not yet found a large per-centage of plants 



on the under side of the branches, but on the con- 

 trary have found them on the upper side or edge. 



No matter in what position the seed is sown, 

 the same plane of growth continues throughout, 

 and the plant does not bend upwards, as plants 

 generally do. 



The old moss and lichen-covered trunks of apple- 

 trees I have, last winter, seen covered with such 

 clusters of young plants as one would expect to find 

 from the successful germination of masses of seeds 

 like those I have noticed deposited on all parts of 

 trunks. 



It may be asked : — " Why is not the Mistletoe more 

 widely spread, if birds carry the seeds ? " This is 

 easily answered by the facts ; first, that the plants 

 are dioecious, and therefore the chances are numerous 

 against the seed possessing the principle of life. The 

 majority of plants in an orchard of several acres 



Fig. 4. Section across the grain of api)le. 

 ,, 5. Section across the gi'ain of ash. 

 ,, 6. Section down the grain of apple. 



which I examined were pistiliferous. Out of fifteen 

 trees which I specially examined, twelve bore only 

 pistiliferous, two Ijoth pistiliferous and staminiferous, 

 and one staminiferous plants only. Secondl.y, many 

 seeds will be annually destroyed by such birds as 

 the Tits. 



The seed being deposited, no matter in what posi- 

 tion with regard to the bough, the radicles are directed 

 to the bark, and the root penetrates to the heart of 

 the wood. I have cut specimens having the plants 

 growing in every possible direction, and yet a section 

 vertical to the plane of growth of the bough on which 

 it is found, always exhibits the root forcing its way 

 to the heart of the wood or beyond the heart, at right 

 angles to a tangent drawn from the point of contact 



