106 



PLANT STUDIES 



that of the banyan tree, whose wide-spreading branches 

 are supported by prop roots, which are sometimes very 

 numerous (see Fig. 101). The immense banyans usually 



illustrated are 

 especially culti- 

 vated as sacred 

 trees, the prop 

 roots being as- 

 sisted in pene- 

 trating the soil. 

 There is record 

 of such a tree in 

 Ceylon with 350 

 large and 3,000 

 small prop roots, 

 able to cover a 

 village of 100 

 huts. 



69. Parasites. 

 — Besides the 

 roots mentioned 

 above, certain 

 plants develop 

 root-like pro- 

 cesses which re- 

 late them t o li osts. 

 A host is a liv- 

 ing plant or 

 animal upon 

 which some 

 other plant or 

 animal is living 

 as a parasite. 

 The parasite gets its supplies from the host, and must be 

 related to it properly. If the parasite grows upon the 

 surface of its host, it must penetrate the body to obtain 



Fig. 103. A dodder plant parasitic on a willow twig. The 

 leafless dodder twines about the willow, and sends out 

 sucking processes which penetrate and absorb. — After 

 Stkasburger. 



