The Red Rattle 



independence, and Nature will ultimately take her 

 revenge. Witness its relatives, the broomrapes and 

 the toothwort, which are whole-hearted parasites, 

 and could be nothing more now if they would, for, 

 through non-use, they have lost their leaves and 

 their green colouring matter— in fact, their whole 

 machinery for working up their raw food. 



It is a pretty little plant with much divided 

 feathery leaves and flowers of a beautiful rose-pink 

 colour, and one would never suspect from its appear- 

 ance that it was of the clan of parasites even in a 

 minor degree unless, indeed, suspicion were aroused 

 (as often happens in our world) by a too intimate 

 knowledge of the habits of its near relatives, such 

 as the cow-wheat, the eyebright and the common 

 rattle. Over all these the dark shadow of parasitism 

 rests, and careful observers have tracked suckers 

 from their roots passing over to the roots of grasses 

 and meadow plants around. The suckers encircle 

 these roots and cling to them, penetrating their 



surface and absorbing their life-juices, and quickly 



19 



