IV 
PLANTS THAT MIMIC 
OR many years botanists have observed the 
striking resemblance between certain harm- 
less unprotected plants and others which are well 
armed by nature to defend themselves; not only 
do plants imitate each other, but frequently they 
imitate many kinds of poisonous insects, moths, 
beetles, lizards, and even rattlesnakes. Certain 
plants actually imitate bad odours, carrion of all 
kinds, obnoxious weeds, and various forms and 
kinds of things which they are not, from disagree- 
able animals to harmless pebbles. These mimetic 
resemblances are, in most instances, so striking as 
to defy all explanation, and they occur only be- 
tween two species of animals or plants which are 
found in the same region, of which one species is 
thoroughly protected and the other is not. Why 
does nature trouble herself with all of these curious 
external resemblances? It is comprehended only 
in the light of mimicry, and under the theory that 
unprotected plants mimic dangerous or obnoxious 
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