81 
The tree is frequently in places where parasitism would seem 
unlikely. Dr. Diels, on finding* it growing* on barren and healthy 
sand-scrub, the solitary tree for miles round, considered it a far- 
fetched assumption that the tree would draw on the dwarf bushes 
at its base for nourishment, and concluded “Till some counter 
evidence is produced we must adhere to the autonomy of Xuytsia 
floribunda. ’ ’ 
Mr. VV. Webb, of King* George’s Sound, furnished some notes 
on Xuytsia floribunda in response to some questions asked by 
Baron von Mueller and these were published in the Victorian Field 
Naturalist in 1894. They are brief and may be given in full: — 
We can find thousands of what at first sight appear to 
be seedlings but on tracing the roots we always find them 
growing from the rootsf of parent trees, and therefore we 
think these supposed seedlings are nothing* more or less 
than suckers. Up to the present we have not been able to 
find the roots attached to anything; they shoot in all direc- 
tions and for great distances but never penetrate the soil 
deeply, but are always found some few inches below the 
surface. In this manner they may and probably do receive 
their sustenace from decaying vegetable matter, such as the 
roots of numerous species of shrubs amongst which Xuytsia 
usually grows. As this plant has a pretty wide range in 
West Australia, would it be worth while to ascertain what 
trees and shrubs occur in every locality where Xuytsia is 
found'? So tar as my memory serves me, I feel certain that 
a great: difference will be found in the species of plant life 
at different places. My own opinion is that Nuytsia is an 
independent tree and il requires certain conditions in the 
soil which can only be given to it by certain other species 
of plants. However, T have nothing to advance in proof of 
the above except that I have never found the roots attached 
to the roots of any other plants. 
Harvey (Hooker’s Journal of Botany VI., 219) thought it 
highly probable that there was connection between the roots but 
could offer no proof. Dr. Morrison apparently made some investi- 
gations according to a reference by Diels, but I have been unable to 
find a record of his work. Tn the Western Australian Year Book, 
1902-1904, however, he refers to Xuytsia floribunda as “a lion- 
parasitic tree of the Mistletoe family. 7 ’ It would appear, there- 
fore, that authorities up to the present, while suspecting the para- 
sitic nature of the plant, have had to admit the absence of definite 
proof, and in some cases they have finally concluded that the 
Christmas Tree is independent. 
t The roots referred to are really stems, D.A.H. 
