88 
ment of these coupled with the large number produced along the 
length of the underground stems shows that Nuytsia is able to 
obtain a large amount of food materials from annuals and other 
small plants when growing as the solitary tree in a pasture. 
Dr. Diels'* is inclined to regard Nuytsia as being distinct from 
the Lorantlmcea* and rather belonging to the common family from 
which both the Loranthacere and Proteace?e have sprung. He 
summarises his objections as follows: — 
It (Nuytsia) cannot truly be said to belong to the real 
Lorantliacea? because of its fruit, and its habits remind one 
me > re o f the ( J re v i 1 1 eoidflp . 
The difference of fruit does not seem sufficient reason for separat- 
ing it from the family to which it is assigned, greater differences 
of fruit being shown in other families and which are regarded as 
generic and not ordinal. The flower is six-partite (the typical 
Proteacae have four (4) perianth segments), and is that of a 
Loranthus; in fact Labillardiere called the tree Loranthus 
floribundus. 
With regard to habit, this is typically Loranthaeeous in many 
points. Parasitism is characteristic of the family, and the dis- 
covery of (his adds another link between Nuytsia and the other 
members. The leaves are very similar in their form and fleshiness, 
and the twigs of the < 1 1 list mas Tree are very similar to that of 
Loranthus celastroides in appearance. 
The underground stem may be compared with a similar struc- 
ture in the mistletoe. The l)est investigated species of mistletoe 
is Y is cum album, a European plant. The seeds germinate on a 
host plant; a sucker penetrates into the cortical tissues and bast 
and then stops. Subsequent growth of the branch results in the 
embedding of this sucker in the later-formed wood so that it ap- 
pears to have pierced the wood. Lateral roots are given off and 
run along the cortex in both directions. At intervals along this 
cortical root arise aerial shoots; from the other side more sinkers 
go in as far as the wood, and further growth results in their being 
imbedded in the host wood also. This cortical root is analagous 
with the long underground stem of Nuytsia and shows similarity 
in habit of the two plants, when allowance has been made for the 
fact that Nuytsia is a terrestrial root parasite and that the mistle- 
toe is parasitic on branches only. The conclusion is, therefore, 
that the structure and habits of the Christmas Tree are in accord- 
ance with its systematic placing in the Loranthacere. 
* Pflanzenvelt von W.A., 1906. 
