225 
The matter of artificially spreading the Mistletoe is one which, although it has 
often been talked about, has not, in my knowledge, been carried out on a large scale, 
and if the readers of the Gazette know of any suck experiments I should be glad to hear 
of them. 
I have in my mind's eye scrub that we deem to be useless, and which grows on 
land which, as far as we can see, does not support edible plants of any kind. Of course, 
there is the element of risk that the Mistletoe might get ahead of us and destroy plants 
that should be preserved but the possibility of getting some feed for flocks and herds 
out of land which, at the present time, produces none or very little, seems worth keeping 
in mind." 
One parasite may be parasitic on another. Thus in Europe we have Viscum 
album on Loranthus europeus while in Australia Notothixos is parasitic on Loranthus. 
(b) Hemi-epiphytes Strangling Figs. We must carefully distinguish between 
epiphytes and parasites. Both grow on other plants, which are termed host plants, 
but the roots of the former simply rest mechanically on their host much in the same 
way as a weak man might rest on the arm of a strong one, but the roots of the latter 
bore into the tissues of the host, and may be likened to blood-suckers. 
The Orchids which grow on the barks of She-oaks, Myrtles, and other trees are 
epiphytes. Their long fleshy roots absorb nutriment from the air and from the moisture 
which is mechanically held by the bark. Besides certain Orchids, certain tree-loving 
Aroids and ferns get most of their nutriment in this way. Between the true parasites 
and the true epiphytes there are intermediate stages. 
An excellent review o'f the subject will be found in Dr. William Trelease's " Illus- 
trations of a Strangling Fig -tree."* 
These Figs are, as Schimper pointed out, and Trelease emphasises, hemi-epiphytes, 
as they germinate and pass through their earliest development on trees (as a rule), but 
subsequently become connected with the ground by their roots, thus passing from the 
epiphytic to the ordinary mode of nutrition. 
The roots of these Strangling Figs are often anastomosed. They attain their 
greatest development in tropical jungles, and in Australia they are seen to great perfec- 
tion in coastal Northern Queensland, thence throughout coastal Queensland, and for 
the greater part of coastal New South Wales as far south as the Illawarra. 
These trees are vegetable octopuses, and the plant, whatever its size, that gets 
within its clutches is doomed, unless surgically released by the hand of man. 
The Fig-trees afford excellent shade, but valueless timber. 
In the coast districts these fig-trees (Ficus rubiginosa is the principal one in 
New South Wales), often begin life on the moist bark of another tree, and their aerial 
root-system attains great development. I have referred to this matter at Vol. i, p. 13, 
and Vol. ii, p. 184, of the present work, and in the latter place there is a drawing of a 
Fig-tree destroying a Eucalyptus stump. Two photographs by His Honor Judge 
Docker, herewith reproduced, show doomed trees in various stages of obliteration. 
'Sixteenth Annual Beport of the Missouri Botanic Garden, p. 161 (190D). 
