284 Schonland . — On the Morphology 
a branch two foliage-leaves (Z, Z, Figs. 1, 2 , etc.) are usually- 
found, which alternate with the prophylls, and are therefore 
median. During the first years the apex of each shoot is 
either naked, or it bears two more scale-leaves, which again 
alternate with the foliage-leaves, but the growth is always 
continued by buds springing from the axils of the latter, and 
thus the well-known pseudo-dichotomous structure of the 
mistletoe is produced. The foliage-leaves normally last only 
one season, while the prophylls may remain for a period of 
eight or more years. In about the fourth or fifth year of the 
life of the plant a small capitate inflorescence is produced at 
the top of each shoot. 
It commonly happens that foliage-leaves or shoots are not 
developed in places where the general plan of the plant would 
lead us to expect them. The shoots especially may remain 
dormant for several years. If only one shoot is developed, it 
often appears as the direct prolongation of its mother axis. If 
this goes on for several years a sympodium is produced which 
is frequently of considerable length. It also happens some- 
times that new shoots are produced in the axils of the pro- 
phylls, and thus false whorls of three to six shoots are formed. 
As this may be repeated in the case of the accessory 
shoots, their number may be increased still more, and 
Wydler 1 found as many as twelve in one case ; he also saw 
prophylls developed into foliage-leaves. Shoots bearing a 
whorl of three foliage-leaves are not rare, whereas whorls of 
four foliage-leaves 2 are uncommon, but I found them in both 
male and female plants. The increase in the number of 
foliage-leaves seems on the whole to be more frequent in 
the male plants. As a rule, this is due to the substitu- 
tion of a trimerous or tetramerous whorl for the normal 
dimerous whorl, as is shown by the fact that each of them may 
1 Flora, i860, p. 445. 
2 In one case I found five foliage-leaves in a rather irregular whorl. This was 
due to the fasciation of two shoots, one bearing two, the other three leaves. The 
true nature of this abnormality was clearly shown by the internode being groved, 
etc., also by the structure of the two inflorescences which terminated this double 
shoot. 
