ORGANOTOPIC P RANTS. 
69 
let tanager’s rude structure of twigs in the woods—of the 
redstart’s nest of fiber saddled on a maple bough—of the or¬ 
chard oriole’s residence in an oak—of Robert White with 
his six brothers and sisters in their brown coats taking a 
stroll through the woods—and especially of the wooing of 
six pairs of brown thrashers who poured forth such liquid 
melody one early May morning. 
The tale of these and many others which gave zest to 
summer rambles must remain untold. 
Waterbury, Ct., September 1, 1901. 
Organotopic Plants. I. 
BY FREDERICK W. BATCHEEDER. 
In hunting for rare plants the amateur collector once in 
a while comes across specimens which attract his attention 
by the singularity of their aspect and habit. Instead of 
“green things growing,’’ they are brown or yellow or 
white things growing. They are also destitute of leaves, 
or the leaves are reduced to mere scales. Now greenness 
is so nearly a universal attribute of flowering plants that 
the absence of it must be significant. The absence or re¬ 
duction of the leaves, which are usually of vital importance 
in maintaining the processes of nutrition and circulation, 
must be no less significant. 
The question at once arises, why have these plants no 
chlorophyll and why have they failed to produce proper 
leaves? The answer is, because they do not need them. 
This is evident from the fact that they live and thrive with¬ 
out them. Why they do not need them is another ques- 
