ALFALFA—ITS GROWTH, DIGESTIBILITY, ETC. 
7 
aerial sucker-like roots at the points of contact, and 
through these imbibe the sap of the host plant. 
The stems of the dodder are orange or reddish colored, 
and consist of small, fleshy tendrils twisted around a 
branch. At the base of the flowers and at the joints of 
the stems may be found minute scales. These are rudi¬ 
mentary leaves ; but the plant in its present stage of de- * 
velopment has no need of green leaves, as it finds its food 
already prepared in the host plant. 
The flowers appear in clusters around the stem, which 
very soon form fruit; tlie latter consists of four seeds, 
which do not split into lobes, but open and put forth a lit¬ 
tle spiral body, which is the embryo. The seeds are des¬ 
titute of cotyledons, and so are dependent for their devel¬ 
opment, for a short time, on the albumen stored up in the 
seed. The number of flowers in each cluster ranges from 
ten to twenty, and the seeds are of a pale gray color, dif¬ 
ficult to detect with the naked eye, and hence the rapid 
spread of the plant. 
When the seed falls to the ground, it usually re¬ 
mains dormant until the following spring—sometimes, 
however, it germinates the same season, if the conditions 
are favorable. 
With the return of spring, the embryo begins growth 
by sending one end into the soil, and with the other it 
sends up a stem turning from right to left, or contrary to 
the sun’s apparent motion. Up to this stage its growth is 
like that of any ordinary plant, but its existence is brief, 
if no friendly stem be within reach. If it touch some 
living branch or stem, it seizes it by means of sucker-like 
roots, which it at once throws out, and then it goes on 
twining and fastening itself to the foster plant and to 
other plants in its vicinity. 
It now ceases to have any connection with the soil, 
and is a true parasite, feeding on the juices of the plant 
it has seized upon. 
