The Dodder inhabits low ground and pokes an inquiring head above the surface each spring much like any self-sustaining plant. However, it is not long before it attaches itself to some lusty neighbour by root-like suckers, which pierce the stem and extract the nourishing juices. If the supply seems adequate, the Dodder winds its yellow, yarn-like tendrils about the host and allows the roots which connect it to the earth to wither. Its absorbing tubercles look like caterpillar feet; their cells form a perfect graft with the host and gradually disperse through its body. If other plants are near enough, the Devil’s Thread will reach out and tap their food supplies also. A single Dodder has been known to draw nourishment from five or six other plants of different families at the same time, thus indicating that it must have digestive machinery enough to appropriate these varying saps to its own uses. The Dodder has no chlorophyll and therefore no leaves but bears pretty little bell-like flowers which later produce seed. In the tropical jungles are many parasites of brilliant aspect, which, having no leaves or root hairs, germinate directly on supporting plants and apply suckers to the tissues of their hosts. When seen from the ground, their short stems make them seem all flower, and often very handsome ones. The _Rafflesia Arnoldi_ of Sumatra is a notable example. Man cannot help condemning such plant practices. Yet all Nature is a struggle for existence. Does it not require some courage and hardihood to come out and do in a bold and open way what the rest of the universe is doing by indirect or underhand methods? The beautiful Orchids belong to a botanic group of Epiphytes which may be classified as guests or lodgers. Being green, they are able to gather their own living from dust, rain and carbon dioxide in the air. All they ask from their tree-hosts is a branch on which to perch. There are probably few trees which are not delighted to have such delicate, fairy-like creatures add to their own beauty and charm. They wear them much as a woman wears a rose in her hair. In America there are well-mannered parasites such as the decorative Spanish Moss so common throughout the South. This plant is normal in all respects; except that, perched on a kindly tree, it draws all its nourishment from the air instead of through soil-piercing roots. The Mistletoe is a perfect example of a mutualist. Early in its aerial life, it sends a root through the bark of its tree companion and during the spring and summer, absorbs much food. When winter days come, and the tree has lost its leaves, the grateful messmate reverses the process and sends into the heart of its friend the larger part of the nourishment which it has been able to store up during the prosperous weeks of summer. The seeds of the Mistletoe are interesting because they are covered with a sticky fluid which enables them to travel from tree to tree on the feet of birds.