Mr. Hamelin thinks that by reason of these advantages,
an ornamental plant might be made of it, or at least a plant that would
be sought by lovers of novelties. Like the majority of dodders, this
species is an annual, so that, as soon as the cycle of vegetation is
accomplished, the plant dies after flowering and fruiting. But here the
seeds do not arrive at maturity, and the plant has to be propagated by
a peculiar method. At the moment when vegetation is active, it is only
necessary to take a bit of the stem, and then, after previously lifting
a piece of the bark of the plant upon which it is to be placed, to apply
this fragment of _Cuscuta_ thereto (as in grafting), place the bark over
it, and bind a ligature round the whole. In a short time the graft will
bud, and in a few months the host plant will be covered with it.
The genus _Cuscuta_ embraces more than eighty species, which are
distributed throughout the entire world, but which are not so abundant
in cold as in warm regions.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25