Personality of plants

PERSONALITY OF PLANTS
That some plants are parasites from neces-
sity or laziness rather than choice is indicated
by a Brazilian variety of the Cuckoo-Pint
which sits far up on some tree branch and, like
an immense spider, sends down to the earth
long delicate tubes through which it some-
times sucks food and water.
One of the most interesting facts in plantdom
is the alliance maintained by Clovers, Beans,
Vetches and other leguminous plants, with
Bacteria belonging to the class Pseudomonas,
No soil can be fertile unless it contains organic
compounds of nitrogen. The earth Bacteria
have discovered methods of producing these
important substances, possibly extracting nitrogen
distributed through the ground. These
minute parasites attach themselves to the roots
of the larger plants, which promptly enclose
them in cysts or nodules where they can lead
a sheltered life and manufacture assimilable
food compounds for their hosts. When they
die, the owners of the roots feed upon their
bodies.
What is the art of grafting but a form of
artificial parasitism? Very often a branch or
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